Projets

Project description

The Climate-Smart Village (CSV) approach is based on the principles of participatory research to generate evidence on climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The research carried out in the CSV is by default based on the specificities of the context and its enabling characteristics for the implementation and scaling of CSA.

In that sense, CSV constitute in living laboratories that show how different actors in a territory co- develop, test, adopt and evaluate portfolios of integrated and innovative options aiming to reach sustainable agriculture and improvement of livelihoods of the rural population.     

Santa Rita CSV is located in the department of Copán, western Honduras. It has a projected population of 30,682 by 2016 inhabitants, of which 85.2% live and work in rural areas, thus their main livelihoods are related to farming activities. Coffee growing, livestock, and crops of basic grains are the main economic engines of communities in the CSV. These three activities represent 74% of the work carried out by farmers; the remaining 26% dedicate mainly to commerce, services, and construction.

Activities

Various CSA options are tested within the CSV to deal with climate change and climate variability:

• Climate-smart activities: weather forecasts, climate agricultural advice, climate insurance, climate analogs for future planning, strategies to avoid poor adaptation.        
• Practices with water: aquifer recharge, rainwater harvesting, community water management, laser leveling, water management on the farm, solar pumps.        
• Weather-resistant seeds: improved seed varieties, seed bank        
• Carbon/nutrient practices: agroforestry, minimum tillage, land use systems, livestock management, integrated nutrient and biofuel management        
• Smart institutional/market activities: intersectoral links, local institutions, gender strategies, contingency planning, financial services, market information, risk management outside the farm.        

It is important to note that there is no ideal package of CSA options for each territory. It is important to identify what is appropriate for each region according to its agroecological characteristics, development level, capacity and interest of the community and local governments.

Expected results

• CSA options specific to the territory, including transformative options, in addition to systems models of integrated crops, livestock, and trees to increase resilience. These would be tested and evaluated on the farm and examined by gender implications and scaling potential.        
• A better understanding of the perceptions of farmers and key players along the value chain of CSA options, and evaluation of the conditions for the success or failure of interventions.       
• Simulation of CSA options under different climates and socio-economic scenarios for informed decision-making.       
• A better understanding of institutional options that allow CSA scaling.      
• A scientific approach from the farmer to adapt the CSA in the local context and allow its scaling.       
• Empirical and big data analyzes on climate management that generates climate-sensitive extension schemes and climate advisory systems for farmers. 

Gender and youth

The CCAFS research project “Generating evidence on gender-sensitive climate-smart agriculture to inform policy in Nicaragua and Guatemala” has monitored to evaluate and monitor trends in the adoption of CSA options by men and women in the Santa Rita's CSV.

Among the most significant findings that researchers found about gender differences in the adoption of CSA options, as well as in the processes of adaptation to climate change in the CSV, we can find:

• Men perceive having greater participation in the implementation of the evaluated CSA practices than women do.     
• In the Santa Rita CSV, the participation of women was lower in the decision of implementing CSA practices.       
• Women from Santa Rita CSV reported less frequently compared to men having received income for their agricultural work. 

Partners

• Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM)        

More information

• Info Note: Examining gender differences in the access to and implementation of climate-smart agricultural practices in Central America
• Poster: Territorio Sostenible Adaptado al Clima (TeSAC) Santa Rita, Honduras
• Report: Formulación de dos planes municipales de adaptación al cambio climático (PMACC) en dos municipios de Honduras: Informe de avance de elaboración de los planes municipales de adaptación al cambio climático en los municipios de Cabañas y Santa Rita, Copán
• Report: Construcción y desarrollo de los TeSAC en Centroamérica en los territorios de “El Tuma - La Dalia” en NicaCentral, Nicaragua, y “Olopa” y “Santa Rita” en la región del Trifinio de Guatemala y Honduras

For more information, please contact project leader Jesús David Martínez, CCAFS Latin America (jdmartinez@cgiar.org) and Deissy Martínez Barón, CCAFS Latin America (dmbaron@cgiar.org).

Funding

The work of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in the Climate-Smart Villages, is carried out with the support of the donors of the CGIAR Fund and through bilateral financing agreements. For details, please see item https://ccafs.cgiar.org/es/ donors.