Introduction and overview

Abstract

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept is gaining considerable traction at international and national levels to meet the challenges of addressing agricultural planning under climate change. CSA is a concept that calls for integration of the need for adaptation and the possibility of mitigation in agricultural growth strategies to support food security. Several countries around the world have expressed intent to adopt CSA approach to managing their agricultural sectors. However there is considerable confusion about what the CSA concept and approach actually involve, and wide variation in how the term is used. It is critical to build a more formal basis for the CSA concept and methodology and at the same time providing illustrations of how the concept can be applied across a range of conditions. This book expand and formalize the conceptual foundations of CSA drawing upon theory and concepts from agricultural development, institutional and resource economics. The book is also devoted to a set of country level case studies illustrating the economic basis of CSA in terms of reducing vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity and ex-post risk coping. It also addresses policy issues related to climate change focusing on the implications of the empirical findings for devising effective strategies and policies to support resilience and the implications for agriculture and climate change policy at national, regional and international levels. The book provide development agencies and practitioners, policymakers, civil society, research and academia as well as private sector with tested good practices and innovative approaches of promoting CSA system at country level.