Climate resilient and environmentally sound agriculture - Module 5

CLIMATE-RESILIENT AND
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND AGRICULTURE
OR “CLIMATE-SMART” AGRICULTURE
Information package for government
authorities

Introduction to the information package
The future of humankind and the planet relies on human activities becoming more
efficient, the food chain being no exception. This online information package was
written with the idea of providing an overview of the challenges that the agriculture
sector—and to a certain extent the food production chain—faces to feed the world
while becoming more efficient. It also explores ways to address these challenges.
Through simplified concepts and relevant resources and examples, we explore the
impacts of global change on agriculture, the impacts of agriculture on ecosystems
and possible technical and policy considerations that can help building food security
under current and future challenges.
The technical and policy considerations explored are meant to contribute towards
climate-resilient and environmentally sound or “climate-smart” agriculture—
agriculture that increases productivity; enhances resilience to global change; stops
ecosystem services deterioration; and produces economic and social benefits.
The information presented here comes from findings, experience and ideas from all
over the world, as we believe there are already elements to catalyse change. We
also believe this change has to come largely from local communities, for which
reason, wherever possible, we provide examples at local levels.
See how to use the information package.

PART I
AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND ECOSYSTEMS: CURRENT
AND FUTURE CHALLENGES
PART II
ADDRESSING CHALLENGES
PACKAGE CONTENT

MODULE 5
C-RESAP/CLIMATE-SMART
AGRICULTURE:
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND
EXAMPLES OF PRODUCTION
SYSTEMS

Module objectives and structure
Module 5. Technical considerations and examples of production systems
Objectives
Description of the different technical aspects that need to be considered in order to introduce C-
RESAP/climate-smart practices and presentation of some examples of C-RESAP/climate-smart
agriculture.
Structure
The module has an introduction to the principles that underpin climate-smart practices and 6 units:
1. Technical planning towards climate-smart agriculture: which emphasis the need for changing to
an ecosystem management based approach combined with sound land use planning.
2. Technical components towards climate-smart crop production.
3. Technical components towards climate-smart livestock production.
4. Technical components towards climate-smart fisheries and aquaculture
5. Integrated systems towards climate-smart agriculture.
6. Increasing efficiency in different systems.
Caveat
Although farmers have been adapting to different threats for many years, a clear focus on climate-
smart agriculture is much more recent. Examples may come from experiences that can be
considered sustainable and because their characteristics are promising for climate-smart agriculture.
Truly climate-smart agricultural practices will be unique to specific local conditions, but they will share
common aspects (the “components” described here) with practices elsewhere.

Food production with health in mind
• Food production and distribution must consider health as the wider goal: health of
humans and health of ecosystems
The future of people and the planet relies on more efficient human
activities, with the food chain being no exception.
Food production and distribution must consider health as the wider goal:
human health through the provision of enough, nutritious, good quality
and safe food with the least possible impact on ecosystems’ health. In
addition, interactions with other sectors should be considered in a time
of multiple challenges, e.g. the need to share water resources with other
sectors or preserving ecosystem services for other uses.
Whatever future agricultural practices are called (e.g. sound, smarter,
sustainable), their key features will be to be efficient, to become more
resilient to climate variability and change, to save, reuse or recycle
resources and to provide social and economic benefits.
Here we do not differentiate between the terms “climate-smart” and
“climate-resilient and environmentally sound” agriculture.
Checking food quality in
Tajikistan.
Photo: FAO/V. Maximov.

Sustainable systems
• Sustainable systems will provide the “win-win” outcomes required to meet the
challenges of feeding the world’s population and reduce the impact of agriculture
on ecosystems
The production of food needed by society will need to come from
intensifying production from existing resources, as there are
relatively few opportunities for expanding.
There is now widespread recognition that an ecosystem approach
must underpin sustainable crop production intensification, and that
together with increases in productivity in the livestock and fisheries
sectors, resulting systems should take human and ecosystem
health into consideration.
Sustainable systems will provide the “win-win” outcomes required to
meet the challenges of feeding the world’s population and reduce
the impact of agriculture on ecosystems. They will allow countries to
plan, develop and manage food production addressing society’s
needs and aspirations, without jeopardizing the right of future
generations to enjoy environmental goods and services.
Sustainable production
approaches used in FAO for
crop, livestock and fisheries
production (click on images).

Getting smarter in the field
• Farmers, herders and fishing communities need solutions to multiple challenges
• Food security and climate change can be addressed together by transforming
agriculture and adopting practices that are “climate-smart”
Farmers, herders and fishing communities have been adapting for
centuries, but the rate of change is becoming too fast for them to be
able to respond. Many environmental and economic challenges add to
their work, therefore they need to look for solutions that allow them to
maintain production, improve income and fulfil the demand for
agricultural products.
Food security and climate change can be addressed together by
transforming agriculture and adopting practices that are “climate-
smart”.
Here we define climate-smart agriculture as agriculture that
sustainably increases productivity (e.g. through sustainable production
intensification) and resilience (adaptation), reduces greenhouse gases
(mitigation), and enhances achievement of national food security and
development goals (adapted from FAO).
“Climate-Smart” Agriculture,
FAO.

Technical planning towards climate-
smart agriculture

Managing ecosystems, not administrative units
• Ecosystem management is more useful than management at administrative unit
level for tackling multiple challenges
Planning is commonly done at administrative division level. This
makes it more difficult to account for differences in environmental,
economic and social conditions. Managing ecosystems, rather than
administrative units, is more useful for tackling multiple challenges.
Ecosystem management is not new; in some areas planning is done
at watershed or basin (physiographic) levels. This type of
management is often done for water resources, but can become truly
ecosystem management if multiple aspects are considered. These
include production opportunities (e.g. possible future comparative
production advantages, types of agriculture, diversification
opportunities), adaptation to climate change (e.g. flood control, storm
water management, water allocation, cropping cycles), status of
resources and conservation needs (e.g. erosion control, water,
biodiversity, forestry and ecosystem services conservation) as well as
socio-economic aspects.
Ecosystem management,
UNEP.

Managing ecosystems, not administrative units
Examples
Canadian Ecological Framework
Since the late 1960s, governments, non-
governmental organizations, universities and
industry have worked to develop a common
hierarchical ecosystem framework and terminology
for Canada. The underlying principle for the initiative
was the commitment and need to think, plan, and
act in terms of ecosystems.
The principle required people to move away from an
emphasis on individual elements that comprise an
ecosystem to a perspective that is more
comprehensive. This required a consistent, national
spatial context within which ecosystems at various
levels of generalization can be described,
monitored, and reported on. The framework provides
for common communication and reporting between
different jurisdictions and disciplines. See more…
Part of a map from the National Ecological
Framework for Canada.
Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Land evaluation and land use planning
• Land evaluation and land use planning can also be part of strategies for smarter
agriculture and ecosystem management by identifying the land with the highest
productivity potential
Traditionally, land evaluation and land use planning have been
carried out to identify land potential and facilitate a more orderly
and efficient distribution of land between urban, industrial,
farmland, forest, transportation or other uses. It contributes to the
conservation of forest, farmland, grasslands or other ecosystems.
Land evaluation and land use planning can also be part of
strategies for smarter agriculture and ecosystem management by
identifying land with the highest productivity potential, land with
the highest vulnerability and land with the highest potential for
carbon sequestration under different climate change scenarios.
Modern tools of spatial analysis and climate change scenarios
can be combined in land use planning. It will be most effective
when done by involving communities in allocating land to satisfy
community needs and responsibilities for ecosystem preservation.
Participatory land use planning
involves communities in the
allocation of land uses—some FAO
approaches (click on images).

Examples
Land use planning and reducing
carbon losses
The original motivation for Oregon’s
land use planning program was to
protect commercial forest and farm
land from development. At the time
nobody was thinking about carbon
emissions.
A recent study from the Pacific
Northwest Research Station, USA
showed that this programme has
protected forest and farmland and
contributed to avoiding 1.7 Mt of
carbon dioxide emissions annually—
the amount of carbon that would have
been emitted by 395,000 cars in one
year.
Estimated cumulative loss of forest and agricultural land to low-
density or greater development in western Oregon with, and
without, the state’s land use planning programme. If maintained,
Oregon’s land use planning programme will continue to yield
carbon storage benefits. By 2024, avoided development on an
additional 83,000 ha of forest and agricultural land will yield an
additional 3.5 Mt of avoided carbon losses (equivalent to 12.8
Mt of CO2 emissions, or 0.64 Mt CO2 per year).
Source: Land use planning: a time-tested approach for
addressing climate change.

