Organisation launches guidelines on the opportunities in climate-smart farming

An African farmer. Commercialisation of markets has to work for all farmers – subsistence, medium scale and large-scale. The three should never be in competition with each other. PHOTO | FILE | NMG

What you need to know:

  • These are intended to boost investors’ confidence in funding African agribusinesses in the face of adverse effects of climate change.
  • The practices will help farmers adapt to the changing weather patterns and boost food security while reducing emissions.
  • The guidelines identify climate risks and adaptation options for key agricultural commodities, while also identifying institutional, financial and policy gaps and opportunities in the same.

The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has launched guidelines on the status and opportunities for investment in Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).

These are intended to boost investors’ confidence in funding African agribusinesses in the face of adverse effects of climate change.

The guidelines provide an outlook of key issues in climate change impacts, CSA practices, relevant policies, and financing opportunities for scaling up the promotion and sustained adoption of CSA interventions.

The practices will help farmers adapt to the changing weather patterns and boost food security while reducing emissions.

“For many donors, private sector companies and African governments, investing in African agriculture still appears extremely risky. Our data and evidence-based reports aim to reduce that risk, by providing a detailed analysis of the most effective approaches to the sustained adoption of climate-smart agriculture,” said Evan Girvetz, a senior scientist at CIAT, who leads the CSA profiles project.

Ademola Braimoh, the coordinator for CSA at the World Bank, noted that large-scale investments in the practices need to be based on solid evidence that they will provide productivity and climate benefits.

“With these guidelines, we are now better equipped to make financing decisions to climate-proof African agriculture,” he said.

Dr Robert Zougmoré, the Africa lead for the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) said that there has been an insatiable appetite from African governments for up-to-date information on how to implement CSA practices.

In addition to the country-level profiles, a more detailed climate-risk profiling has been done for 31 counties in Kenya to facilitate a Sh25 billion Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Project being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The guidelines identify climate risks and adaptation options for key agricultural commodities, while also identifying institutional, financial and policy gaps and opportunities in the same.

These new African CSA profiles are built on a set available for countries in Latin America, South Asia and Europe, which have been shaping policy and investment decisions since 2013.