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Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is being widely promoted as a solution for food insecurity and climate change adaptation in food systems of sub-Saharan Africa, while simultaneously reducing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions. Governments throughout Africa are writing policies and programs to promote CSA practices despite uncertainty about the ability for practices to meet the triple CSA objectives of CSA. We conducted a systematic review of 175 peer-reviewed and grey literature studies, to gauge the impact of over seventy potential CSA practices on CSA outcomes in Tanzania and Uganda. Using a total of 6,342 observations, we found that practice impacts were highly context (i.e. farming system and location) specific. Nevertheless, practice effect across CSA outcomes generally agreed in direction. While our results suggest that CSA is indeed possible, lack of mitigation data precludes a more conclusive statement. Furthermore, the inclusion of potential adoption rates changes the potential of CSA practices to achieve benefits at scale. Given the uncertainty and variable impacts of practices across regions and outcomes, it is critical for decision makers to prioritize practices based on their desired outcomes and local context.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is being widely promoted as a solution for food insecurity and climate change adaptation in food systems of sub-Saharan Africa, while simultaneously reducing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions. Governments throughout Africa are writing policies and programs to promote CSA practices despite uncertainty about the ability for practices to meet the triple CSA objectives of CSA. We conducted a systematic review of 175 peer-reviewed and grey literature studies, to gauge the impact of over seventy potential CSA practices on CSA outcomes in Tanzania and Uganda. Using a total of 6,342 observations, we found that practice impacts were highly context (i.e. farming system and location) specific. Nevertheless, practice effect across CSA outcomes generally agreed in direction. While our results suggest that CSA is indeed possible, lack of mitigation data precludes a more conclusive statement. Furthermore, the inclusion of potential adoption rates changes the potential of CSA practices to achieve benefits at scale. Given the uncertainty and variable impacts of practices across regions and outcomes, it is critical for decision makers to prioritize practices based on their desired outcomes and local context.

 ‘Climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA)—agriculture and food systems that sustainably increase food production, improve resilience (or adaptive capacity) of farming systems, and mitigate climate change when possible—has quickly been integrated into the global development agenda. However, the empirical evidence base for CSA has not been assembled, complicating the transition from CSA concept to concrete actions, and contributing to ideological disagreement among development practitioners. Thus, there is an urgent need to evaluate current knowledge on the effectiveness of CSA to achieve its intended benefits and inform discourse on food, agriculture, and climate change. This systematic review intends to establish the scientific evidence base of CSA practices to inform the next steps in development of agricultural programming and policy.

This working paper synthesizes knowledge within CGIAR on adaptation measures in agricultural systems, for the benefit of parties and observers preparing submissions to the UNFCCC SBSTA. Experience from CGIAR and partners indicate that adaptation measures covering policy, technological, financial, institutional, and research interventions are being tested and applied in agricultural systems in low-income and middle-income countries. Lessons include the need to ensure context-specificity when designing adaptation measures, engaging farmers in decision-making, and combining indigenous and scientific knowledge. Adaptation measures in agricultural systems are able to generate various added benefits in addition to adaptation benefits. These include enhanced food security, environmental benefits including mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, and positive outcomes for gender and social inclusion. However, good design and implementation of these measures is important, for which capacity enhancement and technology transfer are essential functions.Climate change adaptation; agricultural systems; adaptation measures

The objective of the Toolbox is to support programme designers and field practitioners in doing gender sensitive and socially inclusive research.

This document is an attempt to distil what is known currently about the likely impacts of climate change on the commodities and natural resources that comprise the mandate of CGIAR and its 15 Centres, and was designed as a background document for the review that the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) is undertaking.

This Working Paper summarizes projected climate change impacts on livestock across Africa, using a combination of literature review and some new results on the projected impacts of climate change on the rangelands of Africa. Findings show that there are many options that can help livestock keepers adapt, but there appear to be no options that are widely applicable which do not have constraints to their adoption. An enabling technical and policy environment will thus be needed to ensure livestock keepers can adapt to climate change and enhance their livelihoods and food security.

The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and partners developed a website presenting the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach to food security and sustainable development. The website aims to help practitioners, researchers and decision-makers working with or interested in CSA. The site helps you get started and guide you on the ground, connecting you with all the resources you need to dig deeper. For countries following up on their commitments under the Paris Agreement, CSA Guide is a useful tool to set up mitigation and adaptation initiatives in agriculture.

The website is divided into six parts:

The basics - The basics section provides users with crucial information about what climate-smart agriculture is, how it helps address important challenges, how it is different from other sustainable agriculture approaches, and suggests introductory reading materials and videos.

Entry points - The next section gives an introduction into the numerous entry points for initiating CSA programmes. To help users navigate among them, they are presented under three thematic areas: Practices, Systems approaches and Enabling environments.

Develop a CSA plan - The website presents a specific approach to develop a CSA plan. This section was developed to provide a guide for operationalizing CSA planning, implementation and monitoring at scale. It consists of four subsections: Situation analysis, Targeting and prioritization, Programme support, and Monitoring, evaluation and learning.

Finance - The finance section offers an overview of potential sources of funding for CSA activities as national, regional and international levels. It also includes options to search among a range of funding opportunities according to CSA focus area, sector and financing instrument.

Resource library - In the resource library, users have access to all the references, key resources, key terms and frequently asked questions to get a quick overview that can be used as part of or independently of the other sections.

Case studies - And finally, the case studies section shows all the specific projects that are detailed in the basics and entry point sections. The interactive map allows users to view all case studies at once or filter the search by entry points. An extensive portfolio of content, a highly visual design, and user friendly interface will allow users to find specific points of interest or follow the flow of information from the basics section, over entry points to CSA, CSA plan, CSA finance, a resource library and case studies.