DAI’s Farm-level Climate-smart Agriculture Assessment Tool (Farm CAAT)
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Carmen Tedesco, Senior Spatial Planning Specialist, DAI
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DAI’s Farm-level Climate-smart Agriculture Assessment Tool (Farm CAAT)
- 1. Assessing Climate Smart Agriculture at the Farm Level ReSAKSS Conference October 25, 2017 Carmen Tedesco DAI
- 2. DAI Mission and Values DAI’s mission is to make a lasting difference in the world by helping people improve their lives. We envision a world in which communities and societies become more prosperous, fairer and better governed, safer, healthier, and environmentally more sustainable. • 180 Active Projects • 90 Countries USAID 67% DFID 25% EC 4% Other 4%
- 3. Climate-smart agriculture in DAI projects Flagship climate-change adaptation project Project incorporating or facilitating climate-smart agriculture programming Central America RCCP (USAID) Kenya StARK (DfID) Mekong ARCC (USAID) Indonesia APIK (USAID) Pacific CCAP (USAID)
- 4. DAI’s flagship climate-change adaptation projects: Stimulates private sector innovation and investment, strengthens climate change governance, improves the policy, institutional, and regulatory framework, and enhances the capacity of civil society. Kenya StARK (DfID) Addressed information and policy gaps to provide communities in the Mekong basin with guidance and support to develop sustainable integrated climate-change adaptation plans; site-level adaptation activities included climate-smart agriculture. Mekong ARCC (USAID) Establishing carbon-based incentives to reduce emissions from land use; developed tools like CentroClima and Coffee Cloud to help farmers incorporate climate-change considerations and data into their decision-making. Central America RCCP (USAID/CATIE) Improving the ability of Indonesians to manage climate and disaster risk; CSA activities focused on horticulture, apple, rice farming, and sustainable production for the tea sectors. Resilience fund includes provisions for strengthening irrigation infrastructure. Indonesia APIK (USAID) Helped to build the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities withstand more intense and frequent weather events and ecosystem degradation and, in the longer term, projected sea-level rise. Pacific CCAP (USAID)
- 6. John – Kenya
- 7. Climate Change & Agriculture • Historical weather patterns no longer reliable • Shifts in: • Optimum planting windows • Timing, quantity and quality of water • Occurrence / intensity of extreme events • Number of growing degree days • Shifts in habitat suitability of species (pests, fish, livestock) • Cumulative effect of climate & non-climate stressors: • Migration • Conflict • Health • Commodity prices
- 8. FARM SYSTEM STABILITY CERTAINTYPRODUCTIVITY Commodity prices Drought, typhoons Political instability Limited capacity Labor availability Factors that destabilize farm systems Factors that stabilize farm systems Climate-Smart Agriculture Resilient Seeds Crop Insurance Reduce Global GHG Improve Climate Info Rain Tanks Commercialization Weather Uncertainty
- 10. Farm System Assessment People Equipment & Infrastructure Genetics Water Resources Energy Resources Land & Soil Resources Market Demand Information Resources Farm System
- 11. Farm-level Climate Smart Agriculture Assessment Tool (Farm CAAT)
- 13. Farm CAAT – Vermont, USA & Kenya Agricultural Belt
- 14. Next Phase… Source: Farm Africa
- 15. Some questions and a survey We are working to refine our methodology We plan to conduct a survey on CSA methods and are looking for interest in participating We intend peer review the methodology ,then conduct a more extensive pilot to test tool effectiveness Please let us know if you are interested in participating or would be interested in piloting! Any Questions?
- 16. Thank you! For Questions or more info: Carmen Tedesco Sr. Spatial Planning Specialist Environment & Climate Change Carmen_Tedesco@dai.com Jonathan Randall Global Practice Leader Environment & Climate Change Jonathan_Randall@dai.com
Editor's Notes
- DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action — action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.
