Addressing the 2030 Agenda on Climate Change and Food Security through Climate-Smart Agriculture - TCP/RAS/3604

Asia is a dynamic region for agricultural innovation. For decades, farmers have combined traditional practices and local knowledge with modern agricultural techniques, providing a strong foundation for “Climate-smart Agriculture (CSA)” approaches. CSA encompasses a range of established methodologies and technical approaches to address interlinked challenges in the agriculture and land-use sector: meeting demand for food, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the global food system, and building the resilience of agricultural systems to the impacts of climate change. These priorities are also reflected in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted by countries under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). While instruments such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Global Environmental Fund (GEF) and various mechanisms under multi-lateral development agencies can support the implementation of NDC priorities, countries have yet to translate broad these into national programmes or investment pi,nes. The potential of CSA approaches to enhance productivity and resilience, and to reduce emissions has been widely documented. However, efforts to systematically and rigorously integrate climate change across CSA’s three pillars are relatively untested in the region. The aim of the project was to support governments in six focus countries to develop national CSA programmes (and/or to integrate CSA priorities into existing plans and programmes), linking CSA investments to NDCs and global climate finance mechanisms, based on regional best practice and knowledge.