Climate-Smart AgricultureClimate change, agriculture and food security

Aslihan Arslan

EPIC – FAO

Centre for Development Innovation, WUR – September 17, 2014

I. AgricultureII. Climate ChangeIII. Food SecurityIV. Overview of Climate-Smart

Agriculture (CSA)V. Evolution of CSAVI. CSA at various levels VII. References

Outline

Population & Agriculture• World’s population will reach 9 billion by 2050

•FAO estimates that agricultural production will have to increase by 60% by then

•Agriculture should undergo a significant transformation to feed the growing global population

•Climate change adds extra challenges in reaching this goal – esp. developing countries where food insecurity & poverty are prevalent

Pressures on Agriculture

FAO, 2009.

Agriculture and food security

Climate Change

Climate change impacts on crop production

Climate ChangeFour potential yield outcomes for maize in 2045 under RCP 8.5†

Source: Müller and Robertson (2014).

Source: Müller and Robertson (2014). Excludes CO2 effects

Climate Change

Wheat RiceCoarse grains Oil seeds Sugar CR5

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

IPSL/LPJ HADGEM2/LPJ IPSL/DSSAT HADGEM2/DSSAT

Source: Shocks from IFPRI as interpreted for use in the ENVISAGE model, Nelson et al. (2014).

Simulated impacts for the four climate scenarios: global average for major crops in 2050 wrt reference

Food Security

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and

economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences

for an active and healthy life.”

-World Food Summit, 1996

Food and Nutrition Security

Food Availability

Food production

Storage and processing of food

Transport and distribution

Food trade

Food Access

Intra-household distribution of food

Income

Markets

Food Utilization

Food preparation Nutrition knowledgeCultural traditions

Health careChild care

Illness management

Clean drinking waterSanitation & Hygiene

Energy saving cookstovesStability

In food availability:Natural and man-made disasters

Accumulation of stocksDiversification

In food access:

Seasonal vs. constant jobDiversification

Livelihood & coping strategiesSafety nets

In food utilization:Constant access to health care

Clean drinking water & sanitation

Burchi et al., 2011

Food Security

Food Security

Overview of CSA

Overview of CSA

CSA seeks to…

Enhance food

security

Mitigate climate change

Preserve natural resource base and vital ecosystem servicesTransition to agricultural production systems

Overview of CSA

CSA seeks to…

Enhance food

security

Mitigate climate change

Preserve natural resource base and vital ecosystem servicesTransition to agricultural production systems

More productive

Overview of CSA

CSA seeks to…

Enhance food

security

Mitigate climate change

Preserve natural resource base and vital ecosystem servicesTransition to agricultural production systems

More productive

Use inputs more

efficiently

Overview of CSA

CSA seeks to…

Enhance food

security

Mitigate climate change

Preserve natural resource base and vital ecosystem servicesTransition to agricultural production systems

More productive

Use inputs more

efficiently

Less variability and more stability in

outputs

Overview of CSA

CSA seeks to…

Enhance food

security

Mitigate climate change

Preserve natural resource base and vital ecosystem servicesTransition to agricultural production systems

More productive

Use inputs more

efficiently

Less variability and more stability in

outputs

More resilient to risks,

shocks and long-term climate

variability

Overview of CSA

Addresses the complex interrelated challenges of food security, development and climate change, and identifies integrated options that create synergies and reduce trade-offs

Recognizes that these options will be shaped by specific country contexts and capacities as well as socio- economic and environmental situations

Assesses the interactions between sectors and the needs of different stakeholders

Identifies barriers to adoption (esp. for farmers), and provides appropriate solutions in terms of policies, strategies, actions and incentives

Overview of CSA

Seeks to create enabling environments through a better alignment of policies, investments and institutions

Strives to achieve multiple objectives with the understanding that priorities need to be set and collective decisions made on different benefits and trade-offs

Prioritizes the strengthening of livelihoods (esp. those of smallholders) by improving access to services, knowledge, resources (including genetic resources), financial products and markets

Addresses adaptation and builds resilience to shocks, especially those related to climate change

Overview of CSA

Considers climate change mitigation as a potential secondary co-benefit, especially in low-income, agricultural-based populations

