Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture

12-14 December 2017 in Rome, Italy. GACSA ANNUAL FORUM 2017. Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.

The GACSA Annual Forum brought together over 200 participants to share evidence and experiences related to Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and how CSA solutions can be scaled up.

The Annual Forum served as an action-oriented, multi-stakeholder platform. During the three days, the GACSA Action Groups focused on the concrete results achieved by its members on CSA knowledge, investment and policy, and through increased regional engagement, with a view to articulating a concrete Strategic Vision for the Alliance.

Emphasis was made on the importance of the value chain and cross-sectoral partnerships. It showcased how successful adoption of CSA practices and systems by farmers and policy makers requires global, national and regional efforts.

Focus on solution-oriented knowledge
Participants at the meeting focused on how to generate knowledge to support implementation, showing the added-value of CSA as an integrated approach that transforms farming practices and systems to achieve the triple win of sustainable productivity and incomes, adaptation and resilience, and mitigation, for food security and nutrition. While global climate finance flows increased by almost 15% between 2011 and 2014, only a small portion went to agriculture including smallholder projects that are bankable. Developing CSA metrics, related, in particular, to adaptation and resilience to measure progress and attract greater investments in CSA, was reaffirmed as key. Enabling environments need to address issues related to technology constraints, legal frameworks, political instability and institutional capacity, and to consider how to better support farmers, empower
women and engage youth.

As part of the Annual Forum, two regional-side events for Africa and Asia were held.

"The Africa Climate-Smart Agriculture Programme of the African Development Bank: Synergies and Opportunities for Implementation" side event introduced the new « Africa CSA Programme » of the African Development Bank (AfDB). It identified several opportunities for synergies and partnerships, as well as the urgent need for: comprehensive mapping of all CSA initiatives on the continent; closer coordination among stakeholders at national and sub-regional levels; technology transfer and the promotion of proven technologies; private sector engagement in scaling up CSA; regional CSA alliances and platforms for the exchange of good practices; and close collaboration in resource mobilization efforts.

Resources 

Videos of the event are available here.
Photos are available here.