Promoting Climate-smart Agriculture in South Asia - SAR-CLIMATE

Promoting Climate-smart Agriculture in South Asia

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Agriculture in South Asia is highly susceptible to climate change. Long-term variations in temperature and precipitation are likely to shift cropping seasons and crop cultivation, potentially causing low yields. Agriculture-based economies in South Asia, such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and associated natural hazards.

Agriculture is the third largest contributing sector to Bangladesh’s economy. The country is classified into 30 Agroecological Zones (AEZs) and major crops cultivated in these AEZs are rice, jute, wheat, tea, pulses, oil-seeds, vegetables, and fruits. Farming in Bangladesh is impacted by sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion, increases in mean temperature, rainfall variability, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Similarly, agriculture is a crucial economic sector in Nepal as well. The Terai region of Nepal is major cropland with highly fertile soil that allows for the cultivation of key crops such as cereals, wheat, and rice. Nepal has seen decreasing trends in production mainly due to traditional farming practices that are highly dependent on weather conditions.

In Pakistan, the national agricultural production is likely to be affected by climate variability in the future. The Punjab province, which contributes the largest share to the agriculture-based economy of the country, is already facing low yields due to erratic weather.

Nevertheless, the climate change impact on agriculture will vary in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Thus, this change requires country-specific smart interventions to sustain agricultural productivity in changing climatic conditions. The decreasing agricultural productivity and increasing food insecurity due to climate change in these countries call for broader policy-level interventions.

The policy-level interventions under the CARE for South Asia project will help strengthen the national policy framework to implement and practice climate-smart agriculture. These inputs will also identify critical policy actions to make the agriculture sector climate-informed in these countries.

In Bangladesh, the project is assisting in strengthening the existing climate-smart agriculture strategies and developing a monitoring framework focusing on livestock services. Agricultural policy analysis will identify critical policy actions strengthening the national policy framework to implement recently developed climate-smart agriculture investment plans by the Government of Bangladesh. The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) in Bangladesh will revitalize their skills on utilizing climate and hydrometeorological data for sector reforms, policymaking, planning, monitoring, and investment design.

In Nepal, the project will provide advisory services to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) to strengthen the policy framework as well as the Climate Smart Agriculture Investment Plans. The project will also provide support for the capacity building of agricultural extension officials’ so that they could train farmers and implement climate-smart agriculture and climate risk mitigation strategies. In addition, ADPC is developing the National Framework for Climate Services for the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (MoEWRI).

In Pakistan, capacity development activities will be carried out to maximize production while minimizing climate and disaster impacts on the agriculture sector. Several other interventions have been planned for implementation in collaboration with relevant departments at the provincial level.

Regional and country-specific guidance documents are expected to help upscale agricultural productivity and provide farmers with livelihood opportunities.

Lalit Dashora is a Climate Resilience Specialist at Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC).

About Post Author

Saravanakuma Ramalingam

saravana@abu.org.my

http://abu.org.my

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