Agriculture has emerged as an essential industry for attempts to adapt to and alleviate climate change. Making agricultural systems more resilient to the effects of global warming is the objective of climate-smart farming.
The widespread adoption of climate-smart farming is greatly supported by precision agriculture platforms, which also aim to increase agricultural output and efficiency with a minimum of adverse environmental impacts.
However, transitioning to climate-smart farming could prove challenging for farmers, specifically those in developing nations. Because of this, government and NGO encouragement and advancement of CSA practice is essential.
What Is Climate Smart Farming?
Climate-smart farming is a comprehensive approach to managing farmlands, crops, livestock, and forests that counteracts the detrimental effects of climate change on agricultural productivity.
The following three goals underlying climate-smart farming:
- Productivity. Climate-smart farming raises total agricultural productivity and increases food security by increasing crop and livestock production as well as farm profitability.
- Modification. Building up agricultural infrastructure to withstand the damaging effects of global warming is the goal of climate-smart farming. This comprises adopting steps to reduce vulnerability to dangers brought on by the climate, such as floods, droughts, or extreme temperatures.
- Attenuation. Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from farming activities, such as livestock methane emissions, sorghum cultivation, and synthetic fertilizer use, is one of the main objectives of climate-smart farming.
The three pillars of climate-smart agriculture — farming, climate, and the environment — are all intertwined. In light of this, climate-smart farming encourages fusing conventional and cutting-edge knowledge and technology to develop agricultural systems resistant to the effects of global warming.
Farmers who use climate-smart farming methods generate greater revenue while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing global food security.
Climate-smart farming techniques
Climate-smart farming uses techniques like boosting soil carbon absorption and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions to lessen the negative effects of climate change and increase agricultural productivity and profitability.
In their emphasis on comprehending the factors that affect crop productivity, soil health, air pollution, and other farming results, climate-smart farming techniques are pretty similar to precision agriculture. Next, we’ll discuss the essential methods of climate-smart farming.
Using Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties in Agriculture
Farmers who want to reduce the impact of global warming on crop production can do so by raising crops that are more tolerant to temperature and precipitation extremes.
The necessity to grow climate-resilient crops is growing as agricultural expansion into the wrong places and previously unsuitable terrain becomes the norm.
Climate-smart farming techniques, such as the selective breeding of crop varieties with characteristics suitable for the local environment, can improve production stability and reduce sensitivity to climatic threats.
You can determine which crops will thrive well in your area by taking into account the temperature and precipitation patterns that occur there.
Conservation farming
Crop rotation, using crop residues and cover crops to keep the land constantly covered, and no-till and reduced-tillage farming, are just a few examples of climate-smart farming conservative practices that are used to safeguard soil quality.
These techniques encourage agricultural resistance to climate change by improving soil health, decreasing erosion, and improving water absorption and land drainage.
Regulation of Waterways
Effective climate-smart farming techniques that can be utilized to increase water consumption efficiency and minimize adverse environmental effects include precision irrigation, drip irrigation, and rainwater collection.
These techniques make sure crops get a sufficient supply of water with the least amount of waste generated during periods of drought or unforeseeable precipitation.
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management(IPM) is a climate-smart farming technique that promotes ecological security to control pests, weeds, and illnesses. The demand for synthetic pesticides could be reduced by combining biological, cultural, and chemical methods. IPM tactics promote biodiversity, protect beneficial creatures from harm, and conserve ecosystems.
Management of Nutrients
Crop rotation, precision fertilizing, and the application of organic fertilizer are a few examples of climate-smart farming management techniques that enhance soil fertility while lowering runoff and greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic fertilizers. Less waste and higher utilization of nutrients are the outcomes of their management of this eco-friendly technique.
Livestock Control
The three foundations of sustainable livestock management are better nutrition, reduced waste, and more effective grazing. Rotational grazing, specific feed formulations, and waste management are examples of climate-smart farming practices that ranchers can use to minimize methane emissions while enhancing cattle output.
