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Climate Smart Agriculture:
Approaches for Implementation with Linkages to
the SmartAgri Plan
Dr Stephanie Midgley
FSD Business Planning Session, 7 September 2016
Changes in maximum temperature: 2050
Rainfall changes: 2050
• 2015-2016: Worst drought in 30 years, high temperatures
• Induced by El Niño and compounded by climate change
South Africa: climate crisis 2015-2016
• Climate variability, climate change, climate disasters
• Threats to farming and ecosystems
– But: agriculture’s contribution to climate change
• Constraints on productive land, land use decisions
– But: unsustainable management of soil: land degradation
• Growing demand and competition for water
– But: unsustainable management of water
• Growing demand for energy
– But: inefficient use of energy
• Food and nutritional insecurity
• Rural unemployment and poverty
The Challenge
The three pillars of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) are:
1. Increasing productivity and incomes;
2. Enhancing resilience of livelihoods and ecosystems;
3. Reducing / removing greenhouse gas emissions and
increasing carbon sequestration
The CSA approach involves the direct incorporation of climate
change adaptation and mitigation into agricultural development
planning and investment strategies.
Climate Smart Agriculture
• CSA is not a single specific agricultural technology or practice
• Conservation agriculture is one form of CSA but there are others
e.g. agro-ecological agriculture, organic agriculture
• All aim to build a more efficient and more resilient agricultural
system
• The CSA approach involves site-specific assessments of the
adaptation, mitigation and food security benefits of a range of
agricultural production technologies and practices, and identifies
those which are most suitable for a given agro-ecological and
socio-economic situation.
Climate Smart Agriculture
ON-FARM
• Modifying planting times
• switching to varieties resistant to heat and drought
• developing and adopting new cultivars
• changing the farm portfolio of crops and livestock
• improving soil and water management, including conservation agriculture
• integrating the use of climate forecasts into cropping decisions
• improving fertilizer use and irrigation practices
• increasing livestock herd management and nutrition to increase productivity
• increasing the storage of feed
• increasing regional farm diversity
• shifting to non-farm livelihoods
Examples of CSA adaptation
• Greater efficiency in agricultural production and the
processing chain, leading to fewer greenhouse gas emissions
per unit of product
• Reducing emissions of methane and nitrous oxide through
improved animal production, improved management of
livestock waste, and improved nutrient management
• Sequestration of carbon through conservation farming
practices, agroforestry, improved grasslands management
and restoration of degraded land
Examples of CSA mitigation
KNOWLEDGE
• Uncertain and dynamic nature of climate change – transition
to CSA is a knowledge-intensive process and demands a
learning process for all involved
– learn from past experiences with climate stress, what works
– facilitate shared learning between experienced and new
farmers/ extension personnel
– field days, exchange visits, walks & talks
– use multiple sources of knowledge and learning including science
and local knowledge
– learn from experienced personnel at LandCare, CapeNature
– read as much as possible and inform yourself (Green Portal,
SmartAgri)
Knowledge and shared learning
• Monitoring, on-farm record keeping, and documentation of
climate variability and change, impacts, responses
– what works and does not work under local conditions and for specific
farming systems
• Decision support tool needed – suggest what this should look like
– help to translate CSA into language that farmers can use for decision making
• Commodity formations (CPAC/DPAC)
– re-visit farm risk assessment processes,
– include CSA considerations into farm planning,
– capture/document CSA-related project experiences and feed back to
CPAC/DPAC
Bringing CSA into project processes
• Climate risk profiling and history (farm and sub-farm levels)
• Identify resilience requirements and relevant potential CSA
practices
• Are CSA practices being adopted? If not, why not? (identify
barriers)
• Costs and benefits of adopting CSA practices
• Prioritisation of most effective CSA activities
• Take up into farm planning and evaluation
• Flag resource needs and knowledge/skills support needs
Farm level support
Eden: Vegetable farming in Haarlem
Climate risks:• Drought & heat• Flooding• Hail• Energy needs
SMALLHOLDERS
Resilience requires:• Knowledge & skills• Technology: cultivars, disease
management• Infrastructure & services• Alien clearing for water flows
Central Karoo: sheep/goat farming in Laingsburg
Climate risks:• Lack of water
(surface and ground)• Dry spells &
droughts• Heat stress
Resilience requires:• Water infrastructure and
management• Resilient breeds• Better grazing management• Animal health management
ALL SCALES
Cape Town Metro: Khayelitsha food gardens
Climate risks:
• Winter heavy rainfall
• Sea level rise
• Heat stress
• Strong winds
Resilience requires:• Knowledge & skills• Technology: drainage,
pest management• Infrastructure & services
FOOD SECURITY