Examples
Participatory land use development
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The project Inventory of Post-War
Situation of Land Resources in
Bosnia and Herzegovina (FAO, 2004)
produced an inventory of the state of
the land resources of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and strengthened
institutional capacities to monitor land
resources, including local
administrations dealing with land
resources management.
The methodology created by the
project is an example of a
participatory approach, which could
be further expanded for climate
change considerations.
The variables that determine land use.
Source: Participatory land use development in the municipalities of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, FAO, 2004.

Diversifying rural income
• Diversifying rural income may be a strategy towards more climate-resilient
livelihoods, but new activities should show larger incomes and be feasible in
terms of land, labour, capital and market access
Diversifying rural income, an old strategy in many countries, implies the
re-allocation of some of the productive resources of a farm to new
activities, such as growing new crops; introducing livestock and their
products; embarking on value-adding activities (e.g. small scale food
processing); shifting production to preserve ecosystem services;
providing services to other farmers or food industries; and working on
non-farming activities.
Rural income diversification may be a strategy towards more resilient
systems in low productivity areas, but it needs support from policies to
ensure income generated by new farm enterprises is larger than the
existing activities, but with similar or less risk.
While growing new crops, raising animals or adding value to production
may be technically possible, they may not be suitable in terms of land,
labour, capital resources or market access.
A farmer boiling olives
that will be processed
into soap in Honduras.
Photo: FAO/G. Bizzarri.

Diversifying rural income
Examples
Conditions for non-farming activities in Syria
Rural areas in Syria are still dominated by
agriculture; nevertheless, farming is no longer the
only activity. A recent study from the National
Agricultural Policy Center in selected rural areas
concluded that promoting non-farm activities
needed:
• Improvement of the education level of rural
households;
• Promotion of the professional and technical
education to increase labour capacity;
• Promotion of the access of households to credit
markets, enhancing the productive assets of
rural households;
• Increase in investment in rural areas to create
diversification opportunities.

Technical planning
Reflections
In the past, communities have developed mainly through spontaneous actions and guided by
common sense and traditional knowledge. The multiple challenges that the world is facing are
likely to result in contradicting interests among different sectors.
Sitting at the table with the multiple sectors and actors interested in local development to plan for
local resources allocation may offer an opportunity to save resources and increase resilience.
Advanced land evaluation and land use planning tools, combined with innovative approaches to
resource management (like ecosystem management), scientific data on potential impacts of
climate, economic analyses and participatory decision making can contribute to these aims.
Do you know of any efforts of land evaluation, zoning and planning, even if not done through
scientific methods?
Did you know that as part of land use planning you could identify areas which are more
vulnerable to risks from storms, landslides or tides?
Looking at the resources on ecosystem management, could you try it in your area? Perhaps your
local environmental management agencies could provide guidelines. It is not about data, but
about thinking from a system perspective!
Which opportunities are there for income diversification? For example, how can you add value to
the produce of the area? You could look for ideas in the Rural infrastructure and agro-industries
website.

Technical components towards
climate-smart crop production

Diversifying crop systems
• Monoculture has a number of disadvantages that result in losses
• Diversification of crop systems provides an opportunity to introduce varieties that
are more resilient and may also provide economic benefits
Monoculture (the cultivation of the same species year after year in
the same place) increases pests, diseases and certain weeds;
reduces yields; has greater economic risk; results in inadequate
distribution of labour throughout the year; increases toxic
substances or growth inhibitors in the soil; and reduces biodiversity.
Change in climatic conditions and length of growing periods will
require planning for cropping patterns and varieties which make the
most of the new conditions, preserving productivity and soil fertility.
Diverse crop production and crop rotations (cultivation of
subsistence, cash or green manure/cover crops with different char-
acteristics on the same field during successive years, and following
a previously established sequence), may provide higher resilience
for agro-ecosystems. New cropping patterns should consider risks,
agro-ecological, economic and social aspects. More...
Slow-forming terraces and crop
diversification, including maize,
banana and vegetable cropping
in Kiseny region, north-eastern
Rwanda.
Photo: FAO/A. Odoul.

Diversifying crop systems
Examples
Crop diversification in
Kiaranga, Kenya
Cassava generally thrives in
challenging environments,
particularly under hot, dry
conditions.
Some experts suggest those
traits could make cassava
attractive for farmers in areas
where future hotter, drier weather
makes current staples, such as
maize, less viable.
Climatic conditions in some
areas will benefit yields of
cassava. For example, in
Kiaranga village, Kenya, yields
are predicted to increase by 9%.
Video of a farmer in Kenya talking
about her crop diversification
strategies.
Source: CGIAR- Climate Change
Agriculture and Food Security.
Suitability changes of
cassava in Kyaranga
village, Kenya.
Source: CGIAR- Climate
Change Agriculture and
Food Security.

Genetic resources and resilience
• Systems where a variety of genetic resources are available are less affected by
biotic and abiotic shocks
• Genetic resources can be used for a more efficient agriculture and adapt to
climate change
Systems where a variety of genetic resources are available are less
affected by biotic and abiotic shocks. Therefore, the preservation and
sound use of domesticated plant and animal genetic resources and
their wild relatives is fundamental in a smarter agriculture.
At a broader level, the conservation of genetic resources, as a means
of increasing resilience in agriculture, implies: characterising the
structure of ecosystems and studying their responses to climate
change; identifying species that naturally cope better with stress;
supporting breeding of stress-resistant animal breeds and plant
varieties; and allowing for the distribution of seeds of new varieties.
At field level, using genetic resources implies introducing more
productive and better adapted animal breeds and crops (e.g. more
efficient in water and nutrient utilization, tolerant to stresses),
diversifying cropping systems and using interactions between plants
and soil organisms.
Video about the
Millennium Seed Bank
Partnership.
Source: Kew, Royal Botanic
Gardens, UK.

Genetic resources and resilience
Examples
Plant breeding
Plant breeding is the art and science of
genetically improving plants for the benefit of
humankind. It can contribute to climate-smart
agriculture by developing:
• Stress-resistant or more efficient varieties
(resistant to heat, drought, salinity, floods,
and water and nutrient efficient)
• Environmentally friendly varieties (e.g.
pests resistant varieties require fewer
pesticides).
• High-yielding varieties (increasing food
production per unit area and alleviating
pressure to add more arable land to
production systems).
See also The Global Partnership Initiative for
Plant Breeding Capacity (GIPB).
A field trial of salt-tolerant
durum wheat in New
South Wales, Australia.
Source: CSIRO.
Photo: R. James, CSIRO.
Submergence-
tolerant rice.
Source: International
Rice Research
Institute (IRRI).

Retaining soil moisture
• Practices that protect crops from either excess or lack of soil moisture are
fundamental for adaptation of agriculture to climate change
Practices that protect crops from either excess or lack of soil
moisture are fundamental for adaptation of agriculture to climate
change. These include improving soil water holding capacity in dry
areas, or draining excess of moisture in wet areas.
Soil organic matter improves and stabilizes soil structure, so that
soils can absorb higher amounts of water without causing surface
runoff (therefore reducing soil erosion, inundation or flooding). It
also improves the water absorption capacity of soils during
extended drought. Organic matter in soils can be increased through
mulching with crop residues, as in Conservation Agriculture.
In dry areas soil moisture content can be increased through the use
of water harvesting. In areas with excess or heavy episodes of rain,
drainage and biodrainage contribute to reduce inundation and
flooding. See more...
Water cellars in China.
Biodrainage in Rajasthan, India.

Retaining soil moisture
Examples
Zaï or Tassa planting pits
Zaï or Tassa planting pits, are a water
harvesting technique that retain rainwater
around crops through the use of wide pits.
Pits range in size, depth and distance.
Stones may be placed on the upslope side of
the soil around the pits to help control runoff.
Plants are grown in the pits.
Manure is usually incorporated into the pits,
making Zaï pits a soil moisture conservation
and soil fertility improvement technique.
Despite the high initial labour cost, the Zaï
system has been adopted in the Sahel region
of West Africa and is now commonly
practised in eastern and southern Africa as
well.
Zaï planting in Sudan (left)
and Burkina Faso (above).
Source: Climate Program
Office, NOAA, USA.
Photo: Carla Roncoli,
Emory University.

