Future
Farming
As changing weather patterns pose serious 
threats to traditional agrarian systems,  
Climate-Smart Agriculture methods are coming 
to the rescue of farmers across the world 
By Padmaparna Ghosh
Based on “The Climate-Smart Village Approach: Framework of an integrative strategy for scaling 
up adaptative options in agriculture” by P. K. Aggarwal et.al, Ecology and Society, 2018
Climate-Smart Villages
Dressed in a typical farmer’s white head wrap, 
Horil Singh of Rajapakar village in Bihar laments 
the unpredictability of weather today. “We have 
seen the weather change to a great extent. We are 
desperate for rains but are often let down.” 
Bihar is blessed with fertile, alluvial soil and 
abundant water resources, sealing its reputation 
as an agricultural haven. However, conditions are 
changing. Studies show that changes in rainfall and 
temperature are affecting rain-fed and irrigated 
cropping systems, posing major climate risks for 
crop production. Millions of farmers like Singh 
are facing uncertainty, which can wreak havoc in 
traditional farming systems, not just in terms of 
incomes and livelihoods but also food security.
However, there is hope in the shape of Climate-
Smart Agriculture (CSA), whose objectives are to 
provide solutions to transform and reorient ag-
ricultural systems to support food security on a 
changing planet. CSA, in short, aims to bolster 
agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner 
(which in turn increases farm incomes, food secu-
rity and development) while assisting farmers in 
adapting and building resilience to climate change 
(from the farm to national levels) and reducing 
or removing green house gases (GHG) whereever 
possible.
Today Rajapakar is a Climate-Smart Village 
(CSV), a part of a project led by the CGIAR 
Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture 
and Food Security (CCAFS). Built on the prin-
ciples of CSA, this program provides technologi-
cal, organizational and systemic support to farmers 
in association with institutions to help them cope 
with climate change, in 36 sites across 20 countries. 
Uma Kant Singh, another farmer from 
Rajapakar, says, “Today we receive news through 
agro-advisory services. We farmed with the System 
of Rice Intensification (SRI) method for paddy and 
zero till for wheat, with much higher yields.” 
Be it index-based insurance which safeguards 
farmers from losses due to floods and drought or 
crop damage owing to weather unpredictability, 
to agro-advisory and weather services, along with 
technological interventions at various levels, these 
villages are using diverse ways to adapt to climate 
change from every angle, and building microcosms 
that represent farming for the future. 
The global conTexT
Even though, at present, we are living in a time 
of maximum agricultural yield in human history, 
we, as a race are still grappling with severe food 
insecurity. 
In South and Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and 
Sub-Saharan Africa, almost 800 million people still 
have insufficient food. Global food production 
must double by 2050 to keep up with population 
growth and food demand. Things get worse when 
you throw climate change into this volatile mix. 
“The magnitude and speed of climate change 
efforts in agriculture will be critical to the future of 
large segments of the world’s population, particu-
larly in the developing countries in South Asia and 
Sub-Saharan Africa,” says Arun Khatri-Chhetri, 
Associate Scientist and Science Officer with the 
CCAFS program in South Asia.
Climate change is expected to impact food pro-
duction through increased temperatures, erratic 
rainfall patterns, and more frequent and intense 
floods and droughts. This can lead to yield losses 
up to 60%. Recent studies have shown that almost 
one-third of yield variability is related to climatic 
variability. 
“In Latin America, climate variability wreaks 
havoc on agriculture—from drought and 
fires, water issues, flooding, excess rain to in-
crease in pests and diseases. It is like a perfect 
storm,” says Andy Jarvis, Flagship Leader for 
Climate-Smart Agriculture, with the CCAFS 
program.
Of
The
With contributions from:
P.K.Aggarwal (Regional Program Leader, CCAFS/BISA-CIMMYT South Asia), Andy Jarvis (Flagship Leader, CCAFS/
CIAT), Bruce Campbell (Program Director, CCAFS), Arun Khatri-Chhetri (Science Officer, CCAFS South Asia),  
Shehnab Sahin (Communications Specialist, CCAFS South Asia) and others from the CGIAR Research Program on 
Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
And that is not all. 
Agricultural food systems are also contributing 
to this problem themselves by contributing around 
a quarter of GHG emissions, creating a vicious 
cycle of agriculture both driving climate change 
and suffering from its consequences. 
