Learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes 1
- Knowledge: Knows about Climate Smart Agriculture.
- Skills: Can understand the concept of Climate Smart Agriculture and its importance for reacting to the climate change.
- Competencies: Is able to explain importance of the concept of Climate Smart Agriculture.
- Link to Content: Understanding the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security.
Learning Outcomes 2
- Knowledge: Knows about the effect of climate change on food production and agriculture.
- Skills: Can identify potential changes in the agricultural sector as a consequence of climate change.
- Competencies: Is able to react appropriate regarding the climate change and the increase of the world’s population.
- Link to Content: Understanding the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security.
Learning Outcomes 3
- Knowledge: Knows agriculture’s role in climate change and its mitigation potential.
- Skills: Can understand the consequences of climate change for the agricultural sector.
- Competencies: Is able to think of necessary measures to reduce the impacts on the agricultural sector.
- Link to Content: Understanding the impact of climate change on agriculture and food security.
Learning Outcomes 4
- Knowledge: Knows how agriculture can become more efficient.
- Skills: Can identify necessary measures to become more efficient.
- Competencies: Is able to implement changes to become more efficient.
- Link to Content: Towards more efficient and resilient systems.
Learning Outcomes 5
- Knowledge: Knows how agriculture can become more resilient.
- Skills: Can identify necessary measures to become more resilient.
- Competencies: Is able to implement changes to become more resilient.
- Link to Content: Towards more efficient and resilient systems.
What is Climate Smart Agriculture? (CSA)
Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an approach which contributes to the achievement of the sustainable development goals
It addresses food security and climate change
Its three main components are:
- Sustainable increasing agricultural productivity and incomes
- Adapting and building resilience to climate change
- Reducing/removing greenhouse gas emissions, where possible
CSA is an approach to achieve sustainable agricultural development for food security under climate change
Food security and climate change
Nowadays we are on the one side facing the effects of climate change and on the other side are confronted with an increase of the world’s population. Providing healthy food for all is therefore crucial for any future development.
Without any adaptations to the new conditions, climate change will cause a decrease of food production and increased variability of production. The effect varies in the intensity and timing.
Therefore, the adaptation of farming systems is crucial for securing agricultural production.
Agriculture and climate change
Agriculture’s role in climate change and its mitigation potential, should be considered in a wider perspective of ‘food systems’. This includes the impact of agricultural production on other ecosystem services such as flood prevention, carbon sequestration but also technical systems connected to agriculture like the energy sector or transportation of food products.
The main direct sources of GHG emissions in the agricultural sector are not only carbon dioxide (CO2), but nitrous oxide (N2O), accounting for 58 percent of total emissions of the sector.
Not only food security but also the potential for reducing green house footprints in the food system and effects on mitigating climate change require agricultural production to change.
Towards more efficient and resilient systems
Adapting to the conditions of climate change is a task for the whole society. But as ensuring food production under the conditions of climate change also secures income for farmers, climate smart agriculture is also a task for individual farmers.
Adapting to climate change and contributing to climate change mitigation, food systems must become more efficient and resilient at the same time.
The following aspects are examples how efficiency can be increased
- Introducing new technologies and process innovations for resource efficiency in plant production and livestock production
- Introducing integrated crop and livestock systems
- Introducing new food management systems (including storage, transportation and distribution), processing technologies, packaging reducing the loss of food or waste
How can agriculture become climate resilient?
- Resilience can be described as the capacity of systems, communities, households or individuals to prevent, mitigate or cope with risk and recover from shocks
- A system can increase its resilience by reducing vulnerabilities and increasing adaptive capacity
The agricultural sector can become more resilient through:
- Managing risks at local or farm level
- Overcoming barriers to change
- Following a systemic approach to agricultural production and ecosystem services
Why do we need CSA?
CSA is a new approach to address the needed changes of agricultural systems, by regarding food security and climate change
CSA aims for sustainable development and pursues green economy objectives and guiding principles as well as food security and preserving natural resources
It’s a concept that addresses the before mentioned challenges and aims for sustainable development, efficient and resilient agriculture systems and food production as well as a green economy