- General info on the projects put on the map here (see separate notes for more details on where their activities actually came closest to climate-smart ag): Kenya StARK+ Strengthening Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change in Kenya Plus; Sept 2013–Mar 2019; GBP 28M; DFID; Noelle O’Brien = Team Leader StARCK+ is a six-year program that supports Kenya’s efforts to address climate change through stimulating private sector innovation and investment; strengthening climate change governance; focusing on a stronger policy, institutional, and regulatory framework; and enhancing the capacity of civil society. Central America RCCP Regional Climate Change Program; April 2013 – April 2018; $1.8M; USAID (subk to CATIE). The purpose of the Regional Climate Change Program is to support Central America and the Dominican Republic: 1) to establish and implement carbon-based incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, and other land uses and 2) to integrate earth observation information and geospatial technologies into development decision making. Mekong ARCC Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change; Sept 2011 – Sept 2016; $9.3M; USAID; Paul Hartman = COP. The project addresses information and policy gaps to provide communities in the basin with the guidance and support they need to develop sustainable integrated adaptation plans, increasing the resilience of rural communities to the negative impacts of climate change. Indonesia APIK Indonesia Climate Change Adaption and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan); November 2015 – November 2020; $19M; USAID; Paul Jeffery = COP. The purpose of USAID’s “Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan (APIK)” Project is to improve the ability of Indonesians to manage climate and disaster risk. Indonesia is highly vulnerable to both climate change and a wide range of weather-related natural disasters. Pacific CCAP Pacific Islands Coastal Community Adaptation Project; October 2012 – September 2017; $18M; USAID; Nick Hobgood = COP. Through the five-year implementation of the Coastal Community Adaptation Project (C-CAP), the project will help to build the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities in the Pacific region to withstand more intense and frequent weather events and ecosystem degradation in the short term, and sea level rise in the long term. Kenya KIWASH Kenya Integrated Water Sanitation and Hygiene Project; Sept 2015—Sept 2020; $51M; USAID; KIWASH is ready to support WASH enterprises to embrace the hybrid solar pumping systems to reduce electricity costs for those relying entirely on electricity to pump water. KIWASH has worked with a wholesale fruit and vegetable company on a recoverable grant program, and currently 40 farmers have been engaged for one-acre drip irrigation systems which comprises of solar powered pumps and drip irrigation kits. Another 80 farmers are in the pipeline. Eastern Europe Clima East Clima East supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation in ENP East countries and Russia; works in Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Georgia; Moldova; Russia; Ukraine; October 2012–December 2017; European Commission; EUR 8.1M; Team Leader = Zsolt Lengyel. Clima East has been developed to support the ENP East countries and the Russian Federation so that they are better equipped to realise greenhouse-gas emission reductions and better prepared to deal with climate change impacts. Specifically, this includes strengthening of the capacity of policy makers to engage in and to implement the Kyoto Protocol; promotion of dialogue with the EU on climate change; improving capacities to benefit from possible new or reviewed mechanisms resulting from the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol; strengthening of capacity for strategic planning with regard to mitigation; strengthening of capacity for strategic planning with regard to adaptation to climate change; and other policy-level support. Climate Environment Infrastructure and Livelihoods PEAKS The program aims to enhance knowledge about climate change adaptation to ensure the effectiveness of DFID’s contributions through the International Climate Fund. Developed topic guides and/or e-learning modules on gender and agricultural livelihoods with respect to climate change. Nepal PANI Nepal Program for Aquatic Natural Resources Improvement; April 2016 – Dec 2020; $25M; USAID; Allen Turner = COP. Designed to conserve freshwater biodiversity and increase the sustainable management of water resources under changing climate conditions in Nepal. PANI will work at the watershed, basin, and national levels, with a focus on the Karnali, Mahakali, and Rapti river basins in Nepal’s Mid-Western and Far Western Development Regions. The project is developing and promoting a set of climate-smart watershed-management best practices to complement the (agriculture) work