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Hundreds of Bihar women get trained on climate change and food security
By Aditi Kapoor
I was apprehensive. The training of trainers (ToT) had gone off well, and our partner organisation, the Bihar Mahila Samakhya, was well versed in carrying out training programmes, boasted good training facilities, had demonstrative experience of mobilising rural elected women and enjoyed a certain degree of acceptance by the district administration. The State Panchyati Raj Department had circulated a letter to all District Administration heads to ensure that elected women leaders would be able to attend the training workshops. Yet, I was nervous.
There were many questions in my mind: Would the trainers be able to bring to the fore the complex links between ‘Gender, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security,’ the topic for training? Would the trainers remember what they had learnt from the many presentations at the ToT?? Would they be able to use the training manual effectively? Would they be able to link the subject matter of the training to the lives of their trainees? Would the elected women trainers really participate in the roll out of the trainings across 17 districts?
The promise and pitfalls of agricultural carbon projects
By Alison Nihart
With agriculture accounting for 10-12% of global human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, sustainable agricultural development programs are looking to incorporate emissions reduction strategies into project design.
A new CCAFS working paper, Smallholder agricultural carbon projects in Ghana: Benefits, barriers, and institutional arrangements by Jean Lee, profiles four such agricultural carbon projects.
Farmers reap the benefits from climate insurance scheme
by TN Anuradha and Vinaynath Reddy
Earlier this year the seasonal rains in Bihar, India failed to deliver, leading to big losses in both wheat and rice crops. Luckily, some farmers in the area had signed up for a crop insurance scheme which now allowed them to receive their first payment. This scheme has helped some of them get back on track and invest in new seeds.
“We did not have any scheme under crop insurance earlier,” said participating farmer Horil Singh, now “we have benefitted from the scheme. If there is a deficiency in crop yield we will get cover as per index of loss.”
The insurance scheme is part of the Climate Smart Village project (CSVs), being set-up in three villages in the Vaishali district, by the CCAFS South Asia program. The aim is to better arm farmers for more variable weather patterns through climate smart practices. Read more: "What's so smart about climate smart agriculture?"
Climate insurance programs can help farmers manage risks better, enabling them to invest and take chances that they would otherwise avoid. This could in turn improve their livelihood. Read more »
Research turns vulnerabilities into strengths for African agro-pastoralists
By An Notenbaert and Stanley Karanja Ng'ang'a
At a household level, a number of factors influence the nature and degree of people’s vulnerability to the climate change. A new study by CCAFS amongst agro-pastoralist households in Mozambique has analyzed a variety of indicators normally used in vulnerability assessments to measure the influence of these vulnerability variables on coping capacity within a changing climate. The study gives us more certainty about the influence that some of these variables have on coping capacity. For instance, income diversification, increasing access to infrastructure and saving, seemed to promote adaptation and are also widely applicable.
Changing farming practices in South Asia for a food secure future
By S. N. Sharma and Mritunjaya Kumar
The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) South Asia office, in partnership with IFFCO Foundation, India, recently started piloting climate smart agriculture technologies in three villages of Vaishali district, Bihar, India.
Given the pilot got underway less than a year ago progress is impressive with solid impacts already demonstrated in the ground and importantly trust of the farmers is evident. Read more »
Learning to govern: the challenges and opportunities of climate change policy
By Chase Sova
As we’ve seen in the stories published on this blog from the Planet under Pressure conference [see Promoting Integration and dialogue within the context of global change and Bold optimism for science to address global sustainability challenges] a reoccurring theme at the conference has been the integration of climate science outputs and knowledge in to decision-making processes. This emphasis on translating research in meaningful ways that inform policy decisions is evidenced by the release of a series of Rio+20 oriented policy briefs covering a range of effected sectors, from energy to agriculture. Read more »
How e-Agriculture could assist rural farmers adapt to climate change
Written by Cecilia Schubert
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to support agricultural development in poor countries by functioning as innovative solutions to agricultural challenges. Realizing this, the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank organized, together with the e-Agriculture Community and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) an online forum in March, discussing the role of ICTs in supporting green growth and climate-smart agriculture. Read more »
The foundations for climate-smart agriculture in Africa
Written by Sandra Brown and Alexandre Grais
At the latest UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Durban, COP17, Kofi Annan the former UN Secretary General, pointed to ‘Climate Smart Agriculture' as a way for Africa to contribute to climate change mitigation efforts and boost food security. The growing demand for food to meet the needs of the growing population will be exacerbated by potential changes in climate that will impact agricultural production systems. Simultaneously there is a demand for mitigating climate change through actions that decrease emissions or increase sequestration that can also affect agricultural production. On top of this is the internationally proposed REDD+ mechanism that will also affect agricultural practices because expansion of agriculture is a major driver of deforestation in many countries. Any efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation will necessarily require a reduction of agricultural expansion. To accomplish these seemingly divergent goals for forest protection and feeding a rapidly growing population, existing agricultural practices must be improved to increase yields and production. Read more »
Southeast Asian climate change study finds plenty of options for farmers to adapt
by Lisen Stenberg and Vanessa Meadu
There is no one size fits all solution for climate change adaptation in agriculture. Because climate change will impact agriculture differently all over the world, and have different effects on different crops and farming systems, a wide range of adaptation options are necessary. These begin with relatively straightforward actions such as changing seed varieties and changing planting times, to adopting new methods or techniques, changing to a new crop altogether, and in extreme circumstances, ceasing to farm and moving to a new economic activity.
A new report from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) highlights opportunities and current initiatives for climate adaptation in agriculture, with a focus on Southeast Asia. The report, "Climate Change Adaptation for Smallholder Farmers in Southeast Asia" (PDF) notes that countries in tropical areas are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Moreover, Southeast Asia has a fast-growing population and is therefore increasingly dependent on agriculture and natural resources. The region has already been experiencing climate change induced phenomena, which enforces the need for adaptation measures.
Moving from theory to practice with climate-smart farming
There has been plenty of discussion about the potential adaptation and mitigation benefits of climate smart farming. At December’s Agriculture and Rural Development Day, our partners even shared successful case studies. Now, climate-smart agriculture efforts in Zambia, Malawi and Vietnam will be scaled up thanks to an initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the European Commission. Read more »
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CCAFS Coordinating Unit - University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, phone +45 35331046; Email ccafs [at] cgiar [dot] org, EAN 5790000279012
Lead Center - International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
@kbn rayana: That is a very good observation. Agronomic management is also...