Seeks to identify opportunities to access climate-related financing and integrate it with traditional sources of agricultural investment finance

Evolution of CSA

2009 Food Security and Agricultural

Mitigation in Developing Countries: Options for Capturing

Synergies

2010“Climate-smart” Agriculture:

Policies, Practices and Financing for Food Security, Adaptation and

Mitigation

2013 Climate-smart Agriculture Sourcebook

2014FAO Success Stories on

Climate-smart Agriculture

Links to Previous Approaches

CSA contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals: economic, social and environmental

Uses green economy’s need for more resource efficiency and resilience

Sustainable intensification: focuses on availability dimension of food security (CSA covers also accessibility, utilization and stability)

Climate-Smart Agriculture

Sustainable

intensification

Green Economy

Sustainable

development

Evolution of CSA

So what’s new about it ?

Harmonization and

synchronization of

practices and policies

Objective of avoiding

contradictory and

conflicting policies by internally managing trade-offs

and synergies

CSA is a new approach to

guide the needed

changes of agricultural systems to

address food security and

climate changeNot a new agricultural system or a set of

practices

Overview of CSA

Create synergies between food security, adaptation and climate change mitigation

Main objective: Pathway towards

enhanced food security and development goals

ALL AGRICULTURAL SECTORS

How to address the multiple demands placed on agriculture?

AdaptationMitigation

Synergies

Productivity & income increase

CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE

CSA requires coordination across agricultural sectors…

Fisheries

Livestock

Forestry Crops

Agriculture

Mitigation Adaptation

I attack the problem

I act in response to the impacts of the

problem…can and should be both implemented

Decrease GHG sources

Increase sinks of GHG

Risk management

Strenghtening institutions

Trainings

Investments in rural economy

Decrease sources Increase sinks

Concepts of mitigation and adaptation

CSA & Synergies

CSA & Synergies

Longer-term effect

Shorter-term effect

Especially motivated with countries less

vulnerable to CC

“victims” not always

responsible for causing CC

Global

Local

Effects of climate change

Causes of climate change

Mitigation

Main differences between adaptation and mitigation

Objectives

Spatial scale

Time scale

Equity

Adaptation

Same final common target: Sustainable development

Various levels of CSA

Farm level

Landscape

Markets

Regional, national global policies

Farm Level

At farm level, CSA can aim at improving:

Crop Management

Soil Manage

ment

Water Management

Livestock and

Pasture Management

Conversion of energy sources from human to fossil fuel dependent machinery.

Increased use of fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides (dependent on fossil fuels) generally very inefficiently applied.

Expansion of agricultural land area through deforestation and conversion from grasslands to cropland.

Increased specialization in ag production and marketing systems.

Emphasizing improved and hybrid crop varieties

• Use of energy efficient technologies for agricultural power (irrigation or tillage).

• Increased efficiency of fertilizer /inputs and wider use of organic fertilizer.

• Intensification on existing land as main source of production increase rather than expansion to new areas.

• Greater diversification in production, input and output marketing systems.

• Valuing the resilience of traditional varieties

•Energy

•Inputs

•Land use

•System

•Varieties

Conventional Agricultural Intensification

Climate Smart Agriculture

Farm Level

3 main principles of CA: minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop rotations/associations

Crop Management: Conservation Agriculture and Soil-Water Conservation

• Ongoing international debate on the effects of CA on yields and resilience. • Need to customize & modify the 3 principles to various agro-ecological systems• Need to explicitly account for climate change impacts

“approach to managing agro-ecosystems for improved and sustained productivity,

increased profits and food security while preserving and enhancing the resource base

and the environment”

Source: Knowler, 2003. Positive net present values (NPV) for conservation agriculture and other soil and water conservation practices at the farm-level from a total sample of 130 studies.