of KISAN and KISAN II. Lebanon LWP Lebanon Water Project; September 2015 to September 2020; $65M; USAID; Stephen Ellis = COP. LWP aims to increase reliable and sustainable access to water for Lebanese citizens, improve water management practices, enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the public water utilities, and respond to water issues arising from the influx of Syrian refugees. The project is working with public and private partners as well as agricultural and industrial water users to decrease wasteful irrigation water usage, which will contribute to the agricultural sector’s ability to adapt to climate change. Honduras GEMA Gobernanza en Ecosistemas, Medios de Vida y Agua Activity (GEMA); Sept 2016 – Dec 2020; $24M; USAID ; COP = Carlos Rivas. GEMA is USAID/Honduras’ flagship environmental and natural resource management program for 2016–2020, with an implementation period estimated at four years and three months. A holistically designed program with three principle results, GEMA will: reduce threats in areas of biological significance and/or natural resources to conserve biodiversity and protect water delivery; increase conservation-related, income-generating actions; and increase vulnerable population’s capacity to adapt to climate variability and change. Honduras ProParque Honduras ProParque ran from Sept 2011 to Sept 2016 ; $30M ; USAID; COP = Chris Seeley. The USAID ProParque project seeks to realign the country's economic and social development trajectory with the sound management of its rich natural resource base. The project focuses on consolidating the system of protected areas in Honduras and includes work in biodiversity and natural resource management, rural enterprise growth (tourism, forestry, agroforestry), climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and clean energy development (hydropower, biomass, biofuel). Honduras EUROSAN Technical Assistance to Food Security Nutrition and Climate Resilience in the Dry Corridor (EUROSAN) Honduras; Sept 2015 – Aug 2020; EUR 4.2M; European Commission. DAI is providing technical assistance to EUROSAN (Seguridad Alimentaria, Nutricion y Resiliencia en el Corredor Seco), a €30 million food security and nutrition project funded by the EC. EUROSAN works in the dry corridor in Honduras, home to some of the country's most marginalised citizens. DAI will assist EUROSAN in building sustainable agricultural systems to enhance production, whilst safeguarding production systems against climate change and strengthening the capacity of local institutions in line with the broader goals of EUROSAN. Afghanistan RADP North Regional Agricultural Development Program – North; May 2014 – May 2019; $78M; USAID; Rich Magnani = COP. RADP-North, which will be based in Mazar-i-Sharif, will improve food and economic security for rural Afghans by improving the productivity and profitability of the wheat, high-value crop, and livestock value chains. One of the stated ambitions at the beginning of the program was to look at the impact seasonal weather had on agriculture within the RADP-N area; the project therefore undertook an exercise to use a number of datasets to assess the vulnerability of agricultural areas to meteorological impacts. Bangladesh AVC Bangladesh Agricultural Value Chains; August 2013 – July 2018; $34M; USAID; Michael Field = COP. Funded under the Feed the Future initiative, AVC will enhance long-term food security in the Southern Delta by applying a market systems approach. The project target zone faces unique and significant climate-based threats (cyclones, saline intrusion), soils with organic matter deficits, poor transport channels, limited or nonexistent cold chain services, unreliable electric power delivery, and very few processors. Value chains were selected based partially on crops that would increase resilience to climate change within the agricultural sector. Mozambique INOVO [USAID] Feed the Future Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity; Feb 2017–Feb 2022; $21M; USAID; Luca Crudeli = COP. The USAID Feed the Future Mozambique Agricultural Innovations Activity (FTF Inova) is a five-year project that seeks to increase equitable growth and incomes in the agriculture sector in Mozambique by increasing the competitiveness of selected value chains, expanding the number of enterprises that can compete and upgrade their products and services in selected markets, and improving relationships and linkages between those firms and other market participants throughout the value chains. Mozambique INOVAGRO II [SDC] Innovation for Agribusiness; Jan 2014 – Dec 2017; $8M; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Nephas Munyeche = Team Lead. Agriculture is one of the main economic activities in Northern Mozambique. Small scale farmers dominate the agricultural sector mainly engaging in subsistence farming. Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) seeks to improve smallholder farmer’s incomes through their increased participation in commercial agribusiness value chains. Assistance Technique a la Coordination Nationale du Programme Sucre « Technical assistance to the coordination of the national sugar program » ; August 2016 – March 2018; EUR 300k ; European Commission; Corina-Maria Campian = coordinator. The purpose of this programme is to contribute to the economic growth of the Republic of Congo by diversifying the agricultural sector and allow it to better withstand external shocks, especially changes in the price of oil. Africa Lead II Feed the Future - Building Capacity for African Agricultural Transformation; October 2013 – September 2018; $95M; USAID; David Tardif-Douglin = COP. Lead supported the formulation of a second generation of regional agriculture investment plans in ECOWAS to reduce food vulnerability. Supported other USAID agriculture projects across Africa to develop resilience strategies, including to climate change. Haiti AVANSE Haiti Appui à la Valorisation du potentiel Agricole du Nord, pour la Sécurité Economique et environnementale (formerly "Feed the Future Partnership: Northern Corridor project"); April 2013 – who knows when it will end, really ?; $87M ; USAID ; Jonathan Greenham = COP. On AVANSE, DAI is working with Haitian partners to strengthen market systems and improve infrastructure, demonstrating to farmers the economic potential of innovative production technologies and incentivizing value chain actors to adopt a commercial and sustainable approach that leverages the potential of micro and small entrepreneurs. The project is implementing the SRI method of rice cultivation which requires fewer water and fertilizer inputs and is more resilient to drought. The project’s irrigation activities will reduce farmer’s vulnerability to flooding. The project’s watershed management activities are focused on agro-forestry systems constructed uphill from vulnerable cropland, which is designed to help farmers adapt to more severe storms. Southern Africa SEED Feed the Future Southern Africa Seed Trade Project; Dec 2015 – Dec 2020; $18.2M; USAID; Greg Maassen = COP. The purpose of this contract is to provide technical assistance to implement the Harmonized Seed Regulations (HSR) in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The HSR will allow seed trade across the region, integrating smaller and isolated national seed markets into one larger SADC market for seeds. This will increase availability of new improved varieties and high-quality seeds of targeted crops in Feed the Future focus countries. The HSR are part of a package of regional policy coherence to improve agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security. The project is exploring trade policy support for drought-resistant and more climate-adaptive seeds.
- Full notes on these five programs: Kenya StARK+ Strengthening Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change in Kenya Plus; Sept 2013–Mar 2019; GBP 28M; DFID; Noelle O’Brien = Team Leader StARCK+ is a six-year program that supports Kenya’s efforts to address climate change through stimulating private sector innovation and investment; strengthening climate change governance; focusing on a stronger policy, institutional, and regulatory framework; and enhancing the capacity of civil society. The focus of StARCK+ is generating clean, renewable energy by supporting climate innovation in Kenya’s private sector. The climate-smart agriculture component aims to support the scaling up of innovation and investment in adaptation and resilience with low-carbon products, services, and assets in the agricultural sector by providing repayable grants to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their agribusiness partners for lending to farmers and agribusiness actors engaged in the production of staple commodities in Kenya. The FICCF has signed contracts with Rafiki Microfinance Bank, Ecumenical Loan Fund (ECLOF) Kenya, Century Microfinance Bank, and Inuka Africa MFI to offer loans for sorghum, dairy, indigenous chicken, and cassava. Rafiki Bank and Partners are involved in lending funds to up to 4,000 farmers in the cassava and sorghum value chains in Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, and Kisumu counties. Century Micofinance Bank is lending funds to three chicken processors and partner farmers in Bungoma, Kakamega, Siaya, and Kisumu counties. ECLOF, MFI, and Inuka Africa MFI are lending funds to almost 2,500 dairy farmers who make daily milk deliveries to dairies in Embu, Nyeri, Bomet, Uasin Gichu, Nyandarua, and Nakuru counties. Targeted down-scaled weather and climate information and agro-focused weather advisory services are provided to aggregators, extension agents, and farmers to increase the adaptive capacity and resilience for crop-based interventions and for responsive dairy healthcare and forage production. A hybrid of index-based weather