21 December 2017: Participants at the Second Annual Forum of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA) discussed how multi-stakeholder efforts can promote the implementation of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and systems that address the implications of climate change in diverse ago-ecological regions.

Attended by more than 200 experts and practitioners in CSA, the Forum provided a platform to exchange knowledge and experience on CSA implementation and discuss GACSA’s strategic vision. Participants focused on solution-oriented knowledge regarding: CSA farming practices and systems; increasing finance flows to agriculture, developing metrics for CSA and its benefits for adaptation and mitigation to increase its attractiveness for investors; and enabling environments that support addressing technology constraints, legal frameworks, political instability, institutional capacity, women empowerment and youth engagement.

“We need immediate actions ensure our ability to feed and nourish humanity through resilient and sustainable systems and reduce GHG emissions from the agriculture sector.” – Mark Holderness, GFAR Executive Secretary.

Participants also observed the launch of several new platforms, partnerships and tools including the second edition of the Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). In his closing remarks Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), called for immediate, collective actions to “ensure our ability to feed and nourish humanity through resilient and sustainable systems and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector,” noting that those concerned with the future of agriculture should immediately form a collective movement for change.

Two regional side events focused on: synergies and opportunities in CSA implementation in Africa, including the launch of the ‘Africa CSA Programme’ by the African Development Bank (AfDB); and measures and activities to scale up CSA implementation in Asian countries by unlocking investment in agriculture nationally-determined commitments (NDCs).

GACSA is an action-oriented multi-stakeholder platform that seeks to improve food security, nutrition and resilience in the face of climate change by supporting partnerships and collaboration on the three pillars of CSA: productivity, resilience and mitigation. The Second Annual Forum of GACSA was held 12-14 December 2017 at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. [FAO Press Release][GACSA Website][Annual Forum Website][FAO Climate Smart Agriculture Sourcebook]