Likening the choices before farmers to address climate change to the choices in radio stations on a long car journey, an article on Food Tank outlines how climate-smart agriculture can get everybody on the same wavelength.
“Climate-smart agriculture – that is, agriculture that is productive, resilient, and part of the solution to the climate problem – must become the new paradigm in the 21st century,” writes Jarvis. “If, as a global community, we tune in to the same wavelength and articulate our efforts in a truly global partnership, we have the means to rise to the challenges.”
One example is that of Niger where 5 million hectares of farmlands have been restored with trees, providing an additional half million tons of grain produced per year, decreased impact from drought, and improved soils and animal fodder for an estimated 2.5 million people.
If such agroforestry successes were spread across Africa, it could “boost productivity by an additional 615 calories per person, per day, for over 140 million people, as well as sequester 2 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalent (or one-third of global direct agricultural emissions) per year”.
The challenge of scaling up climate-smart agriculture practices is being tackled by the CSA Alliance which brings together the knowledge, finances and policies of CCAFS, FAO, the World Bank, World Agroforestry Centre, FARA, CIAT and other members and supporters of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).
Target have been set of half a billion farmers using climate-smart agriculture, 22 per cent reduction in agricultural emissions as compared to the business-as-usual baseline, and a 46 per cent reduction in forestry and land-use change by 2035, but achieving these will require the involvement of governments, businesses, civil society groups, producer groups and research organizations.
The CSA Alliance will rely on an extensive partnership network to link research with development, science with policy, and public with private. It will generate about on-farm climate-smart practices and technologies, insurance schemes and climate information services. The alliance will work to influence national and sub-national policies, processes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and donor agendas. It will also promote necessary incentive mechanisms through innovative finance and private sector involvement.
Read the full story: Climate-Smart Agriculture Hits the 21st Century