insurance (for rainfall and drought) and indemnity-based peril insurance was piloted for the 2016 short rains sorghum crop. Asset-based insurance is also being provided to dairy and chicken farmers, while credit life cover is provided for all the loans issued. Technical assistance provided to the Government of Kenya supports the implementation of targeted climate change governance reforms to scale up innovation and investment in low-carbon and climate-resilient development. See also the website write-up: https://www.dai.com/our-work/projects/kenya-strengthening-adaptation-and-resilience-climate-change-kenya-plus-starck Central America RCCP Regional Climate Change Program; April 2013 – April 2018; $1.8M; USAID (subk to CATIE). The purpose of the Regional Climate Change Program is to support Central America and the Dominican Republic: 1) to establish and implement carbon-based incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation, forest degradation, and other land uses and 2) to integrate earth observation information and geospatial technologies into development decision making. Development Alternatives Inc., (DAI) is a partner on the RCCP program and works with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on creating a demand-driven climate information platform—Regional Climate Clearinghouse (RCCh)—where regional leaders and other stakeholders can access climate change data and decision support tools to make more informed adaptation decisions. RCCP is identifying solutions and action plans to permit the countries and territories of Central America and the Dominican Republic to respond to the effects of climate change. DAI has implemented a regional clearinghouse (CentroClima), established an alliance of key stakeholders to sustain the site, and promoted the development of decision-support tools for climate change adaptation, biodiversity, and water. As part of its work on RCCP, DAI hosted the NASA Space Apps Challenge in Costa Rica in 2015 in partnership with Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica. Youth participants in the challenge created the “Coffee Cloud”—an app that centralizes and disseminates information and connects decision makers around daily and seasonal forecasting for coffee crops, and reports outbreaks of diseases such as rust that affect coffee beans. CentroClima connected to weather and climate data in all Central American countries and the Dominican Republic; identified long-term host for platform that can be accessed via mobile device or the internet. The CentroClima portal aggregates climate data in a clear, usable format. Second, DAI and CATIE have ensured that CentroClima is a bridge between climate specialists and its audience of end users, which includes civil society, local and national government officials and policy makers, regional trade associations and other private sector actors, academics, researchers, agriculture/food security experts, and individual coffee growers and fishermen. The platform empowers end users to make better informed decisions to improve livelihoods and mitigate the effects of climate change in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Organizations like the Guatemala National Association of Coffee (ANACAFE) and the Central America Fisheries and Aquaculture Organization (OPESCA) have expressed their excitement over CentroClima and its mobile data apps ClimaPesca and Coffee Cloud. ANACAFE has stated interest in making Coffee Cloud their official app and has indicated their support for identifying ways to finance its maintenance and improvement. DAI’s work on CentroClima involved creating data sharing protocols and coordinating between 18 Central American government agencies. Four decision-support tools created: Coffee Cloud, Forest Guardian, HidroClima, and ClimaPesca. Coffee Cloud app adopted by three coffee associations in Guatemala and Nicaragua as their official tool to respond to coffee rust and improve production throughout the region. Used for more than 1,200 producers and coffee technicians in the region. Clima Pesca in use by approximately 7,000 fishermen and adopted as a tool of OSPESCA (regional fisheries organization). Partnered with NASA teams to host a capacity building workshop connecting technologists to NASA’s GeoSocial API in order to incorporate existing NASA data into the decision support tools for RCCP. Hidro Clima has converted real-time precipitation information for specific watersheds into actionable insights for small hydroelectricity producers. Mekong ARCC Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change; Sept 2011 – Sept 2016; $9.3M; USAID; Paul Hartman = COP. The project addresses information and policy gaps to provide communities in the basin with the guidance and support they need to develop sustainable integrated adaptation plans, increasing the resilience of rural communities to the negative impacts of climate change. One of the results