Guidelines and Training for Climate-Related Issues
To make informed decisions, farmers require accurate and timely meteorological and climatic data. Farmers can improve agricultural practices, get ready for climate-related hazards, and develop resilience if they can obtain accurate climate and weather projections and advisory support.
Agriculturalists have to employ both tried-and-true techniques and innovations to adapt to the changing climate.
The practice of precision agriculture technologies can help farmers and major agritech firms use climate-smart farming practices efficiently.
Merits of Climate Smart Farming
The widespread implementation of climate-smart farming techniques promotes farmers’ livelihoods, benefits the environment, and creates new business opportunities. Here are a few of these advantages in further detail:
- Enhancing agricultural output: Climate-smart farming techniques maximize the use of water, fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs to improve crop yields. Additionally, farmers protect their crops from heat and water stress, maintain healthy, nutrient-rich, and moist soil, and minimize pests and diseases. Farmers are therefore able to boost yields while retaining their resilience to climate change by embracing climate-smart farming.
- Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: The use of biochar in rural areas, conservation tillage, planting cover crops, and thoughtful, focused application of fertilizer are just a few of the climate-smart farming techniques advised for lowering agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
- Mitigating environmental risks like waste: Climate smart farming utilizes environmentally friendly practices to reduce harm to the environment. Conservation farming protects local plant and animal life while preventing soil erosion and preserving soil fertility. Smart water management reduces wasteful consumption to conserve water resources. IPM and organic farming decrease the need for hazardous chemical treatments, which is crucial for preserving a healthy biome. Agroforestry systems absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it, thus reducing climate change.
In an encompassing manner, climate-smart farming recommends a holistic strategy that strikes a balance between long-term preservation of the environment and both economic viability and environmental sustainability.
Demerits of Climate Smart Farming
Despite the numerous advantages of climate-smart farming, particularly in underdeveloped and rural regions, farmers in most developing nations struggle to put it into motion because of the following reasons:
- Lack of expertise and awareness: Even farmers who are eager to transition to climate-smart farming may struggle to do so due to a lack of knowledge and access to proven methods.
- High initial costs: Climate smart farming strategies may require pricey agricultural infrastructure or equipment, which is out of the price range of many farmers, especially small-scale farmers.
Market impediments: Farmers may want assistance in finding consumers because the market for climatically smart farming goods is currently small. Additionally, it might be difficult for farmers to recoup the costs associated with implementing climate-wise agriculture and turn the change into a profitable endeavour.
- Policy and regulatory restrictions: In some nations and locations, farmers may find it difficult to adopt climatically smart agriculture practices due to political and regulatory barriers. Some climate-wise farming techniques could be completely prohibited, and there could not be enough financial or technical support from the government.
- Cultural and social opposition: Farmers may be hesitant to implement innovative methods or technologies if they are inexperienced with them or if they conflict with commonly accepted farming requirements. Locals could challenge the farmers’ attempts to apply controversial climate-smart farming techniques.
The fundamental responsibility for increasing the viability of climate-smart farming and other sustainable farming methods, particularly in the unfavourable conditions of developing nations, rests with governments and concerned non-governmental organizations and communities.
The Role That NGOs and Governments Play In Advancing Climate Smart Farming
Many factors, including the accessibility of inputs, funding, and markets, the need for revenue, the degree of understanding and knowledge, and the level of understanding and knowledge influence the decisions of agriculture businesses to embrace climate-smart farming.
Governments should encourage the adoption of climate-wise agriculture methods by providing incentives and removing barriers. It is also crucial to create fresh, sensible plans and programs for sustainable agricultural development, to allocate enough resources to ensure their successful execution, and to amend current laws and regulations. The U.S. government has made a $22 billion commitment to Agriculture Department efforts that will come after CSA in the summer of 2022. This puts it at the forefront of countries implementing climatically aware farming methods.
The participation of civil society is also necessary for the adoption of climate-wise agriculture techniques to be successful. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can have an impact in several areas, including extension services, policy lobbying, testing, and scaling up of climatically smart farming systems. As an illustration, Swedish NGOs have successfully led a campaign to lower carbon emissions from Kenyan farms. Africa’s first carbon project for agriculture, which encouraged shared knowledge and better resource management, brought together almost 60,000 smallholders. Accordingly, governmental entities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can pave the way for climate-smart farming which in turn develops resilient and sustainable agricultural systems.
