Gender Marker 3

This publication, Guidelines for Climate Proofing Investment in Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food Security, aims to present a step-by-step methodological approach to assist project teams to assess and incorporate climate change adaptation measures into agriculture, rural development, and food security investment projects. While the guidelines focus on the project level, an improved understanding of climate change impacts should also be used to incorporate climate change considerations into agriculture planning and policy at the country level. Though rural development projects include irrigation, rural infrastructure, agriculture production, and natural resource management, this report focuses mainly on irrigation infrastructure projects and agriculture production projects. These were selected because they represent 55% of the ADB's planned and approved investments in the agriculture sector in 2011.

Many smallholder farmers in developing countries are facing food insecurity, poverty, the degradation of local land and water resources, and increasing climatic variability. These vulnerable farmers depend on agriculture both for food and nutrition security and as a way of coping with climate change. If agricultural systems are to meet the needs of these farmers, they must evolve in ways that lead to sustainable increases in food production and at the same time strengthen the resilience of farming communities and rural livelihoods. Bringing about this evolution involves introducing productive climate-resilient and low-emission agricultural practices in farmers' elds and adopting a broad vision of agricultural development that directly connects farmers with policies and programmes that can provide them with suitable incentives to adopt new practices.

Between now and 2050, the world’s population will increase by one-third. 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. Agriculture must therefore transform itself if it is to feed a growing global population and provide the basis for economic growth and poverty reduction. Climate change will make this task more difficult under a business-as-usual scenario, due to adverse impacts on agriculture, requiring spiralling adaptation and related costs. 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. Climate change is already having an impact on agriculture and food security as a result of increased prevalence of extreme events and increased unpredictability of weather patterns. This can lead to reductions in production and lower incomes in vulnerable areas. These changes can also affect global food prices. Developing countries and smallholder farmers and pastoralists in particular are being especially hard hit by these changes. Many of these small-scale producers are already coping with a degraded natural resource base. They often lack knowledge about potential options for adapting their production systems and have limited assets and risk-taking capacity to access and use technologies and financial services. Enhancing food security while contributing to mitigate climate change and preserving the natural resource base and vital ecosystem services requires the transition to agricultural production systems that are more productive, use inputs more efficiently, have less variability and greater stability in their outputs, and are more resilient to risks, shocks and long-term climate variability. More productive and more resilient agriculture requires a major shift in the way land, water, soil nutrients and genetic resources are managed to ensure that these resources are used more efficiently. Making this shift requires considerable changes in national and local governance, legislation, policies and financial mechanisms. This transformation will also involve improving producers’ access to markets. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land and/or agricultural product and increasing carbon sinks, these changes will contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change.

This report talks about the global challenge in terms of climate change and agriculture in the World. It particularly focuses on the climate projections and the related challenges interms of agriculture in Africa. Feeding people in decades to come will require ingenuity and innovation to produce more food on less land in more sustainable ways. Climate change will exacerbate already tight resourceconstraints by making weather more extreme and variable and by decreasing average yields worldwide. In countries where the economy is heavily based on agriculture, development of the agricultural sector is the most efficient poverty reduction measure. Yet agricultural expansion for food production and economic development which comes at the expense of soil, water, biodiversity or forests, conflicts with other global and national goals. This report highlights few country examples as follows : (i) improving hillside productivity in Rwanda; (ii) natural regeneration of agroforestry systems in Niger; (iii) greening Ethiopia; (iv) linking weather risk management with social protection in Ethiopia; (v) conservation farming in Zambia; (vi) restoring Vietnam’s mangrove buffer; (vii) community managed sustainable agriculture in India; (viii) using weather index insurance to improve relief efforts in the event of drought in Mexico; (viii) erosion control in China (ix) the three rivers in China, sustainable grazing and carbon credits; (x) cooking with biogas in China; and (xi) silvopastoral approaches in costa rica and Nicaragua. The report concludes with the following findings : (i) early action is needed to identify and scale up best practice, to build capacity and experience and to help clarify future choices; (ii) considerable finance will be needed to rapidly implement proven programs and support poverty alleviation and food security goals in a changing climate; and (iii) Durban offers a unique opportunity for Africa to shape the global climate agenda and establish an agriculture work program that is informed by science and covers adaptation and mitigation.

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is a rice management practice that reduces water use by up to 30% and can save farmers money on irrigation and pumping costs. AWD reduces methane emissions by 48% without reducing yield. Efficient nitrogen use and application of organic inputs to dry soil can further reduce emissions. Incentives for adoption of AWD are higher when farmers pay for pump irrigation.

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal (CSA- RA) provides an assessment of key barriers to and opportunities for CSA adoption across landscapes by collecting gender-disaggregated data, perceptions of climate variability, and resource and labor allocation,
as well as economic assessments at the household level. This approach combines participatory workshops, expert interviews, household/farmer interviews, and farm transect walks to gather and capture the realities and challenges facing diverse farming communities.

To ensure a food-secure future, farming must become climate resilient. Around the world, governments and communities are adopting innovations that are improving the lives of millions while reducing agriculture’s climate footprint. These successful examples show the many ways climate-smart agriculture can take shape, and should serve as inspiration for future policies and investments.

The pilot projects of the Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Programme of FAO in Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania have promoted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and have been integrated into ongoing development programmes. The objective of the pilot projects was to show that smallholder farmers can improve their livelihoods and increase their productivity and contribute to climate change mitigation at the same time. The approach was to develop packages of climate-smart agricultural practices based on participatory assessments and expert consultations, implement the selected practices using a variety of extension methods and evaluate their effects on yield, food security and their potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on farms and throughout the landscape. Farmers who participated in the MICCA pilot projects reported that the main bene ts of CSA were higher yields, greater farm income and increased food availability. This is an indication that smallholder farmers can be an effective part of the response to climate change and make a meaningful contribution to reducing GHG emissions. Bringing sound, up-to-date evidence into decision-making processes can help shape policies that support CSA.

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

This latest Module of the Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook entitled Gender in Climate-Smart Agriculture provides development agencies and practitioners, policy makers, civil society, research and academia, as well as the private sector with tested good practices and innovative approaches and technologies for gender mainstreaming in climate-smart agriculture (CSA). Gender equality is equal participation of women and men in decision making, equal ability to exercise their human rights, equal access to and control of resources and the benefits of development, and equal opportunities in employment and in all other aspects of their livelihoods. Gender equity is fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. Equity and equality both need to be considered in designing CSA interventions. This module is a joint product of the World Bank Group, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).