There is a vision of a sustainable, resilient and 
robust agricultural food system that reduces GHG 
emissions, which in turn has the potential to re-
duce the severity of the problem—but does such 
a panacea exist? 
“It has to. Otherwise we are in deep trouble. If 
we are serious about our Sustainable Development 
Goals (SDG), we have to reach 500 million small 
holder farmers by 2030. We have to reduce 1 giga 
ton of CO2 from agriculture compared to business 
as usual. At the moment, we are only likely to get to 
20-40% of that unless we look towards very trans-
formative actions,” says Bruce Campbell, Program 
Director for CCAFS.
Several CSVs are showing that its possible. 
Early results from CSVs in Asia, Africa, and Latin 
America are illustrating various ways of coping 
with these issues in diverse agro-ecological set-
tings. Results also show that this approach has high 
potential for scaling out promising climate-smart 
agricultural technologies, practices, and services. 
“Through CSA and these villages, we are 
looking at how we can help farmers adapt to all 
this, so that they are thinking on their feet, capable 
of dealing with this right now and in so doing set-
ting themselves up for the long term,” says Jarvis.
climaTe-SmarT VillageS aS 
claSSroomS
In a way, Rajapakar village is a classroom, it is a site 
of learning for agricultural research. The CCAFS 
program hopes that it will be a beacon of hope for 
a more resilient and sustainable future. 
Around the world, there are several successful 
examples of CSA programs and studies, howev-
er, the problem is lack of adoption of innovative 
practices. For example, in Betul district in Madhya 
Pradesh, farmers were seen to continue using very 
old seeds that were handed down to them by their 
ancestors. 
“Despite such seeds being low-yield, convic-
tion in indigenous traditions, together with lack 
of access to credit and knowledge, compelled the 
farmers to continue its use,” says Pramod Ag-
garwal, Regional Program Leader for CCAFS in 
South Asia. As part of CGIAR’s interventions, the 
Since 2012, CCAFS started piloting the CSV approach in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, 
Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda), and South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Nepal) and then extended in 2014 to Latin 
America (Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Philippines and 
Vietnam). CCAFS and its partners currently facilitate AR4D in about 36 CSV sites.
beneficiary farmers have now been provided with 
resilient and high yielding varieties of seeds. 
“There is a big demand for such improved seeds 
now with other tribal farmers,” says Aggarwal. 
Lack of practical evidence of their effectiveness 
in real world situations contributes to low adoption 
of new technologies. Climate change often compli-
cates this situation because its impact varies across 
sites. Therefore, to effectively implement such in-
novations, there needs to be integration between 
science, technology and decision-making, that 
takes into account local socioeconomic conditions. 
It has to be a platform for a socially inclusive and 
multi-stakeholder collaborative work.
The concept of CSVs was founded on the prin-
ciple of scaling up CSA, and most importantly, to 
provide the evidence that this works. Keeping fu-
ture scaling in mind, these villages were selected 
as climate change hotspots across a wide range of 
agro-ecological zones with different types of farm-
ing, climate risks and vulnerabilities which would 
allow comparison, learning, and analysis. 
One common feature that runs through the 
concept of CSVs is that there is no “magic bullet” 
of a solution. Issues, variabilities, vulnerabilities, 
capacities are widely divergent, and therefore, solu-
tions also need to be diverse. 
how can a Village become  
climaTe-SmarT?
The process of implementing the CSV approach 
is simple.
First is a “baseline assessment”, which is under-
standing the problem. This is done in a partici-
patory manner, taking in the concerns and local 
knowledge of all the actors in the cycle. Histori-
cal climate data is analyzed to assess the risks and 
long-term suitability of the main cropping and 
livestock systems. 
The next step is all about constructing the right 
basket of solutions—a portfolio of practices and 
technologies that will address food security, adap-
tation, and mitigation that need to be tested in the 
CSVs. “Typically this includes interventions which 
are water-smart, weather-smart, seed/breed-smart, 
carbon/nutrient-smart and/or market/institution-
smart. All of these interventions are site-specific 
and are chosen after extensive discussion with 
women and men farmers, local governments and 
researchers,” says Aggarwal. 
Once the plan is in place, the ground is set for 
creating evidence for other areas with similar con-
ditions, problems and constraints. This is the real 
test of theory and on-the-field realities, and bring-
ing all farmers on board is critical. 