Managing organic matter
• Organic matter is important for soil quality as it controls critical soil functions
• Increasing soil organic matter in soils can contribute to improve production and
reducing environmental impacts of agriculture
Organic matter deserves special attention as it affects several
critical soil functions. It enhances water and nutrient holding
capacity and improves soil structure, therefore practices that
preserve or increase soil organic carbon can improve productivity
and environmental quality and reduce the severity and costs of
natural phenomena (e.g. drought and flood). See more…
In addition, increasing soil organic matter levels in depleted soils
convert them in carbon sinks, contributing to offset emissions of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Management of organic matter in drylands and tropics soils, which
are generally low in organic matter, and in intensive agricultural
systems, where years of tillage have depleted organic matter, is of
outmost importance to increase the efficiency of agricultural
systems their possibilities to adapt to climate change.
Management Practices can
increase soil organic matter and
enhance soil quality.
Source: Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS).

Managing organic matter
Examples
Crop residues left on soils increase
organic matter
Crop residues are the parts of plants left in
the field after the crops have been harvested
and thrashed. Crop residues are good
sources of plant nutrients, are the primary
source of organic material added to the soil,
and are important components for the
stability of agricultural ecosystems. Leaving
crop residues on the land as mulch is ideal to
increase organic matter, especially in
depleted soils.
Crop residue is not a waste but rather a
tremendous natural resource. About 25% of
nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), 50% of
sulfur (S) and 75% of potassium (K) uptake
by cereal crops are retained in crop residues,
making them a valuable nutrient source.
Partial removal of wheat straw for fodder while leaving long
stubble in the field.
Source: Cereal Knowledge Bank, International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Avoiding further soil erosion
• Erosion control measures have been implemented in many countries; in
combination with other measures they will be fundamental for a climate-smart
agriculture
Erosion, already a serious problem in some agricultural lands, may
increase in areas with more frequent or intense weather events.
A series of measures have been tested in different countries with
erosion problems over the years and these could be used as part of
a wider smart agriculture plan. The types of measures for reducing
erosion (and therefore preserving soil organic matter) include:
• Agronomic (e.g. mulching, reduced tillage, Conservation
Agriculture);
• Vegetative (e.g. using grass or forest strips, cover crops);
• Structural (e.g. check dams, bank stabilization, stone walls);
• Management (e.g. introducing fallow, changing land use).
To be more effective, these measures are often used in
combination.
Technologies database.
Source: World Overview of
Conservation Approaches and
Technologies (WOCAT).

Avoiding further soil erosion
Examples
The World Overview of Conservation Approaches
and Technologies (WOCAT) supports innovation
and decision-making processes in
sustainable land management, particularly in
connection with soil and water conservation.
Land management specialists all over the world
have contributed to document practices for
different agro-ecosystems. These are available in
WOCAT’s information products, e.g. Sustainable
land management in practice and Where the land
is greener or the Technologies and Approaches
databases.
WOCAT also has systematic methods to
document practices and approaches, which are
useful for sharing information. If your specialists
would be interested in sharing their practices,
methods can be found here.
For greener land and bluer water (video).
WOCAT collects practices for sustainable land
management, including soil and water conservation
Source: World Conservation Approaches and
Technologies.

Increasing nutrient use efficiency
• More efficient application methods of fertilizers, soil analyses, precise nutrient
management and nutrient budgets or balances contribute to deliver nutrients
according to crop demand and preserve soil fertility, avoid pollution and reduce
costs
Macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S) and micronutrients in soils
contribute to increase yields, but they should be used efficiently.
Phosphorous is of particular concern as its sources are finite.
The effects of climate change on plant nutrient uptake are still not
well understood, but it is likely that efficient plant nutrition may be an
important component of adaptation of crops to climate change.
A combination of organic matter (either manure, crop residues or
green manure), and nitrogen fixing legumes can be used to reduce
the use of synthetic fertilizers.
More efficient application methods of organic and synthetic
fertilizers, soil analyses, precise nutrient management and nutrient
budgets or balances can contribute to deliver nutrients according to
crop demand and preserve soil fertility, avoid pollution and reduce
costs.
The growth of a plant is
limited by the nutrient that is in
shortest supply (Liebig’s law of the
minimum).
Source: Plant nutrition for food
security.

Increasing nutrient use efficiency
Examples
Green manure
Soils in many subsistence
production systems are depleted
and have poor nutrient content.
The use of green manures
(involves growing a crop that will
be worked into the soil later) is an
option to enhance soil fertility and
protect soils.
Almost any crop can be used but
legumes are preferred for their
capacity to fix nitrogen from the
air.
Green manure can be introduced
in the rotation, intercropped or left
as mulch (not tilled) as in
Conservation Agriculture.
Green manuring in Washington State using Mustard varieties such as Oriental
mustard (Brassica juncea) and White mustard (Sinapis alba). Farmers use
them after wheat harvesting and before potatoes, to improve their soils and
thereby manage soil-borne pests, control wind erosion, increase infiltration
and improve crop yields.
Source: Green manuring with mustard - Improving an old technology.

Sound pest and disease control
• A smarter agriculture needs pest control strategies that are more efficient and do
not produce adverse side effects to the environment or human health
• Integrated pest management (IPM) relies on healthy agro-ecosystems for pest
control
The “business as usual” approach to pest management (reliance
on large amounts of pesticides, some hazardous to environment
and health) still followed by most farmers, limits their potential for
practising climate-smart agriculture.
Climate-smart agriculture needs pest control strategies that are
more efficient and do not produce adverse side effects. These
include applying integrated pest management technologies
(IPM)—where ecological control is used in preference to
hazardous pesticides—supported by policies and infrastructure
(e.g. early warning systems, training, regulation and incentives to
reduce trade and use of hazardous pesticides).
See also Plant protection in Save and grow- a policymaker’s
guide to the sustainable intensification of smallholder crop
production and resources on IPM.
Examples of
plant
protection in
Save and
Grow.
A farmer using
an organic
pesticide in
Senegal.
Photo: FAO/O.
Asselin.

Examples
Monitoring pest movement: Locust
Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria) live
between West Africa and India, where they
normally survive in isolation. With heavy rains
and favourable conditions, they can increase
rapidly, gregarize and form swarms. If
infestations are not detected and controlled,
they can affect large areas.
The Emergency Prevention System for
Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and
Diseases (EMPRES) helps to strengthen
national desert locust control capacities by
improving early warning, rapid reaction, pre-
paredness, and introducing environmentally
safer control techniques. This experience can
be used to devise early warning systems for
pest control under climate change threats.
Examples of Locust desert watch.
Source: Locust watch.

Examples
Farmer field schools: IPM and
adaptation to climate change
Integrated pest management (IPM) field
schools are a means to train farmers on
ecological pest control.
The department of agricultural extension
in West Java, Indonesia, has
complemented the integrated pest
management schools with climate field
schools, incorporating climate information
within the farm decision making process.
Experience in Indonesia has shown that
the use of farmer field schools can be an
effective way of bridging this gap and this
has led to the introduction of climate field
schools (CFS).
Source: TECA, FAO.
Farmers being trained in IPM in Indonesia.
Photo: FAO/J.M. Micaud.

Increasing water productivity
• The biggest potential for physical water productivity gains is in very low-yielding
areas, which typically coincide with poverty
• There is a large scope to increase economic water productivity by switching to
higher value agricultural uses or reducing production costs
Climate-smart agriculture requires increasing the productivity of
water, or gaining more yield and value from water.
There is still ample scope for higher physical water productivity in
low-yielding rainfed areas and in poorly performing irrigation
systems, especially where groundwater is being depleted or over-
extracted. T there is also scope for improvements in livestock and
fisheries.
There are many well water productivity improvements, but caution
must be mixed with optimism. Water productivity gains are often
difficult to realize, and there are misperceptions about the scope for
increasing physical water productivity.
There is greater reason to be optimistic about increasing economic
water productivity by switching to higher value agricultural uses or
by reducing costs of production. More…
Potential for water productivity
gains.
Source: Water for food, water for
life. A comprehensive assessment
of water management in
agriculture (Summary).

Examples
Low-head drip irrigation kits in Kenya
Small amounts of water can be applied in
drip irrigation, which would not be possible
under traditional irrigation methods (flood,
furrow and sprinklers). It is with this in mind
that the introduction of drip irrigation
technology to smallholder farmers has
attracted interest in Kenya.
The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute
(KARI) has been promoting the use of drip
irrigation for smallholders. The range of low
cost drip irrigation systems in Kenya now
includes bucket, drum, farm kits (eighth
acre) and family kits (1.4 acre) for vegetable
gardens and orchard drip irrigation kits for
fruit trees. These systems can supply water
for 500 to 5,000 plants. See more…
A farm kit drip irrigation system. It can service up to one-
eighth of an acre and consists of a screen or disc filter, sub-
mainline, connectors and drip lines. The system usually gets
its water supplied from a 1,000 litre tank raised one 1 m high,
to create the pressure. A typical one-eighth acre kit with a
tank to irrigate 2,500 plants costs US$424.
Source: GRID (Issue 28), International Programme for
Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage
(IPTRID).

