Knowledge to Action

Farmers get latest solutions for climate 'shape-up'

Submitted by Cecilia on 17th June 2013
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by Manon Verchot

“The main problem is water and rain,” said Joseph, a farmer from Makueni, Kenya on an episode of Shamba Shape-Up. Joseph and his wife Angela are among many farmers who are suffering from the unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change.

In response to farmer concerns, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has partnered with the East African TV show Shamba Shape-Up to bring sustainable agricultural innovations to farmers. Read more »

Kenyan farmers use climate 'entertainment' for empowerment

Submitted by Cecilia on 12th June 2013
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by Manon Verchot

One important question for the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is how to reach farmers, in order to give them relevant information on how to cope with climate change. The innovative East African TV program Shamba Shape-Up may provide some empowering solutions. Read more »

Farmers map strategies to adapt to climate change in Colombia

Submitted by Cecilia on 3rd June 2013
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Workshop recently held in Colombia focusing on participation

by Marcela Beltrán

Read this blog in Spanish.

How will rural communities adapt to climate change? A common criticism is that governments focus too much on top-down approaches to climate change adaptation, without considering the needs of local, rural communities.

As a response, several development agencies have developed participatory planning tools to allow communities to be involved in decision-making processes and share their valuable knowledge and solutions to climate change.

Read more »

Smart made even smarter: Gender addressed in new brief on climate smart agriculture

Submitted by Cecilia on 8th May 2013
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by Kristi Foster

Livelihood- and climate focused agricultural practices help farmers to sustainably increase their farm productivity and build resilience to climate change, while contributing to mitigation. But how does this type of farming — commonly known as climate-smart agriculture or CSA — interact with gender in real-life communities?

In the newly released policy brief, Addressing Gender in Climate-Smart Smallholder Agriculture researchers from CARE International, the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) share their insights on gender. The brief highlights the importance of a flexible learning approach in advancing gender equity goals and improving outcomes for farmers and projects.

The Sustainable Agriculture in a Changing Climate (SACC) project, on which the policy brief is based, has gleaned several important insights into gender and CSA: Read more »

We need to win the conversation on climate

Submitted by Lucy on 22nd April 2013
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By Lucy Holt

If we are to effect change, it is our duty as researchers not just to produce knowledge but also to communicate that knowledge effectively, to the right people and in the right way. Sometimes this means delivering climate information to farmers through their mobile phones, while at other times this means training villagers to become trainers themselves.

To compliment our work on the ground, this week, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has also been busy getting the message out there to a wider audience, with the CEO of the CGIAR Consortium, Frank Rijsberman, leading the charge.

"There's a lot of complacency in rich countries about climate change," he told the Guardian newspaper, "We must understand that instability is inevitable." Read more »

Smallholders need a hand-up not a hand-out

Submitted by Lucy on 18th April 2013
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By Lucy Holt

What does empowerment mean? How do you empower people? And which people do you empower? These were some of the questions tackled by a specially convened learning circle at this week's Dublin Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice.

We were there to celebrate Ireland's EU Presidency and we were there to inform the post-2015 development agenda, but mostly we were there to learn from each other: to share our experiences and take home practical ideas that we could implement.

In the room were smallholder farmers from Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, and Columbia; development practitioners from the ground and from head-offices; researchers from the social and natural sciences; as well as local and national politicians. Read more »

Risks, rights, knowledge and empowerment: Connecting the dots

Submitted by Vanessa on 16th April 2013
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linking together essential factors for agriculture, nutrition and food security.

By Vanessa Meadu

What happens when some of the world's thought leaders in hunger, nutrition and climate justice meet with innovators working at the frontlines of climate change in developing countries? At the Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Justice conference in Dublin yesterday, these pairings helped bring lofty theories down to earth, infusing discussions on rights, risk, knowledge and empowerment with touching and inspiring examples from around the world. 

Here are some of the highlights: Read more »

From field to landscape: Tackling mitigation and livelihoods with help from farmers

Submitted by Cecilia on 14th April 2013
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Re-designing landscapes might become necessary if mitigation is to stay pro-poor

by Mariana Rufino

An example of how CCAFS and its partners are moving from the research desk to action on the ground while supporting local communities is ”the SAMPLES approach”. Systems Analyst Mariana Rufino recently discussed how the ‘Standard Assessment of Mitigation Potential and Livelihoods in Smallholder Systems’ - the SAMPLES approach- help address pro-poor mitigation challenges in developing countries.

Smallholder activities impact, and are impacted by, the constraints of their surroundings. Understanding these cross-scale interactions, between agriculture and the environment, could help generate a range of ecosystem services for which smallholders’ livelihoods depend. Read more »

"Reaching farmers with climate information is mission possible"

Submitted by Cecilia on 3rd April 2013
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Reaching women with climate information can be difficult. Text messages can help

by Arame Tall

”If we are to be successful in going from research to practice, it is important to keep farmers at the centre. This ranges from the design and delivery, to the evaluation of the participatory project.” This said climate scientist Arame Tall at a recently held side event at the Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture in Davis, California. 

The session discussed ways to increase the likelihood that research will influence changes in policies, institutions and technologies. Read more about the session on the theme "Linking knowledge with Action" in our first blog story ”Turning research into actions that matter.”

This story continues on the same topic, further investigating key aspects of research projects that will increase the likelihood that the research we conduct is transformed into actions on the ground. Read more »

Turning research into actions that matter

Submitted by Cecilia on 2nd April 2013
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Participatory activities increase the likelihood of research turning into action

by Patti Kristjanson

How do we make sure that the knowledge we create with our research efforts leads to real actions that matter? Actions, that in the end contribute to reducing poverty, now and forever? It turns out that we know a lot about how to do this.

During a special session at the recently held Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture in Davis, California, principles and approaches that can help increase the likelihood that research will influence changes in policies, institutions and technologies were explored. Read more »

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