For instance, solar powered community ir-
rigation systems in Gujarat, Bihar and Madhya 
Pradesh has led to multiple benefits: supplemen-
tary income through surplus power sale, clean and 
regular source of electricity for farm irrigation, 
changed land use management, and reduction 
of GHG emissions. Therefore the system is being 
scaled up by the government of India.
In the CSVs in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, hundreds 
of farmers have directly benefitted from a wide 
range of weather resilient agricultural technologies 
from crop insurance, weather and agro-advisory 
services, improved seeds, and solar pumps.
The problem of climate change is fine grained. 
Just like the Bihar example where climate vari-
ability is different from one location to another, 
globally too these can oscillate widely. This is why 
scientists working on CSA do not apply one solu-
tion to every site. 
“Agriculture is highly context specific. For ex-
ample, take alternate wetting and drying in rice 
paddies. This reduces water consumption by 50% 
and reduces GHG emissions by 30-50%. But it 
cannot be applied blindly everywhere. Priorities 
shift from one area to the next,” says Campbell. 
And this is why field testing in varied regions is 
so important.
And finally, we come to scaling up and out. 
Once intervention portfolios are successfully tried 
and tested, the evidence is used to contribute to 
scaling promising innovations.
Key components that are considered in a  
Climate-Smart Village approach, depending upon  
the region and relevance.
Empowering tribal women through CSVs: 
In the CSVs of the tribal district of Betul in 
Madhya Pradesh, set up with support from 
the United States Agency for International 
Development and BAIF, “Super-Champion” 
farmers have been identified based on land 
ownership and influence. Mostly women, 
these farmers are providing training on CSA 
technologies and practices, knowledge 
distribution on insurance and ICT based agro-
advisories among fellow farmer beneficiaries.
KUNAL PANDEY (CCAFS)
Increasing efficacy and efficiency of crop insurance schemes:
Millions of Indian farmers lose some part of their crop every year due to excess rainfall, drought or flood. 
CSVs are also providing evidence to develop improved insurance products and increasing farmers’ access to 
and satisfaction with agriculture insurance. “Crop loss assessment is getting a fillip with the deployment of 
satellites, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, computer models and artificial intelligence,” states Pramod Aggarwal, of 
CCAFS, BISA-CIMMYT. 
PHOTO 1: NIRMAL SIGTIA (IWMI); PHOTO 2: PRAMOD AGGARWAL (CCAFS)
THE CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGE APPROACH IN INDIA
Private sector 
involvement for climate 
change adaptation in 
agriculture: 
Private sector 
partnerships are 
critical in ushering 
in socio-economic 
transformation in 
the future. CCAFS 
has partnered with 
ITC Limited, a multi-
business conglomerate, 
in India for enhancing 
farmer livelihoods and 
resilience through  
the CSV approach in 
several states.
NEIL PALMER (CIAT)
Innovation in approach for climate-smart water use:
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is evaluating technologies for “Underground Taming of 
Floods for Irrigation” in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which can accelerate recharge of the underground 
water table by floodwater. In Gujarat and Bihar, an innovative community model of solar pumps has led to 
higher crop yields and income, and reduced GHG emissions in the CSVs. “Farmers of such villages can earn 
additional income by selling surplus energy to the state electricity grids, says Tushar Shah of IWMI.
PRASHANT VISHWANATHAN (IWMI)
CSVs show pathways to control air pollution and increase farmers’ income:
Rice residue burning in north-western states of India is a major source of air pollution affecting millions in 
Delhi and its neighbourhood. Farmers resort to this practice to quickly clear their fields for timely wheat 
planting. In the CSVs of Punjab and Haryana, CIMMYT-BISA has demostrated that a Happy Seeder Machine 
provides an alternative residue management option which also helps sow wheat in the standing rice stubbles. 
NEIL PALMER (CIAT)
Digitization of knowledge transfer empowering 
agricultural communities:
In the CSVs, digital technology is being tested and 
evaluated to rapidly provide farmers access to 
weather information and scientific agro-advisories 
to utilize this knowledge in real time. 
PRASHANTH VISHWANATHAN (IWMI)
This is done in two ways: 
1. Farmer-to-farmer learning through self-help 
groups or associations. Messaging from a trusted 
source is the most effective way to spur farmers to 
adopt new technologies and practices. 
2. Sharing CSV research and lessons to influence 
large-scale CSA investment plans, promote main-
streaming of institutional changes, and inform 
policy instruments. 