Equipping Farmers For Climate
Change’s Consequences
For farmers, the consequences of global warming have created unforeseen challenges and uncertainty. They must therefore modify the way they operate to fit with the geographical requirements that have emerged in the new climate.
Climate-smart farming relies on innovative techniques and equipment that may not be employed in conventional farming. Farmers and landowners must learn about agroforestry, soil conservation, and water management to effectively implement these practices. Thankfully, with the assistance of CSA skills and expertise, agricultural producers may raise productivity and income, reduce production hazards, and ultimately enhance their way of life.
Climate-Smart Farming and the World Bank Group
Climate-smart farming is now being expanded by the World Bank Group (WBG). The World Bank committed to collaborating with nations to produce climate-smart agriculture that achieves the triple win of higher production, enhanced resilience, and reduced emissions in its first Climate Change Action Plan (2016-2020) and the upcoming update spanning 2021–2025. 52 per cent of World Bank funding for agriculture in 2020 has climate adaptation and mitigation as a goal.
The WBG portfolio will also be rebalanced to place more emphasis on adaptation and resilience and strengthen its focus on impact at scale.
To fulfil these pledges, we are assessing all projects for climate risks, and we’ll keep creating and utilizing metrics and indicators to assess results and take into account greenhouse gas emissions in our operations and projects.
These initiatives will aid in the implementation of our client nations’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the agricultural sector and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for combating climate change, ending poverty, and ending hunger.
The World Bank Group additionally supports projects involving research like the CGIAR, which develops climate-smart management techniques for early detection, risk insurance coverage, and other innovations to address climate change.
The Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) National Profiles address an understanding gap by clarifying the terminologies, components, and pertinent issues of CSA as well as how to contextualize them for various national contexts.
These profiles are also a mechanism for determining a baseline for climate-smart farming at the national and sub-national levels of a country, which may steer investments and development in climate-smart farming.
Climate Smart Farming has been heavily promoted as both an alternative to the impact of climate change and the future of African agriculture.
Climate Farming can improve productivity and resilience while minimizing the susceptibilities of several hundred million small-scale farmers in Africa because agriculture remains fundamental to the continent’s development.
By maximizing the use of expensive inputs like labour, seeds, and fertilizers, Climate Smart Farming can directly benefit small-scale farmers while also enhancing food security and income-generating opportunities.
Climate Farming contributes to the preservation of natural resources for future generations by preserving ecosystems and landscapes.
However, Climate Smart Farming technologies and approaches by themselves will neither boost resilience nor enhance the standard of living for a significant percentage of smallholders who live in complex systems.
African small-scale farmers have not changed despite decades and thousands of millions of dollars invested in research, development, and technology transfer.
There is evidence that top-down command and control systems for the widespread adoption of technology are unsuccessful in resulting in long-lasting change
In general, due to the unpredictable climate changes, African farmers are finding it challenging to cultivate crops, raise animals, and catch fish based on previously known methods and patterns.
As a result, the effects of climate change should be taken into account with other dynamic elements that influence agricultural production, such as modifications to farming techniques and the development of climate-smart agricultural technologies.
This is because any crop’s response to rising temperatures will be tempered by the temperature settings that are best for the crop’s growth and reproduction.
Warm temperatures may be advantageous to certain crops in regions where they are regularly cultivated. This requires African farmers to refocus their efforts on cultivating crops that benefit from warmer temperatures.
On the other hand, if temperatures rise above the range that the crop prefers, production may start to drop
Climate-smart farming won’t ‘solve’ the underlying issue of climate change. Nevertheless, it has improved life for many of the families who were most affected by the climate catastrophic events by providing them with an easily understood way of adapting.
There is no shortage of people who have witnessed the impact firsthand and want to imitate it. Those who have acquired the techniques are passing them on to their neighbours.
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