Using groundwater resources soundly
Examples
Drip irrigation from groundwater in Syria
A two year FAO project in collaboration with Syria's Ministry of
Agriculture demonstrated improved irrigation technology and
management techniques to farmers in four regions of Syria
hardest hit by groundwater shortages. Overall water savings
ranged from 20% to over 50%, with drip irrigation being the most
efficient and cost-effective. Farmers also reported savings in
labour and pumping costs, as well as higher crop productivity.
The project also revealed "technical and institutional factors" that
had constrained the full potential of the new technologies. One of
these was limited access to finance. There are now microfinance
schemes, which enable farmers to use water efficient irrigation
methods. Farmers are being encouraged to diversify by planting
cash crops such as almond, grape and pistachio, which also
require less water.
Sources: The Aga Khan Foundation Rural Support Programme
(SKF-RSP) and the humanitarian news and analysis service of
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (IRIN).
An experimental drip irrigation
system in Syria.
Photo: FAO/Roberto Faidutti.

Controlling and coping with salinization
• Increasing seepage due to sea level rise will cause soils in deltas and coastal
areas to become increasingly salty
• Practices to control or avoid salinization should be part of climate-smart
agriculture
Salt accumulation in soils resulting from intense irrigation, poor
drainage or seawater seepage, reduces agricultural productivity.
Increasing seepage due to sea level rise will cause soils in deltas and
coastal areas to become increasingly salty.
Practices to adapt to this include improving drainage, treating soils to
remove salts, introducing salt-tolerant species or using mixed farming
systems. In addition, cultivation systems and market opportunities for
salt-tolerant crops provide new perspectives for agriculture in salt-
affected areas.
The experience of countries dealing with salinization, irrigation and
coastal management will be useful for climate-smart agriculture.
Institutions or programmes like FAO, ICARDA, ICBA, IMWI, IPTRID,
PAP-RAC, CAZALAC, IAEA, among others, work actively on
salinization, irrigation or coastal management.
Salt management crop
systems.
Source: Colorado State
University, USA.

Controlling and coping with salinization
Examples
About 800,000 ha (20% of the total area) in
the Mekong Delta of Vietnam experiences
seawater intrusion in the dry season.
Farmers have adapted by alternating rice and
shrimp farming. They can produce shrimp
and rice on the same plot by flooding with
saline water in the dry season for shrimp and,
at the beginning of the wet season, they flush
salinity out of their fields using rain and fresh
river water before planting rice.
This system could be further improved by
considering future drought and flood
scenarios, more salt-tolerant rice varieties
(salinization is worsening), disease control
and environmental concerns.
Source: Perspectives on water and climate
change adaptation.
A farmer inspects his rice crop on the Mekong Delta,
Vietnam.
Photo: FAO/L. Dematteis.

Technical considerations for crop production
Reflections
It is likely that some of the previous considerations for crop production are already part of the
agenda of your community. What differences are there? For example, are you: applying them with
a focus on climate; thinking about future short and long term risks; acting together with other
sectors to save resources as much as possible? Also, look at them in different ways—what once
was considered sustainable may not be so anymore, as it may affect ecosystems or human health.
The challenge is to produce less with more and having the know-how. It will be a matter of taking
components and experimenting them at local levels, looking for “no-regret” options.
Which of the previous technical components of climate-smart agriculture are you taking into
consideration in crop production in your area?
Which others, not listed here, that are specific for your area could contribute to climate-smart
crop production?
How could you increase the knowledge of communities of these technology components?
Could you translate the benefits of these components into economic gains? For example, using
fertilizers in a balanced way, how much would you increase yields and outputs? Or how much
would farmers save in inputs if they adopt integrated pest management?
How does your area manage soils, water? Are your systems diverse? Are they susceptible to
pests? How are these controlled?

Technical components of climate-
smart livestock production

Livestock production efficiency and resilience
• Improvements in livestock production are needed, while minimizing resource use
and greenhouse gas emissions
Significant productivity improvements in livestock production are
needed to meet food security and development requirements, while
minimizing resource use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Past productivity gains, in particular in large scale livestock
production, have been achieved through advances in feeding and
nutrition, genetics and reproduction and animal health control, as well
as general improvements in animal husbandry. Extending these
approaches to developing countries, especially in marginal lands in
semi-arid areas and in small scale systems, where there are large
productivity gaps, will be important for smarter livestock production.
Better forecasting of risks, determination of the effects of climate
change, early detection and control of disease outbreaks and
strategies to support smallholders are also needed.
Livestock drinking from a
waterpoint in Garissa, Kenya.
Photo: FAO/Thomas Hug.

Large versus small scale operation
• Specific technology and strategies need to be adopted in different
circumstances, aiming to make systems as productive and resilient as possible
under specific cultural backgrounds
The ways large livestock facilities and small holders and pastoralists
operate are obviously different and they will require different strategies
for becoming more efficient and resilient.
In poor areas, where livestock is not only a source of food for
subsistence but also an asset, improvements in productivity may be
more difficult to realise if herders and pastoralists do not have the right
support. For instance, changing the widespread livestock herder
practice of keeping many low productivity animals, or the smallholder
practice of maintaining livestock on minimal feed that cannot produce
a marketable surplus of meat or milk, can be difficult to change
without cultural and economic changes.
Specific strategies need to be adopted, aiming to make systems as
productive and resilient as possible under specific cultural
backgrounds. Here we present examples for both types of operations.
Small and
large scale
animal
production.
Photos:
FAO/G. Diana
and I. Kodikara.

Where to produce
• As part of land use planning, areas with more potential for intensive or extensive
livestock production should be delineated, to save resources and improve
productivity
African livestock owners are thought to be among the most vulnerable
populations on earth. Yet, livestock also has potential to strengthen
resilience to climate change, as livestock production systems tend to be
more resilient than crop based systems.
A report by ILRI on improving livestock productivity in Ethiopia suggests
small stock production should be stratified and different zones
delineated for different kinds of production systems. Herding and other
extensive livestock-based systems are more suited to the lowlands as
well as subalpine sheep-based regions, whereas intensive market-
oriented systems are better suited to the highlands, where farmers
typically mix crop growing with animal husbandry.
Sources: Building climate change resilience for African livestock in sub-
Saharan Africa (IUCN), Sheep and goat production and marketing
systems in Ethiopia: Characteristics and strategies for improvement
(ILRI).
Building climate change
resilience for African
livestock in sub-Saharan
Africa. Source: IUCN.

Improving feed
• Better feeding strategies for small scale producers will come through the
application of existing nutritional principles adapted to climate change threats
Feed is the primary constraint to improving livestock production in
smallholder systems, where livestock is fed on whatever livestock
keepers have at hand.
Better feeding strategies for small scale producers will come
through the application of existing nutritional principles adapted to
climate change threats (e.g. as mentioned in Module 3, thermal
stress affects animal feeding patterns).
Livestock diets, currently dominated by crop residues and other
low-quality feeds, require more energy-rich feeds to support higher
levels of milk and meat production. Milling by-products, oilcakes,
and other agro-industrial by-products, combined more effectively
with basal diets to enhance the animals’ use of the feed, can be
used. Growing crops for animal feed will become economically
competitive as animal product demand increases.
A farmer feeding cattle fresh
fodder in Kafr el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Photo: FAO/Giorgio Napolitano.

Improving feed
Examples
Improved sheep feeding
Although Ethiopians raise vast numbers of small
stock—about 25 million sheep and 21 million goats—
the nation’s livestock sector continues to underperform.
ILRI reported the success of farmers in the Goma
District, where sheep fattening cycles (supplementing
with cottonseed meal) have been set up. Farmers
managed to fatten 15 sheep in three cycles in a single
year, translating to significant increases in income, as
households made a profits of between US$167–333
annually from the sale of fattened animals.
Farmers are using the increased income to expand the
fattening program, life improvement and to purchase
agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer and farm tools.
Source: Improving Food Production from Livestock and
Improved fattening doubles incomes from sheep raising
in western Ethiopia–Top two innovators are women.
Farmers in the project Improving productivity and
market success of Ethiopian farmers.
Photo: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI),
Improving productivity and markets success of
Ethiopian farmers project.