Conservation agriculture (e.g cover crops, intercropping, fallowing, alley cropping,no till,

legume rotation)

Other soil and water conservation (e.g. ridging, shelterbelts, terracing,

bunding, agro-forestry, woodlots, taungya, stone lines, strip cropping, vetiver, animal

traction, drainage ditches)

89.7-90.9 % 61.4-70%

Farm Level

Crop Management

Diversify crop types and varieties, including crop substitution,

Develop new crop varieties, including hybrids, to increase the tolerance, resistance and suitability (research)

Promote seed banks so as to help farmers diversify crops and crop varieties

Increase livelihood diversification, including off-farm income sources

Farm Level

CSA can also involve changing a production system entirely:

Maize System

Livestock system or Integrated

Crop & Livestock system

Landscape Approach

DEFINITION integrated multidisciplinary process where

trade-offs and synergies are carefully assessed and appropriate landscape-scale management interventions are identified and implemented.

recognizes that the root causes of problems may not be site-specific and that a development agenda requires multi-stakeholder interventions to negotiate and implement actions.

combines natural resources management with environmental and livelihood considerations

places human well-being and needs at the centre of the land use decision-making process, respects rights and cultural values

Objective: Need to achieve food security and climate change mitigation and adaptation goals without compromising environment

Landscape Approach

Example: Ecosystem services of peatlands of the Ruoergai Plateau

The Ruoergai peatland pastures on the Tibetan Plateau: a major milk and meat producing area in China

FAO, CSA Sourcebook, Module 2, p 68, 2013

Landscape Approach

•Herders fenced parts of the winter pastures near their winter houses to create hay meadows to supply supplementary fodder to animals and decrease grazing pressures on the peatlands in spring.

Farm level

• Pilot projects by national and international organizations supported peatland restoration by replanting vegetation (forage cultivation), rewetting (ditch blocking) and establishing co-management systems.

Community and local level

•The Provincial People’s Congresses of Gansu and Sichuan approved Wetland Conservation Regulations in 2007 and 2010 to promote the conservation of biodiversity and enhance the livelihood of local communities.

Regional level

•The government of China has encouraged the ecological restoration of degraded rangelands and forage cultivation in winter pastures to reduce grazing pressure on peatlands in winter and spring.

The national level

FAO, CSA Sourcebook, Module 2, p 68, 2013

Market Approach

CSA can also be a market approach:

Such as introducing sustainable value chains to help farmers in a competitive sector.

Policy level

Example: Disaster Risk Management

Develop early warning systems

Invest in infrastructure to protect against asset loss

Protect equipped areas from flood damage and maintain drainage outlets

Support the meteorological department in collecting, analysing & disseminating weather/climate info

Strengthen community and municipality capacities in disaster management

Align national development, climate change and agricultural policies to minimize contradictions and harness synergies

Key Messages

Climate-smart agriculture is not a new agricultural system, nor a set of practices.

It is a new approach, a way to guide the needed changes of agricultural systems, given the necessity to jointly address food security and climate change.

CSA brings together practices, policies and institutions that are not necessarily new but are used in the context of climatic changes.

Addresses multiple challenges faced by agriculture and food systems simultaneously and holistically, which helps avoid counterproductive policies, legislation or financing.

Thank you!

http://www.fao.org/climatechange/climatesmart/en/www.fao.org/climatechange/epic

References

Burchi, F., Fanzo, J. & Frison, E. 2011. The role of food and nutrition system approaches in tackling hidden hunger. International Journal Environ. Res. Public Health.

Grainger-Jones, E. 2011. Climate-smart smallholder agriculture: what’s different? IFAD occasional paper No.3. Rome. (available at http://www.ifad.org/pub/op/3.pdf).

FAO. 2009. Profile for Climate Change. FAO. 2013. Climate-smart agriculture sourcebook. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2010. Assessing the

environmental impacts of consumption and production: priority products and materials.

UN-Water. 2010. Climate change adaptation: the pivotal role of water. UN-Water policy brief. (available at http://www.unwater.org/downloads/unw_ccpol_web.pdf)

Nelson et al., “Climate change effects on agriculture: Economic responses to biophysical shocks” PNAS, 2014. Vol 111(9): http://www.pnas.org/content/111/9/3274

The EX-Ante Carbon balance ToolEX-ACT Training Workshopwww.fao.org/tc/exact

From farm-based to comprehensivedevelopment concepts

Conservation agriculture

Sustainable land management

Agroecology

Organic farming

Macro

Micro

Farmingtechnics

Area - basedmanagement

Multi-functionplanning and policies

Climate smart agriculture

Valuechain

CSA among other concepts of `green‘ agriculture