REGISTER HERE

Background and overview

Among the paramount development challenges of our era are climate change and the insecurity surrounding food and nutrition. Therefore, fostering a more sustainable food system holds the potential not only to restore the health of our planet but also to guarantee food security for everyone. Today, the global agri-food system emits one-third of all emissions. Traditionally, the increase in food production has been linked to agricultural expansion, and unsustainable use of land and resources, which also creates a vicious circle, leading to an increase in emissions.

Between now and 2050, the world’s population will increase by one-third to a projected 9.7 billion people. Most of these additional 2 billion people will live in developing countries. At the same time, more people will be living in cities. If current income and consumption growth trends continue, FAO estimates that agricultural production will have to increase by 60 percent by 2050 to satisfy the expected demands for food and feed.

Food systems are the leading source of methane emissions and biodiversity loss, and they use around 70% of freshwater. If food waste were a country, it would be the third highest emitter in the world. Meanwhile, emissions from agriculture are increasing in developing countries – a worrying trend which must be reversed. Without action, emissions from food systems will rise even further, with increasing food production and without significant climate mitigation action in the agri-food sector, the Paris Agreement goals also cannot be achieved.

What is Climate Smart Agriculture?

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is a set of agricultural practices and technologies which simultaneously boost productivity, enhance resilience and reduce GHG emissions. It is not a set of practices that can be universally applied, but rather an approach that involves different elements embedded in local contexts. CSA relates to actions both on-farm and beyond the farm, and incorporates technologies, policies, institutions and investment.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals by integrating the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) by jointly addressing food security and climate challenges. It is composed of three main pillars:

• sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes;
• adapting and building resilience to climate change;
• reducing and/or removing greenhouse gases emissions, where possible.

Although it is built on existing agricultural knowledge, technologies, and sustainability principles, CSA is distinct in several ways. First, it has an explicit focus on addressing climate change in the agri-food system. Second, CSA systematically considers the synergies and tradeoffs that exist between productivity, adaptation, and mitigation. And third, CSA encompasses a range of practices and technologies that are tailored to specific agro-ecological conditions and socio-economic contexts including the adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties, conservation agriculture techniques, agroforestry, precision farming, water management strategies, and improved livestock management. By implementing these practices, the following results can be achieved:

• Increased productivity
• Enhanced resilience
• Reduced emissions

Understanding the Climate Smart Agriculture Approach
 

CSA is not to be seen as a set of practices that can be universally applied, but rather is to be viewed as an approach that involves different elements embedded in local contexts. CSA relates to actions both on-farm and beyond the farm, and incorporates technologies, policies, institutions and investment. The following are key elements of the climate-smart agricultural systems:

• Management of farms, crops, livestock, aquaculture and fisheries to balance near-term food security and livelihood needs with priorities for adaptation and mitigation.
• Ecosystem and landscape management to conserve ecosystem services that are important for food security, agricultural development, adaptation and mitigation.
• Services for farmers and land managers to enable better management of climate risks/impacts and mitigation actions.
• Changes in the wider food system including demand-side measures and value chain interventions that enhance the benefits of CSA.

To achieve food security and agricultural development goals, adaptation to climate change and lower emission intensities per output will be necessary. This transformation must be accomplished without depletion of the natural resource base.

Objectives

The webinar aims to:

• Discuss how traditional and extant agri-food systems can be transformed into climate smart agriculture systems.
• Identify barriers and limited factors to adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture, especially among small and marginal farmers.
• Understand the multiple objectives embedded within the CSA approach, how to set priorities accordingly and the need for collective decisions made on different benefits and trade-offs.
• Identify opportunities to access climate-related financing, green agri-investments and integrate it with traditional sources of agricultural finance.

Target Audience:
 

The target audience will be predominantly :

• Cooperative leaders, representatives of member organisations of ICA-AP, and stakeholders involved in agriculture and environmental sustainability.
• Policy makers, researchers, and development practitioners interested in CSA and cooperative development.
• Representatives from relevant international organisations, NGOs, and academia.

Tentative Programme tbc

Registration

We invite participants to join us for the webinar by registering at the link available here. An invitation with Zoom meeting joining credentials will follow.

For any inquiries and further information, please contact Mr. Ganesh Gopal, Lead - Entrepreneurship Development, ICA-AP at ganesh.gopal@icaap.coop.

About the organisers

ICA Asia and Pacific Committee on Agriculture and Environment (ICAE)

The newly established committee ICA-AP Committee on Agriculture and Environment (ICAE) came into existence through the merger of two existing committees of the ICA-AP, namely the erstwhile ICA-AP Committee on Agriculture and the ICA-AP Committee on Forestry.

The new Committee on Agriculture and Environment was established in November 2023 when the 16th Regional Assembly of the ICA Asia and Pacific held on 9th Nov 2023 in Manila, Philippines ratified the proposal to establish the ICAE and along with its Constitution. 

International Cooperative Alliance – Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP)

ICA-AP is one of four regional offices of the ICA. Established in 1960 in New Delhi, India, it unites, promotes, and develops cooperatives in the region. ICA-AP serves 108 members from 29 countries (March 2024) spanning a variety of sectors, including agriculture, credit and banking, consumer, education, fisheries, forestry, health, housing, and insurance.