Reducing animal thermal stress
• Methods to help animals alleviate thermal stress will be useful to reduce the
impacts of climate change on livestock production
• Whether grazing outdoors, or in confinement, energy efficient methods should
have priority
Methods to help animals alleviate thermal stress will be useful to
reduce the impacts of climate change on livestock production.
These may include:
• Physical modification of the environment (shade, improved
ventilation, combination of wetting and ventilation);
• Improved nutritional management schemes (e.g. adjustments of
ration, fibre, fat, protein and electrolytes);
• Changing feeding patterns (e.g. cows tend to eat more feed
during the cooler parts of the day);
• Providing enough water (e.g. water intake may increase by 20%
to >50% as a result of heat stress);
• Genetic development of less sensitive breeds (e.g. many local
breeds are already adapted to their harsh conditions).
At 41°C, the risk of poultry death
is high and emergency measures
have to be taken.
Source: Managing heat stress,
Part 1 - Layers respond to hot
climatic conditions. World
Poultry Net.

Reducing animal thermal stress
Examples
Tree shade
Trees provide protection from sunlight, combined with
cooling as moisture evaporates from the leaves. To
choose which species is best, several aspects need to
be considered, including protection capacity,
compatibility with livestock and environment.
For example, Waldige (1994) studied Mangifera indica,
Caesalpinia sp., Pinus sp. and Casuarina sp. for their
performance as cattle shade in Brazil. The best shade
was given by Mangifera indica (mango tree), with the
least radiant heat load; the worst results were for the
Pinus sp. Protection is important for choosing shade
but is not everything—mango trees were discarded as
shade for cattle as their fruit is dangerous for them.
Source: Weather and climate and animal production
(WAMIS). See also Trees for shade and shelter and
Cattle - Guidelines for the provision of shelter.
Cattle protected by tree belts in Australia.
Photo: Department of Primary Industries, Victoria
State Government, Australia.

Genetic resources for a smarter production
• Farmers access to animal genetic resources will be fundamental for maintaining
production under future challenges
The value provided by animal genetic diversity should be secured.
This requires better characterization of breeds and production
environments; the compilation of more complete breed inventories;
improved mechanisms to monitor and respond to threats to genetic
diversity; more effective in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures;
genetic improvement programmes targeting adaptive traits in high-
output; and performance traits in locally adapted breeds.
In addition, animal breeding will need to account for higher
temperatures, lower quality diets, greater disease challenges,
mitigation strategies and food demand.
Farmers’ access to genetic resources and associated technology
and knowledge (e.g. more efficient converters of feed to meat, milk
and eggs) and breeds better adapted to changes will be
fundamental for maintaining production under future challenges.
Indigenous Nguni cattle, a breed
that is better suited to survive the
weather conditions in South Africa,
particularly during periods of
drought, than imported European
cattle.
Photo: FAO/Jon Spaull.

Genetic resources for a smarter production
Examples
Local breeds for coping with local conditions
The Achai cow, a local breed of the Hindu Kush
Mountains, is the smallest of all cattle breeds in
Pakistan and is adapted to the environmental
conditions of the area including rugged terrain grazing.
The small body size could be the result of natural
selection to reduce the sensitivity to fodder shortage in
harsher environments. It is a multipurpose animal
genetic resource being reared both as dairy and draft
animal.
Crossbred cattle and other introduced breeds cannot
perform optimally in the area. Documenting the breed
and selecting Achai cows with better production and
reproduction performances can help in improving the
breed’s traits and increase outputs. An action plan has
been presented to the Department of Livestock and
Dairy Development of the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, which
has initiated a conservation programme.
A herd of Achai cows in northern Pakistan.
Source: Mountain Cattle Breed for Coping with
Climate Change: Needs for Conserving and
Reintroducing the Achai in the Hindu Kush
Mountain of Northern Pakistan.
Photo: CDE, University of Bern.

Efficient management of manure
• Better management of animal manure is needed in order to reduce leach of
nutrients and greenhouse gas emissions
Factors that affect GHG emissions from manure include
temperature, oxygen level (aeration), moisture, and sources of
nutrients. These factors are affected, in turn, by manure type
(livestock type), diet, storage and handling of manure (pile,
anaerobic lagoon, etc.), and manure application (injected,
incorporated, etc.). Practices that can reduce GHG emissions from
manure include:
• General manure management practices, e.g. type and timing of
application;
• Feed management, e.g. balanced feeding, controlling frequency
of feeding, changing diet components;
• Storage, e.g. storing covered with permeable fabrics,
underground or at lower temperatures;
• Treatment, e.g. covered lagoons with gas recovery, digesting to
produce biogas, composting, adding urease inhibitors.
Covered lagoon at Iron Creek
Colony, Alberta.
Source: Manure Management and
Greenhouse Gases, Alberta
Agriculture, Food and Rural
Development (AAFRD).
Photo: Kendall Tupker.

Efficient management of manure
Examples
Manure management options for confined pig
production in rapidly growing economies
Pig production has expanded dramatically in recent
years but this has been accompanied by a high cost
to the environment.
Special care has to be given to manure management
as livestock excreta has a major impact on the
environment.
There are plenty of manure management techniques
available but they often are not well known. Also, the
farmer or the decision maker frequently has
insufficient knowledge of the economic, environmental
and public health implications of these techniques.
The LEAD initiative is preparing a decision support
tool on manure management for confined pig
production in rapidly growing economies. See more…
Recommendations on manure management from
the Canadian Pork Council.
Source: Manure management strategies to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions for Canadian hog
operations.

Improving grassland management
• Arresting further degradation and restoring degraded grasslands, through grazing
management and re-vegetation can also be part of climate-smart agriculture
• Herders and pastoralists could also play a crucial role in soil carbon
sequestration
Arresting further degradation and restoring degraded grasslands,
through grazing management and re-vegetation, are important for
smart agriculture.
This can include set‐asides, postponing grazing while forage
species are growing or ensuring even grazing of various species.
These practices along with supplementing poor quality forages with
fodder trees, as in silvopastoral systems, can all contribute to
increase productivity, resilience and boost carbon accumulation.
Herders and pastoralists could also play a crucial role in soil carbon
sequestration. Common grazing management practices that might
increase carbon include: stocking rate management, rotational,
planned or adaptive grazing and enclosure of grassland from
livestock grazing. See also Livestock grazing and soil carbon
sequestration.
Grasslands, Rangelands and
Forage Crops website, FAO.

Improved grassland management
Examples
The Qinghai project
In 2008 FAO, the World Agroforestry Centre, the
Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Provincial
Government began working with herders to jointly
design improved grazing and land management
practices that can restore soil health, improve milk and
meat production and generate ecosystem services
such as reducing run-off and flash floods and
conserving biodiversity.
They also aimed to develop a cost-effective means of
estimating and crediting the extent to which such
practices result in GHG reductions, so herders can
earn money from selling carbon offset credits on
emission trading markets. A methodology has resulted
which can be used by other areas.
Source: FAO. See also Methodology for Sustainable
Grassland Management.
Degraded grasslands in Qinghai province, China.
Photo: FAO/P. Gerber.

Disease prevention and surveillance
• Protecting animals from diseases, their spread and possible human health
impacts is important, especially early detection of new threats brought by climate
change
Protecting animals from diseases, their spread and possible human
health impacts may take different forms at field level:
• Training farmers in early detection of illnesses, recognising new
threats and increasing their access to veterinary services;
• Implementing biosecurity measures at farm level, e.g. isolating
new or sick animals, regulating the movement of people,
animals, and equipment and establishing cleaning procedures;
• Introducing identification and traceability systems, which
although expensive may reduce impacts of outbreaks;
• Making farmers participate in data collection and early warning
systems which connect animal health and climate warnings;
• Establishing emergency response plans;
• Enforcing health inspection procedures at local level.
A local veterinarian inspection in
Kazakhstan.
Photo: FAO/L. Miuccio.

Disease prevention and surveillance
Examples
Participatory disease surveillance
Efficient surveillance requires close
collaboration between government, business
and civil society. Participatory disease
surveillance (PDS) has been developed to
integrate civil society into surveillance activities.
The PDS approach was refined in Africa as an
accurate and rapid method to understand the
distribution and dynamics of rinderpest in
pastoral areas. It relies on traditional livestock
owners’ knowledge of the clinical, gross
pathological and epidemiological features of
diseases that occur locally.
The approach can be used in conjunction with
new training for potential diseases brought
under climate change scenarios. See more
resources.
A Maasai livestock owner whose cattle herd has suffered
from and subsequently been inoculated against
rinderpest in Kenya (Global Rinderpest Eradication
Programme).
Source: Towards a safer world: Animal health and
biosecurity.
Photo: FAO/T. Karumba.

