Author: Ghulam Mustafa
What is Climate Smart Agriculture?
Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is a set of farming methods designed to increase the resilience and productivity of land affected by climate change. It’s a new name for something that has been around for quite a long time. But it’s now proving especially useful in some of the countries most affected by climate change, from Afghanistan to Zambia.
The Basics Climate-smart agriculture isn’t distinct from sustainable agriculture; rather it’s a way of combining various sustainable methods to tackle the specific climate challenges of a specific farming community. The first step is to assess the particular climate risks since a farm facing prolonged water shortages will need different strategies than one confronting frequent flooding, for example. We use a variety of tools to assess the climate risk and vulnerability of a landscape, taking the local ecosystems and the specific crop into account. Finding the right combination to manage a specific farm’s climate challenges—and to build resilience to future impacts—is what makes climate-smart agriculture “smart.”
“Climate-smart agriculture isn’t distinct from sustainable agriculture; it’s a way of combining various sustainable methods to tackle the specific climate challenges of a specific farming community.”
“Where drought and prolonged dry seasons are the main risks, a climate-smart approach might focus on planting cover crops or mulching to improve soil structure, water infiltration and retention, and overall soil fertility,” Rainforest Alliance environment director Martin Noponen explains. “In places where the risks are heavy rain and flooding, a climate-smart approach would likely focus on trenching, planting cover crops, and controlling surface water runoff with activities like vegetation barriers.”
“In other words,” Noponen adds, “climate-smart agriculture is not a one-size-fits-all approach.”
The 3 Pillars of Climate-Smart Agriculture
Any climate-smart program aims to: Improve farmer productivity, and as a result, livelihoods; make farms more resilient to climate impacts they’re facing now, and to those likely to hit in the future; and, where feasible, curb greenhouse gas emissions associated with growing food.
Here are some of the areas in which we help implement climate-smart methods:
- Crop Management
Once an assessment of climate impacts and risks has been conducted, climate-smart strategies tailored to a particular landscape, farming community, or even individual farm can be determined. In cocoa, for example, pruning is essential, but it has to accord with the local climate risks: Where there is extreme rainfall, pruning should be done more often to ensure stronger trees recover faster, whereas, in prolonged dry periods, a farmer needs to avoid pruning so much that primary branches and trunks are exposed to too much sunlight. Harvesting and fermentation (in the case of cocoa) also require different practices for different climate situations. In the event of heavy rains or excessive moisture, simple solar dryers can be created from wood frames and plastic sheets to dry beans.
- Soil Management
Contour planting, as seen here with tea bushes on a Rwandan farm, helps reduce soil erosion. Heavy rainfall can wash away fertile topsoil, especially on sloping land. Planting ground cover helps keep soil in place in the event of heavy rains—and it’s extremely beneficial in drought-prone regions, too, because it helps retain moisture in the soil. In flood-prone areas, farmers can build drainage systems to keep nutrient-rich topsoil from being washed away; trenches can also help control excess water and keep soil where it needs to be. Planting on contours, such as hills or natural terraces, is an effective way to cut down on soil erosion, as well. Mulching—applying organic matter from crop residues to the soil—can also help.
All practices that improve soil quality and structure also improve productivity—a core goal of all climate-smart agriculture. Healthy soils are also important carbon sinks that hold carbon dioxide and keep it out of the atmosphere, thus helping fight climate change.
- Pest and Disease Management
Global warming can give rise to pests and diseases that can reduce yields drastically and even destroy entire farms. Rising temperatures have helped the roya fungus, for example, to proliferate and wipe out coffee farms all over Central America. In a changing climate, the tried-and-true ways of battling pests and diseases often fail; desperate farmers may be tempted to increase the amount of pesticides, but over-application will only increase costs, harm beneficial insects, and increase the risk of contaminating people and the environment.
Climate-smart agriculture training provides farmers with the knowledge they need to apply just the right amount—and at the right time of year—to combat these newly proliferating pests. Investing in pest-resistant seedlings can also help. When it comes to weeds, we advise farmers in any climate situation to use manual weeding as much as possible, aiming at noxious weeds while leaving soft weeds that can replenish the soil and prevent nutrient-rich topsoil from eroding.
- Shade Trees
Coffee grows under the shade of trees in Peru. Planting shade trees is beneficial no matter what the climate risk to a specific farm or community: the right number of trees, of the right species, with the right amount of canopy can help protect the farm from excessive sun, harsh winds, and strong showers. Excessive shade, however, can contribute to a more humid microclimate on the farm, and with cocoa, for example, excessive humidity creates more favorable conditions for certain fungal diseases.
That’s why our climate-smart training helps identify the best tree species, the ideal number of trees to plant, and an appropriate overall shade-tree system—one that might include the use of trees as windbreaks and live fences, as well as shade for crops that benefit from shade. Especially in hotter and drier climates or areas with heavier rainfall, it is important to plant different types of trees that shed their leaves at different periods of the season to ensure a continuous canopy.
- Water Conservation
Women collecting rainwater in the Guatemalan Altiplano. Agriculture consumes 70 percent of the world’s available supply of freshwater. As the planet continues to heat up, water shortages—already a problem in many regions—will become a more severe threat. Harvesting rainwater is one way for farms to prepare for water shortages. Communities can dig ponds lined with bamboo to better retain the water. On individual farms, there are several ways to collect rainfall, from simply placing barrels outside to creating more sophisticated systems that channel rain from roofs into barrels through a series of gutters and pipes. Traditional irrigation methods can also help address water stress on farms. Using watering cans is labor-intensive and potentially wasteful since very dry earth can’t absorb large amounts of water at once—but placing bamboo sticks or bottles filled with water next to plants can create low-tech, slow-drip irrigation.
Climate change can also bring about too much water. The combination of long dry periods, which make the ground hard, followed by heavy rains, set the stage for flooding. Building drainage systems and trenches can channel excess water and protect crops from moisture-fueled diseases.
In conclusion, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is a dynamic and adaptive approach to farming that aims to address the specific climate challenges faced by different farming communities. Its three pillars focus on improving productivity, enhancing resilience to climate impacts, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture. By tailoring strategies in crop management, soil management, pest and disease control, shade tree planting, and water conservation, CSA offers a flexible and sustainable solution to help farmers thrive in a changing climate while promoting environmental stewardship.