Protecting 500 million farmers from climate change while increasing agricultural productivity and reducing carbon emissions is the goal of the newly launched Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.

The alliance was launched on 24 September 2014 by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, during the UN Climate Summit in New York. It was welcomed by a number of speakers, including John Kerry, US Secretary of State.

The alliance comes out of broad agreement on the need to urgently address the nexus of climate change and agriculture, food security and nutrition.

More than 20 governments, 30 organizations and companies have already announced they will join the alliance.

The concept of Climate-smart Agriculture (CSA) emerged in 2010 and has since become globally accepted as an approach to developing the technical, policy and investment conditions to achieve food security under climate change.

CSA includes techniques such as agroforestry, intercropping, conservation agriculture, crop rotation, integrated crop-livestock management and improved water management.

“Agriculture is climate-smart when it contributes to the sustainable increase of food productivity, improves farmers' resilience to climate change, and reduces the carbon footprint of agriculture,” says Bruce Campbell, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in article in the Huffington Post.

Implementing CSA on a large scale requires knowledge, investment and stakeholder participation. This new international alliance aims to build the required momentum and interest in CSA and support its adoption by millions.

Among commitments made during the launch, the CGIAR pledged it would allocate $10.2 billion over the next 10 years to climate-smart agriculture research.

The CSA Alliance will link such research efforts with development, science with policy, and public with private. It will generate information about on-farm climate-smart practices and technologies, insurance schemes and climate information services. The alliance will work to influence national and sub-national policies, processes under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and donor agendas. It will also promote necessary incentive mechanisms through innovative finance and private sector involvement.

It is envisaged that the Alliance will comprise a broad range of stakeholders, including: central and local governments; food producers, processors and sellers (farmers and farmers’ organizations); scientists, research and educational organizations; civil society and non-government organizations; multilateral and international organizations; and the private sector.

The Alliance aims to achieve: sustainable and equitable increases in agricultural productivity and incomes; greater resilience of food systems and farming livelihoods; and reduction and/or removal of greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture (including the relationship between agriculture and ecosystems), wherever possible. It aims to improve people’s food and nutrition security to adjust agricultural practices, food systems and social policies so they account for climate change and the efficient use of natural resources.

“I am glad to see action that will increase agricultural productivity, build resilience for farmers and reduce carbon emissions,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “These efforts will improve food and nutrition security for billions of people.”

Download the press release: Climate Summit Launches Efforts Toward Food Security for 9 Billion People by 2050

Read John Kerry’s address at the CSA launch: Remarks at a Reception for the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Read the Huffington Post article by Bruce Campbell, Director of CCAFS: Calling on Half a Billion Farmers to Join the "Climate-Smart" Revolution

Visit FAO’s Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture website

Download CCAFS Info Note: How many farmers in 2030 and how many will adopt climate resilient innovations?

CCAFS Video: Climate-smart agriculture: what it's all about

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Photo courtesy of CCAFS: A farmer prepares tree seedlings for transplanting at a climate-smart village in Lushoto, Tanzania.