Increasing livestock water productivity
• Livestock water productivity is defined as the ratio of net beneficial livestock-
related products and services to the water depleted in producing them
• Increasing water productivity is also closely related to improving animal
productivity
Livestock water productivity is defined as the ratio of net beneficial
livestock-related products and services to the water depleted in
producing them. It acknowledges the importance of competing uses
of water but focuses on livestock-water interaction.
Three basic strategies help to increase livestock water productivity
directly: improving feed sourcing; enhancing animal productivity; and
conserving water. Provision of sufficient drinking water of adequate
quality also improves livestock water productivity. However, it does
not factor directly into the livestock water productivity equation
because water that has been drunk remains inside the animal and
thus within the production system, although subsequent evaporative
depletion may follow.
Source: Water and livestock for human development, CAWMA.
Part of a framework for assessing
water productivity.
Source: Water and livestock for
human development, CAWMA.

Examples
Pastoral market chains in Sudan
Kordofan and Darfur, Sudan, are home to pastoralists who
depend on grazing livestock but the markets for their animals
are in Khartoum.
Migration corridors supplied with water and feed enable
animals to trek to markets and arrive in relatively good
condition. Watering points require effective management,
such as the provision of drinking troughs, physically
separated from wells and other water sources to mitigate the
degradation of water sources and vegetation buffers to
protect riparian areas. Once in Khartoum, buyers fatten
animals with crop residues and feed supplements procured
from the irrigation systems of the Nile.
This case exemplifies the interconnection of pastoral and
irrigated production systems and the need for area wide
approaches to their management.
Source: Water and livestock for human development,
CAWMA.
Providing drinking water in
troughs helps preventing
contamination of wells and surface
water.
Source: Water and livestock for
human development, CAWMA.
Photo: D. Penden.

Technical considerations for livestock production
Reflections
As for crop production, some of the previous considerations may be already practised in your area.
There are some commonalities that can be further explored, e.g. water productivity, early
identification and prevention of diseases, crop residue management and the need to increase
efficiency in general .
There are many opportunities for increasing efficiency in the livestock sector, as well as for
reducing its impact on the environment.
Which are the most common livestock systems in your area?
Are they extensive or intensive? What are their main features?
For the different components discussed, how could production be improved in your area?
If the effects of climate variability and climate change are already being felt, what have been the
actions taken by producers?
Which measures in your area will be feasible to reduce animal heat stress? Could farmers get
together and implement common measures (e.g. common shed or ventilation areas)?
What measures would you undertake to increase water productivity across crop and livestock
production?

Technical components towards
climate-smart fisheries and
aquaculture

Efficient and resilient fisheries
• There are a series of measures that fishing communities can take to become
more efficient and resilient
• Responses to direct impacts of extreme events on fisheries infrastructure and
communities are likely to be more effective if they are part of long-term planning
In general, responses to direct impacts of extreme events on
fisheries infrastructure and communities are likely to be more
effective if they are anticipatory, as part of long-term integrated
management planning. However, preparation should be
commensurate with risk, as excessive protective measures could
themselves have negative social and economic impacts.
As climatic changes increase environmental variation, fisheries
managers will have to move beyond static understandings of
managed stocks or populations.
There is a need for implementation of adaptive, integrated and
participatory approaches to fisheries management, as required for
an ecosystem approach.
Source: Climate change for fisheries and aquaculture, (FAO).
Fishing for mackerel off the coast
of Peru.
Photo: FAO/T. Dioses.

Efficient and resilient fisheries
Examples
Global
Climate change may offer win-win outcomes where adaptation or
mitigation measures improve economic efficiency and resilience to
climatic and other change vectors. For example, this could include
decreasing fishing efforts to sustainable levels, decreasing fuel use
and hence CO2 emissions.
Africa
The fish sector makes vital contributions to food and nutrition
security of 200 million Africans and provides income for over 10
million engaged in fish production, processing and trade. Fish has
become a leading export commodity, with an annual export value
of US$2.7 billion. However, exploitation of natural fish stocks is
reaching limits. Investment is needed urgently to improve the
management of natural fish stocks and enhance fish trade in
domestic, regional and global markets
Source: The NEPAD Action Plan for the Development of African
Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Examples of potential adaptation
measures in fisheries.
Source: Climate change for
fisheries and aquaculture (FAO).

Efficient and resilient aquaculture
• In most cases improved management and better aquaculture practices would be
the best and most immediate form of adaptation
• Aquaculture could also be a useful adaptation option for other sectors
In most cases and for most climate change-related impacts,
improved management and better aquaculture practices would be
the best and most immediate form of adaptation, providing a sound
basis for production that could accommodate possible impacts.
Aquaculture could be a useful adaptation option for other sectors,
such as coastal agriculture under salinization threats, and could
also have a role in biofuel production, through use of algal biomass
or discards and by-products of fish processing.
Integrating aquaculture with other practices, including agro-
aquaculture, multitrophic aquaculture and culture-based fisheries,
also offers the possibility of recycling nutrients and using energy
and water much more efficiently. Short-cycle aquaculture may also
be valuable, using new species, technologies or management
practices to exploit seasonal opportunities.
Examples of potential adaptation
measures in aquaculture.
Source: Climate change for
fisheries and aquaculture (FAO).

Efficient and resilient aquaculture
Examples
Aquaculture zoning and monitoring
Adequate site selection and aquaculture zoning can be
important adaptation measures to climate change. When
selecting aquaculture sites it is very important to determine
likely threats through risk assessment analysis, particularly in
coastal and more exposed areas and weather related risks
must be considered.
At the same time, the likelihood of disease spread can be
minimized by increasing the minimum distance between farms
and by implementing tight biosecurity programmes for
aquaculture clusters or zones.
An important adaptation measure is the implementation of
effective integrated monitoring systems. These should provide
adequate information on physical and chemical conditions of
aquatic environments, early detection of diseases and
presence of pest species, including harmful algal blooms. An
example is the monitoring of red tide in Chile, linked to shellfish.
Red tide monitoring in Chile in
Magallanes and Region Antarctica
Website (Spanish). Source: IFOP.
Climate change
implications for
fisheries and
aquaculture.

Considerations for fisheries and aquaculture
Reflections
Communities depending on fishing will be probably some of the most affected by climate change
and variability. In addition, current trends in some areas may mean that their production needs to
become more efficient and ecological.
Improving infrastructure and possibilities for monitoring the status of fisheries and aquaculture will
be important technical components of adaptation for fishing communities. Integration with other
agriculture sectors and planning together with them will be equally important.
What are the most common systems in your area?
How often are they stricken by climatic events? If there have been recent events, are there
records of their cost in terms of infrastructure, life and rehabilitation?
Which of the measures presented in the adaptation measures tables are being implemented?
Which are the constraints for implementation?
Are there water quality monitoring networks in your area? Are you aware of networks in
neighbouring communities? If not, could you organise different communities to set up or request
the set up of such a system?
How are current management practices compared with those considered more efficient?

Integrated systems towards climate-
smart agriculture

Integrated systems- Conservation agriculture
• Conservation agriculture is perhaps the closest approach to agriculture that
results in less land degradation, increasing resilience and mitigating climate
change
Conservation Agriculture (CA), is an approach to manage agro-
ecosystems that contributes to preserve ecosystem services by
increasing soil organic matter; reducing erosion; enhancing soil
quality; preserving moisture; and reducing GHG emissions, fuel and
labour. Conservation Agriculture is characterized by:
• Continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance;
• Permanent organic soil cover (with cover crops or residues);
• Diversification of crops (in sequences and/or associations).
In CA, mechanical soil disturbance is reduced to an absolute
minimum or avoided (reduced or zero tillage) and pesticides and
plant nutrients are applied in ways that do not disrupt biological
processes. CA can be adapted to all agricultural landscapes and
land uses and be the basis for further integration. See more…
Conservation Agriculture avoids
using tillage and burning residues
and keeps the soil covered.
Photos: FAO Conservation Agriculture
website and The paradigm of
conservation agriculture.

Integrated systems- Conservation agriculture
Examples
Conservation agriculture networks
Success stories on Conservation Agriculture
(CA) have been documented all over the
world. Examples can be found in the websites
of national and international networks
promoting CA. Examples include:
FAO Conservation Agriculture projects
Conservation Agriculture Network for
Southeast Asia
The African Conservation Tillage Network
Conservation Agriculture Systems Alliance
Professional Alliance for Conservation
Agriculture
Federaçao Brasileira de Plantio Direto na
Palha
Examples of Conservation Agriculture literature, FAO.