Ultimately, CSA is about illustrating which 
solutions are best for certain sets of problems. 
Devender Singh from Rajapakar village explains, 
“These villages will serve as benchmarks and show 
farmers how to use new technologies in a changing 
climate, so that they can cope with the changes.” 
no Time beTTer Than now
Farmers across the globe are bearing the brunt of 
climate change. The Paris Climate Agreement aims 
to restrict global temperature rise this century well 
below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels 
and it is critical to start acting now. 
“Climatic risks associated with food and liveli-
hood insecurities are also causing a lot of cross-
country migration leading to global unrest and 
social tensions. Addressing these challenges in 
vulnerable regions of South Asia and Africa is very 
urgent,” says Aggarwal. 
For CGIAR, this is a long game, just like cli-
mate change. These are long-term investment sites, 
for long-term learning. Jarvis terms this as a kind 
of a “lighthouse approach”. “Like beacons that 
are visible from far away and attracts interest 
and curiosity and become demonstration 
sites. And we hope that they will take it to other 
regions.”
The Climate-Smart 
Village approach in 
Bangladesh:
World Fish is promoting 
a range of climate-smart 
technologies in a coastal 
agriculture production 
system in Bangladesh. 
Farmers in the CSVs of 
coastal Bangladesh are 
getting benefits from 
scaling out of a fish ring 
micro habitat (left) to 
conserve species during 
drought, vegetable 
cultivation in ditches 
during floods (middle) 
and shrimp cultivation in 
paddy fields (right).  
HARUN-OR RASHID (WORLD FISH)
The Climate-Smart Village 
approach in Nepal:
With the support of the 
government and local partners, 
the CSVs of Nepal have become 
efficacious learning sites for a 
range of agricultural technologies 
and practices. Since men here 
migrate to urban areas, gender 
and social inclusion interventions 
are of prime focus in the CSV 
approach. Balaram Thapa of LI-
BIRD states, “Increasing access 
to water resources and improved, 
climate-resilient seeds helps 
farmers to minimize impact of 
climatic risks in agriculture.” 
NEIL PALMER (CIAT)
Rice terrace farming as a conservation practice: 
The CSVs in Vietnam serve as platforms to evaluate 
the CSA benefits of farmers’ indigenous practices 
and new technologies. Rice terrace farming is one 
such practice that conserves water and increases 
productivity. 
LEO SEBASTIAN (CCAFS)
Stress tolerant rice varieties:
Seasonal flooding in many areas of South East Asia 
forces farmers to grow either crops that are flood-
tolerant but low-yielding or those that can escape 
flood periods. Recently developed submergence 
tolerant varieties have come to the rescue.
ISAGANI SERRANO (IRRI)
Capacity strengthening programs: 
In the CSVs in the drought prone lowlands of  
Savannakhet, Laos, on-site trainings are helping in 
dissemination of knowledge on stress tolerant crops, 
water conservation and climate information services 
from trainers to farmers and scaled to neighbour-
hoods through field visits. 
JEROME VILLANUEVA (CUSO INTERNATIONAL)
Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) technique: 
Climate change induced uncertainties worsen the 
productivity of rainfed rice. CSVs are promoting AWD 
technique, developed by the International Rice Re-
search Institute (IRRI). “AWD reduces water use by 
30% and methane emissions by 48% without impact-
ing yield,” states Leocadio Sebastian of CCAFS/IRRI.
ISAGANI SERRANO (IRRI)
THE CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGE APPROACH IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Philippines
Improved ruminant breeds: 
Breeds of Red Maasai sheep and Galla goats, 
crossed with the local breeds, have been introduced 
in the CSVs. Dawit Solomon of CCAFS/International 
Livestock Research Institute says, “Their small body 
size, flexible feeding habits and short generation 
intervals helps climate risk management. 
SOLOMON KILUNGU (CCAFS)
Land restoration for climate-smart benefits: 
CSVs provide evidence to develop social safety net 
programs that include the restoration of degraded 
land and agroecosystems. While increasing food and 
nutrition security, it also contributes to mitigation of 
greenhouse gas emissions. 
GEORGINA SMITH (CIAT)
Community Seed Banks for farm resilience:
Climate-risk resistant seeds grown in CSVs are stored 
in seed banks. These banks help enhance diversity 
and resilience building by ensuring rapid availability of 
seeds of stress-tolerant varieties to a large number of 
farmers.