is demonstrate and scale-up model actions for integrated approaches to climate change adaptation; adaptation activities taken at USAID Mekong ARCC sites include improved rice-shrimp farming techniques, climate-smart pig raising, integrated farming and agriculture diversification, water storage and filtration initiatives, household frog and fish ponds, and small-scale water supply infrastructure. The Climate Risks for Rural Livelihoods: Agriculture and Water Management in the Lower Mekong Basin publication produced under ARCC highlighted common risks faced (storms, droughts, etc.) with common adaptation strategies for livelihoods sectors present across the LMB (livestock, fisheries, etc.) and water resources management practices. One of the thematic reports focused on agriculture. The USAID Mekong ARCC Decision Making Framework is a foundational process in implementing rural adaptation programming, particularly in developing local engagement; climate-smart agriculture was therefore an important piece of this. The project led climate financing workshops which included improved/diversified [climate-smart] crops as one of the focus areas. The project’s regional adaptation projects included: 2 dykes and 1 canal constructed through FFA scheme (improved water management for agriculture); 6 Solar Power Stations installed, 125 Batteries, 125 Motor Pumps, 120 watering systems, 5 foot pumps, 6 ponds, 57 wells are supported under CCA in water sources management by end of June 2016 (improved water management for agriculture); One weather station installed at Kok Klang School with two teachers trained on how to collect weather information and plan to disseminate information through children to parents (improved meteo information for farming families); Three water-management committees established with rules and regulations in place to manage and maintain the village water systems (includes provisions on conserving 550 ha of forests in the water catchment areas to preserve water for the villages); 93 HHs of 5 villages planted seedlings of robust crops (fruit trees, Assam tea, pepper, bamboos, and edible rattan) in their gardens/orchards. Of these 46 monitored HHs showed 80% survival rate despite severe droughts from 2014-2016 El Nino event. 15 HHs successfully planted native rice varieties with 5.5 tons of annual yields (2.2 ha); 33 HHs participated in the rice-shrimp-with-nursery model, which increased overall income from the land; 84% of participants reported they would continue using the model. 72 fish ponds and 136 compost pits constructed through the Food for Assets (FFA) scheme. Villagers reported that home gardens served as food and supplementary income sources. Indonesia APIK Indonesia Climate Change Adaption and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan); November 2015 – November 2020; $19M; USAID; Paul Jeffery = COP. The purpose of USAID’s “Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan (APIK)” Project is to improve the ability of Indonesians to manage climate and disaster risk. Indonesia is highly vulnerable to both climate change and a wide range of weather-related natural disasters. Climate-smart agriculture activities will be focused on horticulture, apple, rice farming, and sustainable production for the tea sectors. Resilience fund activities include support to the University of Brawijaya on development of a water irrigation tool for agriculture in Sidoarjo and Batu. The project is working with the Association of District Governments to pilot community-based climate-change activities such as planting new crop varieties that are resistant to climate change or intercropping to diversify livelihoods. The project is working with the local government in the Mojokerto District (one of the agricultural centres of East Java—rice, sugarcane, and maize) to reduce agricultural climate risk. APIK will establish a climate change working group, conduct a vulnerability assessment, facilitate community adaptation action planning, fund a flood early warning system, and develop a district action plan for climate change adaptation and disaster risk resilience. Pacific CCAP Pacific Islands Coastal Community Adaptation Project; October 2012 – September 2017; $18M; USAID; Nick Hobgood = COP. Through the five-year implementation of the Coastal Community Adaptation Project (C-CAP), the project will help to build the resilience of vulnerable coastal communities in the Pacific region to withstand more intense and frequent weather events and ecosystem degradation in the short term, and sea level rise in the long term. One of the three components is integrating climate-resilient policies and practices into long-term land use plans and building standards. Infrastructure adaptations included rainwater harvesting structures, flood management systems, and water distribution systems. [Couldn’t find any real ag link except some comments from one workshop; ask Crystal or Joey?]
