Scaling-Out Climate-Smart Village Program in the Vulnerable Areas of Indo-Gangetic Plains of India

Project description

This project is a four-year (October 2016- June 2020) intervention to scale-out weather resilient agricultural intervention through CCAFS's successful approach on Climate-Smart Villages (CSV). It strives to improve the adaptability and resilience of farmers in the relatively food insecure and vulnerable regions of India, and to use this evidence in supporting designs of large-scale climate adaptation programs being implemented or being developed in India and in neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bangladesh. A mix of locally relevant climate-smart technologies and practices, identified based on global knowledge, and complemented with weather information services are implemented in the CSVs.

The project is being implemented by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in collaboration with a local NGO, the ICT industry (climate services and market linkage), insurance industry (crop insurance program), input suppliers (for seeds, fertilizers and machines), and national agriculture research systems (knowledge partners).

Activities

Implement the CSV approach with 11, 250 farmers in 75 villages in India (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh) to build additional evidence for scaling out climate-smart agriculture

Develop institutional approaches within the CSV approach involving local organizations, agriculture departments and the private sector (input suppliers, insurance and ICT companies, and agri-business entrepreneurs) to reach scale.
Strengthen the capacity of farmers-producers’ groups (FPOs), local organizations (community based organizations and NGOs), agencies dealing with CSR Funds, national and international climate adaptation funds, local government involved in adaptation to climate change in implementing CSV approach;
To promote South-South cooperation to enable other developing countries (especially Nepal) to adopt and learn from lessons in India for reaching scale in their own countries on climate-smart agriculture (CSA)

Following are the expected outputs of the project:

Improvement in farm productivity (yields and incomes) through promotion of CSA dissemination, management and innovation supported by strengthening of stakeholder and institutional capacity on CSA implementation
Increasing resilience of farming system to changing climate through improved resource use efficiency and improved access to diverse CSA technologies and practices
Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions through improved access to emission reduction technologies and practices

Expected outcomes

The project aims to reduce overall poverty and food security under climate change and variability in the agriculture-dependent communities.

Gender & Youth

Gender inclusion and empowerment forms an intricate part of the project’s overarching goal of building resilience of farmer communities. All three districts are characterized by different social structures and therefore women’s role in agriculture as well as their level of participation in public forums and interventions differs across the three project districts. Throughout all stages of project implementation, conscious efforts have been taken to include women and young farmers as not just beneficiaries but also as active participants across the key stages of the project.

Partners

This project is led by CCAFS- South Asia, in collaboration with:

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF)
Private sector partners
Local government agencies
Local farmer producers’ groups
Community based organizations

More information

For more information, please contact project leader Dr. Pramod Aggarwal, CCAFS (Email: P.K.Aggarwal[at]cigar.org).

Funding for this project is provided by:

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