Curated Content

The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the most up-to-date, comprehensive and relevant analysis of our changing climate.

This document is the rst in a series that will synthesize the most pertinent ndings of AR5 for specic economicand business sectors. It serves as a basic primer explainingthe process of compiling AR5 and its signicance.

This summary, the rst in a series, was borne of the belief that businesses could make more use of AR5, which is long and highly technical, if it were distilled into accurate,accessible, timely, relevant and readable summaries.

Other business-orientated summaries will be released as the scientic information upon which they are basedbecomes publically available, expected late 2013 and 2014.

Data presented here are the result of an analysis of the adaptation and mitigation contributions of the 162 INDCs (representing 189 Parties) submitted to the UNFCCC as of 28 April 2016, and then revised using information submitted through 31October 2016.

Analysis of agriculture in countries’ climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies finds: Most Parties to the UNFCCC include agriculture in their mitigation targets (80%) and adaptation strategies (64%); Non-annex 1 Parties note the need for international financial support to implement their INDCs and raise the ambition of their contributions; For countries to meet their targets, climate finance will need to address agriculture.

A highlevel summary explaining the conecepts and applications of climate smart agriculture.

The Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook comprises a wide range of knowledge and expertise on the concept of CSA to better guide policy makers, programme managers, sectoral experts, academics, extensionists, as well as practitioners to make the agricultural sectors (crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) more sustainable and productive, while responding to the challenges of climate change and food security.

This document is a summary of climate-smart agriculture.

Countries vary in their institutional technical and financial abilities to prepare for climate change in agriculture and to balance food security, adaptation, and mitigation goals.Indicators for climate readiness provide guidance to countries and enable monitoring progress. Readiness assessments can enable donors, investors and national decision-makers to identify where investments are needed or likely to be successful. Examples of climate readiness indicators are provided for five work areas: 1. governance and stakeholder engagement, 2. knowledge and information services, 3. climate-smart agricultural strategy and implementation frameworks, 4. national and subnational capabilities and 5. national information and accounting systems.

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 seeks to increase sustainable productivity, strengthen farmers’ resilience, reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration. It strengthens food security and delivers environmental benefits. Climate-smart agriculture includes proven practical techniques — such as mulching, intercropping, conservation agriculture, crop rotation, integrated crop-livestock management, agroforestry, improved grazing, and improved water management — and innovative practices such as better weather forecasting, more resilient food crops and risk insurance.

This report is the results of a desk based study that reviewed 14 examples of guidance on agriculture and climate adaptation and was commissioned to help inform whether a new Topic Guide would be relevant and useful for DFID. The documents are grouped according to their overall purpose:

Raise awareness (4);

Inform policy (5);

Provide sector strategies (6) and sector-specific guidance (2); and

Define technical procedures and options (1)