In an interview with New Europe online, Tony Simons, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre, outlined how the concept of climate smart agriculture could be expanded to take a landscape approach in order to overcome some of the challenges yet meet the same objectives.

Climate smart agriculture is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as ‘agriculture that sustainably increases productivity resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes greenhouse gases (mitigation) while enhancing the achievement of national food security and development goals’.

Climate smart landscapes, however, involves a broader approach which goes across social and political scales and biophysical scales. It involves multiple and defined sectors and stakeholders and seeks synergies while reducing trade-offs.

A landscape approach may serve to overcome divisions between ministries, sectors or perspectives (such as environment versus development). And as Simons points out, it is not possible to single out agriculture from all of the other factors influencing a landscape.

Simons was speaking at a Brussels Development Briefing hosted by the European Commission and focusing on climate change, agriculture and food security The EU is among the top 100 investors in the World Agroforestry Centre.

Climate smart landscapes has the same objectives of increasing productivity and incomes while reducing environmental impact.

Simons said the main challenge for climate smart agriculture was linking the knowledge which already existed with policy and action. He believes the knowledge is already available but being ignored by policy makers and that not enough is being done even where policies are in place.

Read the full story: Linking knowledge with policy and action-main challenge before climate smart agriculture