What is a Climate Smart Agricultural Landscape?

Kwesi Atta-Krah, Humidtropics,International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

Climate Smart Agriculture

• Agriculture threatened by and contributes to climate change

• CSA addresses adaptation to Climate Change and also contributes towards mitigation.– Making agric productive and ecologically-friendly– Food and nutrition secure over time.

• Avoids negative externalities– Environment– Natural resources (soil degradation)

• Biodiversity and diversity rich

• Landscape carrying mosaic of CSA systems, in harmony with other natural resources land management options

– Natural and/or human-modified ecosystems

• Configuration of topography, vegetation, land use and settlements

• Socio-ecological system : People and communities in center

• Influenced by ecological, historical, economic and cultural process and activities of the area

Neil Palmer, CIAT

Climate Smart Agriculture Landscape?

Climate-Smart Landscapes

Systems Thinking: Prerequisites for Climate Smart Agricultural Landscapes

Multi-component interactions, trade-offs

Role of larger ecosystemhealth in agricultural sustainability & resilience

Community engagement and Stakeholder

Participation mechanismsand Processes

- Gender relations

A system: interaction between a farming system

and livelihoods system, within a defined

agroecological space

Neil Palmer, CIAT

Integrated Landscape Management

Requires collaboration among different groups of land managers and stakeholders to achieve the multiple objectives required from the landscape.

Neil Palmer, CIAT

Agricultural production, provision of ecosystem services, protection of biodiversity, beauty, identity, recreational value, local livelihoods, human health, well-being

- Kabale, Uganda example

Food-Secure Landscapes

• Farm and forest landscapes can be “designed” to produce food year-round, while providing habitat.

• Agroforestry Systems– Trees on farm

– Tree plots within agricultural landscapes

• Proper management of wild populations in forest and uncultivated landscapes:– deer, agouti, raccoon, &

other traditional sources of animal protein

• Wild plant and fruit foraging

Ecoagriculture protects wild species and conserve habitat while increasing agricultural production and farmer incomes

Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable Intensification:• Ecological Intensification

• Genetic Intensification

• Socio-economic Intensification

Sustainable Diversification• Crop species diversity

• Wild species diversity

• Habitat diversity

• Landscape diversity

Increasing world food production for growing population cannot be done by clearing more forest land ….. Principles

Agroecological Production Systems that Produce Food & Ecosystem

Services

New Priorities for Crop Genetic Improvement and Conservation

• New varieties adapted

to/mitigate climate change

• Domesticate wild species

• Improvement and promotion

of Minor crops

• Increase resilience

• Reduce input requirements

• Reduce GHG emissions

Photo: © IFAD

Natural Area Networks for Wildlife Habitat and Watershed Protection

Who Needs to be Part of These Multifunctional Landscapes?

• Communities that live in and rely upon the landscape

• Policy makers at national, regional and local levels

• Organizations championing integrated landscapes

• Climate change research programs, such as CCAFS

• Systems Research programs, such as Humidtropics

Neil Palmer, CIAT

Diverse Landscape Challenges Require Locally-Adapted Solutions

More than 80 communities of practice

Uganda

• Integrated watershed management• Greening agricultural corridors• Territorial development• Model forests

Niger Kenya

• Biological corridors• Landscape restoration• Eco-regional programs• Others…

Photo: Piet Van Asten, IITA

A Systems Approach to Research & Development

1. Systems / Landscape

mindset

2. A “multi” R&D Team

3. Stakeholder engagement

4. Systems improvement

5. Institutional Inovation:

hard-, soft- and ‘orgware

6. Scale dimension:

7. Gender research:

8. Capacity building

9. Development orientation

10. Learning

All photos by Neil Palmer, CIAT.

Thank you!!

A Smiling Future:.. We can make it happen!!