- Meet Ronald. A well educated man, Ronald formerly worked in the business sector in Barbados. Ronald is part of a growing movement to produce things “locally”. He has decided to trade in his desk for some dirt, but not his computer. -Part of a climate smart ag project that inspired tool development -uses biz approach to farming, but weather forecasts from TV are terrible (ex: predict dry evening – would fertilize – rain would mean effort lost. -not very aware of climate change predictions – a dearth of info, wanted to know more. This sparked the idea for the tool.
- This is Jon Njigoya, a Kenyan dairy farmer who grows maize, oats, alfalfa, Rhodes grass, and sorghum. He has 3 cows for which he sells the milk, and he has been farming since 1965. Mr. Njigoya will tell you that they used to have more rain. It has gotten drier, and the winters were colder. Historic weather patterns are no longer reliable. The timing and quantity of water has changed. Now farmers in the area need to get river water and transport it with donkeys.
- Tool development – lit reviews and stakeholder meetings too analytical – academic focused to produce GHG numbers, but not much useful info for farmers Too basic – highly participatory, working with farmers, but didn’t provide climate change projection info, and no plans for improving operations There are regional assessments/value-chain assessments. Helpful for reg. planning, but need help for individual farmers growing multiple crops.
- Built an assessment tool that would: Assess vulnerability of Farm system Assess adaptive capacity 140 different climate smart ag practices that could be applied to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience Ultimate goal of the tool = to help farmers achieve the 3 objectives of climate-smart agriculture as defined by FAO (increasing productivity and food security; climate adaptation; reduced GHG emissions Steps 1: talk to the farmer: People - capacity to respond to CC - Knowledge level of CSA best practices Equipt & infrastructure -energy efficiency, pollution, GHG calculations Genetics -Crops, livestock varieties, etc.
- Step 2 – though it should be done in advance of the farm visit Pull in all climate services info available for the region. Can pull in historical norms and compare to projection data. We are still playing with how to best do this in an app – or what API would be the most useful. Have been using Climate Wizard from World Bank in our pilots pulling an ensemble GCM. Also pulling in Hurricane forecasts for Pacific and Atlantic depending on location. May also pull in drought predicitons. Step 3: provide climate Smart Ag guidance and recommendations based on farm-specific needs and climate predictions.
- Tested in two family dairy farms in Vermont and 7 farms, including dairy, indigenous chicken and sorghum in Kenya. Both pilots farmers have been farming for generations. US farms bigger, but in both pilot countries, farmers are lacking information. Better weather information and insurance products have high potential to increase resilience, and everyone we talked to is interested in getting any and all info that will help them plan. Farm CAAT tool is about increasing resilience to climate change and lowering GHG emissions at the farm level BUT it’s also about increasing longer term profitability for the farmer. We try to focus on climate-smart agriculture recommendations that make good business sense – and can be relative small adjustments like introducing cover crops (introducing vetch in Kenya as a cover crop increases the nutritional value of feed for milk-producing cows which increases milk production levels per animal and also prevents weeds from growing thereby reducing the need for costly herbicides.) This reduces GHG emission/unit of milk produced and lowers costs.
- Phase 1 was getting the survey right and the content appropriate for the farm system. We are now moving into phase 2: 1) developing a platform or app for the tool. We plan to use the app on a mobile devise, but also pull in climate services info to eliminate that extra step. 2) Peer review and feedback on methodology, and additional piloting User Survey Sharable version