I.LOPEz-NORIEGA (BIOVERSITY INTERNATIONAL)
THE CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGE APPROACH IN EAST AFRICA THE CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGE APPROACH IN WEST AFRICA
CSA innovations in land use: 
Implemented in the CSVs, half-moons and zaï 
techniques are efficient soil and water conservation 
practices that help farmers to harvest under severe 
drought spells and low soil fertility conditions in semi-
arid cropping systems.
ROBERT zOUGMORE (CCAFS)
Farmer managed natural tree regeneration: 
This practice is helping farmers in the CSVs to 
protect crops from strong winds and improve soil 
fertility, which doubles yields of sorghum and millet 
produced under trees. Additional timber and non-
timber products from trees further enhances their 
income.  
TONY RINAUDO (WORLDVISION)
Weather advisory services: 
“Developed in CSVs, real-time weather monitoring 
and agro-advisory services go a long way in improving 
farmer’s practices that minimize risks, reduce losses 
and improve production,” says Robert zougmore of 
CCAFS/ International Crops Research Institute for the 
Semi Arid Tropics.
JAMES HANSEN (IRI)
Bio-fortifiedand drought-tolerant crop varieties: 
In the CSVs, such varieties of millet and sorghum are 
helping in increasing staple food crop production, 
improving food and nutrition security of farmers and 
triggering income-generating activities around seed 
production. 
ROBERT zOUGMORE (CCAFS)
Participatory Varietal Evaluation: 
To address climate-related risks in Lushoto 
district, Tanzania, CCAFS, in partnership with local 
government and research organizations, is promoting 
the process of Participatory Varietal Evaluation to 
guide the development and selection of farmer’s 
preferred varieites.  
SARA QUINN (CIP)
Senegal
Kenya
MaliTanzania
Burkina Faso 
Ethiopia
NigerUganda
Climate-smart water conservation technique: 
CSV farmers’ innovation is outstanding. This practice 
is fuel-free and helps avoid wastage. It has been 
a great solution for low-income rural families for 
meeting water demand for homes and vegetable 
gardens.
ALExANDRA POPESCU (CCAFS)
Agro-diversity for resilience: 
Agro-diversity is key for rural families’ food and 
nutrition security. Improved bean trials are  
being implemented in La Prensa community in the 
Olopa CSV.  
NEIL PALMER (CIAT)
Agroforestry improves coffee quality: 
Coffee quality and yield improves under tree 
shadows because berries develop balanced sugars. 
“Such a CSA practice can be easily implemented 
by small-scale farmers using tree species such as 
banana and cocoa,” says Ana Maria L. Rodriguez of 
CCAFS/International Center for Tropical Research.
NEIL PALMER (CIAT)
Climate-resilient crop varieties in CSVs: 
Due to climate variability, rural families face a hard 
time achieving food and nutrition security. Climate-
resilient varieties of crops alongside efficient water 
harvesting practices have been introduced to 
enhance food security, income and resilience.
CRIS SOTO (CATIE)
THE CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGE APPROACH IN LATIN AMERICA THE CLIMATE-SMART VILLAGE APPROACH AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL
South-South Learning:
CSVs are also learning platforms for south-south 
exchange of knowledge, technologies and practices 
among the developing countries. 
J.L URREA (CCAFS)
Advanced technology for research:
CSVs also provide guidance on developing new 
technologies to meet future challenges. Here, 
latest remote sensing technologies are deployed by 
CIMMYT to develop new crop varieties 
(left); and a CIAT researcher evaluates 
genetic resources for building drought 
and heat tolerance (right).
NEIL PALMER (CIAT),CIMMYT AND INSTITUTO DE AGRICULTURA 
SOSTENIBLE (IAS)
CSVs provide evidence for science-led policy:
Bruce Campbell of CCAFS presenting his vision 
of transforming agriculture by adapting to climate 
change to policy makers during a side event at COP 
23, 2017.
MICHAEL MAJOR (CROP TRUST)
Communication for development: 
Various communication mediums and platforms are 
engaged to spread awareness about research in the 
CSVs globally. Through programs such as ‘Shamba 
Shape Up’ TV series in Kenya, 9 million viewers are 
made aware of such activities monthly. 
SARA QUINN (CIP)
Colombia
Nicaragua
Honduras
Guatemala