Crop and livestock systems: recycling
• Successful integration involves intentionally creating synergies among crops,
livestock, fish or trees that result in enhanced social, economic and
environmental sustainability
The added value of integrating crops and livestock has been
understood and practised by farmers for thousands of years and yet
these systems can hold a key for a smarter agriculture in the future.
There are multiple ways and scales in which integration can be
implemented. Successful integration involves intentionally creating
synergies between crops, livestock, fish or trees that result in
enhanced social, economic and environmental sustainability.
When managed well, integrated crop-livestock systems (IC-LS)
benefit ecosystems through increased biological diversity, effective
nutrient recycling, improved soil health, preserved ecosystem
services and enhanced forest preservation.
There are examples of functioning IC-LS, including some with trees,
pasture and fish. Combinations with Conservation Agriculture are
likely to become more common.
In integrated crop and livestock
systems synergies result in
recycling and maximum use of
resources.
Source. Integrated crop-livestock
systems, IFAD.

Crop and livestock systems: recycling
Examples
Successful applied research in Nigeria
A successful example of a mixed crop and livestock
system was the introduction of cereal-legume
intercropping to animal husbandry in Bichi, Nigeria.
Crop residues removed from the fields after the grain
harvest are conserved for dry-season livestock
feeding. Cereal stalks may also be used for fuel and
building material. At the onset of each growing
season, livestock manure accumulated during the dry
season is returned to fertilize the fields.
Improved dual-purpose (food and feed) varieties of
sorghum and cowpea, measured daily feeding of
ruminants, improved simple housing for animals (for
manure collection) and intercropping resulted in 100–
300% increases in grain yield, as well as increased
livestock weight.
Source: (Achieving more with less, ILRI).
A farmer in Bichi
village, Nigeria.
Photo:
International
Livestock Research
Institute (ILRI).
Other examples of
crop-livestock
systems in
Conservation
Agriculture (FAO).

Integrated systems: Agroforestry
• Planting trees in agricultural lands is not only cost effective compared to other
mitigation strategies, but also provides a range of co-•benefits to increase system
resilience and improve rural livelihoods
In broad terms agroforestry is the use of trees and shrubs in crop or
animal production and land management systems.
Growing trees and shrubs can increase farm income, diversify
production and spread risk. It can reduce the impacts of weather
events (e.g. heavy rains, droughts, heat waves and wind storms);
prevent erosion; stabilize soils; incorporate nutrients through
nitrogen fixation; increase water infiltration rates; enrich biodiversity
in the landscape; provide timber and fodder; raise carbon
sequestration in the system; and increase ecosystem stability.
Planting trees in agricultural lands is not only cost effective
compared to other mitigation strategies but also provides a range of
co-•benefits to increase system resilience and improve rural
livelihoods. Agroforestry has also been combined with Conservation
Agriculture systems. See more…
An agroforestry scheme in Peru:
Dagame trees, pasture and
buffalo.
Photo: FAO/A. Brack.

Integrated systems: Agroforestry
Examples
Multi-storey cropping in the Philippines
Farmers can cultivate a mixture of crops with different
heights (multi-storey) and growth characteristics, which
together optimise the use of soil, moisture, space and
increase carbon sequestration.
In this system, perennial crops (coconut, banana,
coffee, papaya, pineapple) and annuals/biennials (root
crops: taro, yam, sweet potato, etc.) are intercropped. It
is applicable where farms are small and the system
needs to be intensive.
In this particular area, coconuts are usually planted first.
When they reach a height of 4.5 m (after 3–4 years),
bananas, coffee and/or papaya are planted underneath.
Black pepper may also be part of the system. After
sufficient space has developed at ground level, in about
three to four years, root crops are planted.
See more...
Multi-storey cropping.
Source: C. Pretorius, through WOCAT.

Integrated systems: Fish and crops
• Integrated agriculture-aquaculture offers special advantages in waste recycling
and encourages better water management for agriculture and forestry
The diversification that comes from integrating crops, vegetables,
livestock, trees and fish imparts stability in production, efficiency in
resource use, and conservation of the environment.
In integrated farming, wastes of one enterprise become inputs to
another and, thus, optimize the use of resources and lessen
pollution. Stability in many contrasting habitats permits diversity of
genetic resources and survival of beneficial insects and other
wildlife.
Integrated agriculture-aquaculture offers special advantages over
and above its role in waste recycling and its importance in
encouraging better water management for agriculture and forestry.
In addition, fish are efficient converters of low-grade feed and
wastes into high-value protein.
Source: Integrated agriculture-aquaculture.
A model integrated fish farm in
Vientiane, Laos: a fish pond
integrated with floating
vegetables. The vegetables are
consumed by the farm family and
the surplus is sold at local
markets. Rice cultivation is also
practised at the pond edge.
Photo: FAO/K. Pratt.

Integrated systems: Fish and crops
Examples
India
An integrated system of fish and crops (rice, maize,
sunflower and vegetables) together with poultry and goats
was studied in Karnataka, India, on land previously farmed
with a rice mono-cropping system.
In this system, poultry droppings provided nutrients for
natural food organisms in the water for the fish. After
harvesting the fish, the nutrient-rich water was used to
irrigate the crops, which produced fodder for the goats as
well as food and income for the farmer. The results were
improved crop yields, higher income and lower energy use
compared with the traditional mono-cropping system.
Source: Channabasavanna et al., 2009.
Follow the links for more examples of an integrated fish, crop
and livestock systems in China and Malaysia.
More…
Another example of an integrated fish-rice
system (Madagascar).
Photo: FAO.

Integrated systems- Food in the cities
• Urban and peri-urban agriculture has the potential to enhance resilience of urban
populations to climate change by diversifying food and income sources
Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has the potential to enhance
resilience to climate change by reducing the vulnerability of the
urban poor, diversifying food and income sources and making
people more resilient in periods of low food supply from rural areas.
UPA is also a means to keep areas that are vulnerable to flooding or
landslides free from construction and to maintain their natural
functions (enhancing water storage and infiltration, reducing run-off)
resulting in fewer impacts of high rainfall.
To reduce risks of contamination from urban sources, farming
should be practised in low traffic areas or away from factories;
hedges and trees should be planted to minimise the spread of
airborne pollution; and the cultivation of leafy vegetables in proximity
to roads should be avoided. See More…
Video: The Sack Gardens of
Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya.
Source: Solidarités and The
Resource Centres on Urban
Agriculture and Food Security
(RUAF) Foundation.

Integrated systems- Food in the cities
Examples
A FAO programme on urban horticulture in the five main
cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has
reduced chronic malnutrition levels in urban areas and
created a surplus with a market value of over US$400
million.
The programme started as a response to mass urban
migration following a five-year conflict in the eastern
DRC; now it assists local urban growers to produce
330,000 t of vegetables annually. This compares to
148,000 t in 2005/2006, an increase of 122% over a
short period of five years.
Less than 10% of the vegetables produced by the
project are consumed by beneficiaries. The remainder,
constituting more than 250,000 t of produce, is sold in
urban markets and supermarkets for up to US$4 a kilo
for the major vegetables produced: tomatoes, sweet
peppers and onions. More…
Growing greener cities in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, FAO, 2010.
Source: Greener cities, Urban and peri-urban
horticulture, FAO.

Integrated systems: Food and energy
• Integrated Food Energy Systems (IFES) can meet basic energy needs by
simultaneously producing food and energy
Integrated Food Energy Systems (IFES) aim at addressing
unsustainable biomass-based energy sources to meet basic energy
needs by simultaneously producing food and energy.
The first combines food and energy crops on the same plot of land,
such as in agroforesty systems (e.g. growing trees for fuelwood and
charcoal).
The second type of IFES is achieved through the use of by-
•products/residues of one product to produce another (e.g. biogas
from livestock residues, animal feed from by•-products of corn
ethanol, or bagasse for energy as a by•-product of sugarcane
products).
Solar thermal, photovoltaic, geothermal, wind and water power are
other options and can be included in IFES, despite the high start•-up
costs and specialized support required. More…
A fuel efficient stove built from
locally available materials by
women in Daudu, Nigeria.
Source: Greenwatch Initiative.

Integrated systems: Food and energy
Examples
Cooking with biogas in China
By turning human and animal waste into methane for lighting
and cooking, a biogas project in China’s Guangxi Province is
reducing poverty and also helping reduce methane’s more
damaging global warming effects (IFAD).
Each household involved has built its own plant to channel
waste from domestic toilets and nearby shelters for animals
(usually pigs) into a sealed tank where waste ferments and is
naturally converted into gas and compost. More…
Anaerobic digestion in India
Anaerobic digestion has the potential to meet the energy
requirements of rural India and counter the effects of reckless
burning of biomass resources. It also offers an alternative to
inefficient and unhealthy dung-burning stoves.
Source: Altenergymag.
A woman cooking with biogas, which
she produces in her yard with the
waste from her pigsty and family
latrine in Sichuan, China.
Photo: FAO/Florita Botts.

