Food and Water Security Through Climate-Smart Agriculture in Asia and Africa

Most countries in Asia and Africa are primarily agricultural economies, dependent on specific climate variables for food production. These agrarian, developing, and poor economies are likely to be affected, perhaps adversely, by a changing climate, which could result in declining national economies. Crucially, the livelihoods of vast numbers of people in Asia and Africa are directly linked to agriculture, which will be influenced by changes in temperature and precipitation. These changes may lead to a decrease in water availability and food security in the concerned regions. Migrations due to droughts, floods, and wildfires, could also increase food insecurity and water scarcity. As a growing population drives up the demand for food, the production of staple food items is struggling to keep up due to deteriorating natural resources that directly impact crop yields, soils, water, and biodiversity. Increasing temperatures, weather variability, shifting agroecosystem boundaries, invasive crops and pests, and more frequent extreme weather events will have a negative impact on crop yields, fisheries, livestock, water availability, and nutritional quality of food items. Agriculture also contributes to climate change and is thus a major part of the climate problem. Agricultural production generates 15 to 25% of total global emissions, which will only rise without action. Climate adaptation and mitigation strategies are therefore required to ensure continued livelihoods, food security, and water availability. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an integrative approach that incorporates the management of landscapes, ecosystems, cropland, livestock, forests, and fisheries to raise agricultural productivity, enhance resilience to climate change, increase adaptation, and address the contribution of agriculture to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.