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Successful collaborations to expand information and insurance for farmers

Climate change is already negatively impacting agricultural production globally and locally. During the webinar, scientists presented the linkages on climate change research and agricultural development. Photo: N.Palmer (CIAT)

Scientists shared their thoughts and knowledge about the progress and gaps on various climate-smart approaches.

During a webinar on 1 February, scientists at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) discussed the linkages between climate change research and agricultural development and shared their thoughts and knowledge about the progress and gaps on various climate-smart approaches.

 

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Bruce Campbell, Director of CCAFS, initiated the web seminar by stating that the focus of adaptation actions needs to be extended. He argued that the current emphasis on incremental changes at the local level are insufficient to meet the massive challenges and transformations that must occur in agriculture. There is a need to expand adaptation actions to encompass more transformational shifts involving all actors and levels in societies. This will also require a change in how science is conducted and perceived. As Bruce Campbell stated, it is not just about how we do things, but also how we understand them better.

 

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Pramod Aggarwal, CCAFS South Asia leader, talked about the importance of crop insurance in risk management and presented how different ways of doing science can help to scale up research ideas. Data shows that weather extremes have become more frequent and that climate-induced disasters are affecting an increasing number of people. The increase in risk raises costs of capital lending and decreases the incentive and opportunity for farmers to invest in productivity enhancements. In addition, a lack of insurance limits the ability to recover from shocks. Insurance is, therefore, paramount for risk management, and Pramod Aggarwal presented experiences from case studies with yield and weather index-based insurances in India. These programmes have seen large increases in the number of farmers using the products. However, the insurance schemes are facing several barriers such as the need for substantial governmental subsidies, a lack of available and reliable data, problems with fair and timely compensation and considerable transactions cost for the insurance providers. These problems have caused dissatisfaction among the actors involved and have necessitated the development of new insurance schemes. Resultantly, a new insurance programme has been initiated in 2016, which according to Pramod Aggarwal looks very promising.

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Another way to increase the resilience of farmers is through the provision of climate information services (CIS). Accurate and timely CIS can help farmers to improve management decisions on planting dates, harvest, fertilizer application etc. This can lead to productivity improvements by increasing input efficiency and by limiting the risk of crop failure. CIS can thereby act as an entry point to climate-smart solutions. Robert Zougmore, CCAFS West Africa leader, presented several positive case studies from Africa where climate information had been provided to farmers through mobile phones and radio systems. The case studies have shown promising outcomes, but several gaps still exist. These include the lack of accurate climate information, lack of technical capacity and problems with providing climate information that is easily applicable for the farmers.

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The provision of CIS has also shown positive results in women empowerment by enhancing their capacity to engage in farming decisions. This was presented by Sophia Huyer, CCAFS Gender and Social Inclusion leader, who gave insights into the gender and social inclusion dimension of understanding farmer uptake of climate-smart technologies. The case studies presented in her talk showed that men and women to a large degree have similar perceptions of the problems caused by climate change and the measures needed to address them. However, differences between the genders exist in their preference and prioritization, which among other things are a result of different household responsibilities and task, access to and control over resources and inclusion in decision-making processes. The case studies showed that CSA technologies are adopted by both men and women, but that there are differences in how they are applied and prioritized. These synergies need to be understood for the successful uptake of CSA approaches.

Watch the webinar recording:

Christian Michael Skou Knudsen is Research intern at the CCAFS Coordinating Unit.