Integrated systems
Reflections
Although farmers have been spontaneously implementing mixed systems, these may not be as
efficient as they could be. A key element of successful systems is recycling and saving as much
energy as possible and reducing wastage.
Systems that are enhanced by state of the art research, e.g. the integration of more efficient plant
or stress resistant varieties; the use of local breeds with adapted traits: or highly diversified
systems will perhaps have more opportunities.
How far does the integration of systems go in your area?
Conservation Agriculture has shown good results, although it needs adaptation to local
conditions—are your extension services aware of these systems? Often, early trials fail as not all
elements of CA are used. If it has been attempted in your area, have you integrated the three
principles? Are these systems also integrated with livestock or forestry production?
If you are experimenting with integrated systems, are you documenting them? Documentation
may be an useful way to show your progress and make the case for external help from local or
national institutions. Documentation should include details of how, where, what and whom are
implementing the systems. It is also important to document impacts beyond economic benefits,
e.g. social and ecological benefits.

Increasing efficiency in different
systems

Reducing GHG emissions from crop production
• Greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock sector can be reduced through
different activities that also lead to more efficient production
Greenhouse gas emissions in crop production can be reduced
through different activities including:
• Managing plant nutrients in a more efficient way, e.g. through the
application of fertilizer/manure according to soils needs, better
nutrient release and application methods, better manure
application methods, application of nutrients according to growth
stage, and better timing application to avoid losses;
• Leaving crop residues in soils, reducing slash and burning and
making more efficient use of fuel, e.g. Conservation Agriculture
adopts these three measures;
• Applying sustainable crop intensification measures in areas
already cultivated to avoid further deforestation, in particular,
increasing efficiency in rice systems will contribute to reduce
CH4 emissions.
Fertilization of aubergines in
holes to save fertilizer. China
Photo: C-RESAP project.

Reducing GHG emissions from livestock
• Greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock sector can be reduced through
different activities that also lead to more efficient production
Greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock sector can be reduced
through different activities that also lead to more efficient
production, including:
• Improved animal feeding management: e.g. using balanced
diets, feeding animals according to their growth stage, using
rotational grazing, feeding livestock high quality forage,
including legumes for grazing and including oils in grain diets;
• Manure management (collection, storage, spreading, treatment);
• Selecting breeds: where resources allow and breeding services
exist, replacing low-producing breeds with animals of higher
yielding breeds, more efficient or better adapted to local
conditions;
• Management of crop production for feed;
• Better grazing land management for carbon sequestration.
A farmer in Egypt feeding cows
with fresh fodder.
Photo: FAO/Giulio Napolitano.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Examples
Promising research to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions
Recent research from CIAT shows that one
promising option for GHG mitigation from crop-
livestock systems is contained in the roots of
the tropical forage grass Brachiaria humidicola.
As well as being highly nutritious and palatable
to ruminants, brachiaria inhibits nitrification.
Nitrification is the microbial process in soil that
causes the conversion of fertilizer nitrogen into
nitrous oxide.
Brachiaria’s biological nitrification inhibition
capacity could see the grass take centre stage
in the push to significantly reduce the
greenhouse gas footprint of crop-livestock
systems.
Livestock, Climate Change, and Brachiaria.
Source: International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT.

Energy efficiency
• Energy costs may only be a small percentage of turnover in agricultural
businesses but reducing them can increase profits and competitiveness
Energy costs may only be a small percentage of turnover in
agricultural businesses but reducing them can increase profits and
competitiveness. In addition, there are environmental and
reputational advantages to reducing energy use, e.g. consumers
are increasingly asking farmers to demonstrate their green
credentials. Being energy efficient and using renewables to reduce
the carbon footprint can help to enhance business. Farm carbon
accounting can be used to show the impact of reducing energy use
on farm GHG emissions.
Several aspects, from field operations to storage and transport of
produce can be improved, e.g. by considering minimum or no
tillage; regularly maintaining agricultural equipment; keeping
records of fuel use; improving ventilation or insulation in storage
areas; replacing lighting with more efficient lamps; using more
efficient refrigeration; and producing energy from waste.
Planting directly over crop
residues without using tillage
reduces energy consumption.
Source: Conservation agriculture
website
Photo: T. Friedrich.

Energy efficiency
Examples
Low energy fuel efficient fishing
Well-designed and responsibly-used passive
fishing gear such as gill nets, pots, hook and
lines and traps can reduce the requirement for
fossil fuel consumption by as much as 30–40%
over conventional active fishing gear, such as
trawls. Moreover, the use of biodegradable
materials can minimize the amount of ghost
fishing when fishing gear are inadvertently lost
as a result of bad weather.
Other innovations in design of vessels and
fishing equipment coupled with safety training
can minimize accidents and loss of life at sea,
and assist to remove the reputation of fishing
as being the most dangerous occupation in the
world.
Fishermen weaving nets in the Philippines.
Photo: FAO/F. Mattioli.

Reducing postharvest losses
• Reducing postharvest losses will increase in general the efficiency of production
for all agriculture sectors
Postharvest losses of crops can be reduced by treatments including
the use of chemical and biological compounds (e.g. fungicides,
bactericides and insecticides) and the control of temperature, relative
humidity and air, as well as improving infrastructure for packaging,
storage and transport (FAO, 1989 and 1994; Madrid, 2011).
For fisheries, reducing post-harvest losses means wiser use of
resources, reducing spoilage and discards and converting low-value
resources, which are available on a sustainable basis, into products
for direct human consumption. Reducing spoilage requires improved
fish handling on board, processing, preservation, and transportation
(FAO, 2005).
The meat and dairy sector will require more efficient refrigeration in
order to maintain the food cold-chain, to cope with increasing
temperatures resulting from climate change (James, 2010).
Improved method of selling fish
at the wholesale market at
Mercedes, the Philippines. The
fish are displayed on an
insulated ice table.
Photo: FAO/F. Maimone.

Technology options are not enough
Reflections
The section on integrated systems discussed the importance of food-energy systems. Beyond
these, integration is also the need to become more energy efficient and productive and use
renewable energies.
The previous few slides were meant to highlight some of the points where efficiency can be
increased, but they are only the start. There are plenty of possibilities, which vary with local
agriculture and other activities.
What is clear is that no matter how sound technologies are, and how much ecological benefit
they can bring, if they are not economically and socially acceptable, they will not be taken up. In
addition, if the right mechanisms to support change are not in place, this change will be too slow
and will result in further losses for communities.
The final module presents some of the tools and options that will be necessary in many places
to implement climate-smart agriculture. As with practices or technologies, these should be seen
through a climate-focused lens and look for “no-regret” options.
Climate change and all other challenges will need radical changes of mind, often accompanied
by initially tough decisions, but the more informed communities are, the more chances of
acceptance and success there will be.

Resources
References used in this module and further reading
This list contains the references used in this module. You can access the full text of some of
these references through this information package or through their respective websites, by
clicking on references, hyperlinks or images. In the case of material for which we cannot
include the full text due to special copyrights, we provide a link to its abstract in the Internet.
Institutions dealing with the issues covered in the module
In this list you will find resources to identify national and international institutions that might hold
information on the topics covered through out this information package.
Glossary, abbreviations and acronyms
In this glossary you can find the most common terms as used in the context of climate change.
In addition the FAOTERM portal contains agricultural terms in different languages. Acronyms of
institutions and abbreviations used throughout the package are included here.

Please select one of the following to continue:
Part I - Agriculture, food security and ecosystems: current and future challenges
Module 1. An introduction to current and future challenges
Module 2. Climate variability and climate change
Module 3. Impacts of climate change on agro-ecosystems and food production
Module 4. Agriculture, environment and health
Part II - Addressing challenges
Module 5. C-RESAP/climate-smart agriculture: technical considerations and
examples of production systems
Module 6. C-RESAP/climate-smart agriculture: supporting tools and policies
About the information package:
How to use
Credits
Contact us
How to cite the information package
C. Licona Manzur and Rhodri P. Thomas (2011). Climate resilient and environmentally sound agriculture
or “climate-smart” agriculture: An information package for government authorities. Institute of Agricultural
Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations.

Climate resilient and environmentally sound agriculture - Module 5

Climate resilient and environmentally sound agriculture - Module 5

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