Categories
Climate-smart Agriculture

Promoting climate-smart agriculture in South Asia

Photo by Siraj Ahmad/Shutterstock.com

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.

 

The writer is Climate Resilience Specialist at ADPC.

Email: lalit.dashora@adpc.net

Categories
Integrated Water Resources Management

CAREing for the elixir of life

Photo by Twenty-nine/Shutterstock.com

Water is quite aptly called the ‘elixir of life’. It is a known fact that water is always on the move through the water cycle processes. Global warming has a significant effect on this cycle, altering the quantity, timing, distribution, and quality of available water.

Countries in South Asia face different levels of water stress. The United Nations Water Development Report 2020 suggests that snowmelt and the loss of glacial buffering in the Hindu Kush–Himalayas will affect the seasonal water supply for a significant proportion of South Asia’s population.

Globally, South Asia is the most extensive user of groundwater resources, with irrigation accounting for 80% of the groundwater extraction. Even though the region hosts several of the high groundwater- producing aquifers, it is running short of water.

With 23.7% of the global population, South Asia has only 4.6% of the world’s renewable water resources. According to the World Bank, the key challenges, on one hand, are ensuring a reliable supply of water for daily life and managing the consequence of extreme hydrometeorological disasters on the other. In addition to the regional challenges in the water sector, countries have contrasting challenges and needs.

Bangladesh being the largest dynamic delta of the world, along with a large and growing population base, envisages enhanced water security and efficiency of water usage to achieve optimal and integrated use of land and water resources. Additionally, most of the rivers in Bangladesh are transboundary.

Under the CARE for South Asia project, water-sector activities are being piloted in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, which aim to improve the availability of regional data, knowledge, tools, and capacities.

They also aim to promote climate-resilient decisions, policies, and investments in climate-sensitive sectors. The water sector interventions will help strengthen water resources management, water governance, and long-term resilience through robust institutions.

The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 will be the guidance document for the implementation of the project’s interventions. The development of Monitoring & Evaluation framework and capacity enhancement on project monitoring under Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 will contribute to the successful implementation of the plan.

In Nepal, challenges revolve around agriculture and hydropower needs. Around 85% of Nepal’s annual rain fall (between 1500 and 3000 millimeters) between June and September, leading to floods. A severe shortage of water occurs during the rest of the year resulting in the drying up of springs and other natural water sources.

Retention of water can help mitigate water scarcity and supply water for multiple purposes. The CARE for South Asia project intends to assist the government in developing a water harvesting strategy in the context of Integrated Water Resources Management. It will further enhance stakeholders’ capacities in mainstreaming climate information into planning, design and investments in the water sector.

Pakistan, on the other hand, is categorized as a water-scarce country. The annual water availability is less than 1,000 cubic meters per person. It is likely to drop to 860 cubic meters by 2025 as documented in the National Water  Policy  2018.  Climate  Change is also compounding the depletion of groundwater resources of the country by disrupting the natural hydrological process of groundwater recharge combined with over-extraction.

The project will support developing a strategy for groundwater management in water-scarce areas of the country (e.g., Lower Indus Basin) and documenting water conservation best practices. CARE for South Asia project will also support stakeholders’ capacity enhancement for better drought risk management in the country’s drought-prone areas.

The project’s water sector interventions will build the region’s resilience against the effects of climate change and develop a strategy to adapt to the changes. The project plans to support public policies on climate change through national and inter-country dialogues and the development of regional guidelines unique to the challenges faced by countries in South Asia.

The writer is Integrated Water Resources Management Specialist at ADPC.

Email: niladri.gupta@adpc.net

Categories
Innovation Regional

From Innovation to Impact: scaling-up the use of emerging technology to address climate and disaster resilience needs in South Asia

Photo by Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock.com

Climate change is a major driver of disaster losses and failed development. Climate-related disasters, including extreme weather events, have dominated the global disaster landscape in the 21st century, which has led to shaping new approaches to science and practice in climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and resilience building.

Over the years, science has become more accessible, acknowledging that it also needs to deal with uncertainty. Policymakers are becoming more familiar with science as more and more public policy issues call for science-based solutions. Therefore, interactions between policymakers and science are increasingly complex and nonlinear, as opposed to early conceptions.

In South Asia, the decision-making spaces are shared by science and policymakers with the local community. The shared decision space is characterized by co-learning and knowledge production. The CARE for South Asia project empowers decision-makers with tools, products, and services to act locally on climate-sensitive issues such as disaster-related public policy and planning, agriculture, water, and transport.

Leveraging  advanced  technologies  and  prioritizing  a demand-driven approach to climate resilience, the CARE for South Asia project is offering a platform for using innovative approaches to help decision-makers respond better to a changing climate. The Climate Innovation Challenge (CIC) and the TechEmerge Resilience Challenge open up a new window of opportunities to mainstream technology for climate adaptation and disaster resilience for the benefit of all.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, national disaster management offices (NDMOs), public finance and planning, supply chain drivers such as water and transportation, and public health authorities in South Asian countries are facing unprecedented challenges but are also presented with unparalleled opportunities in fighting an uphill battle against ever-increasing climate and extreme weather events.

This presents incredible opportunities to deploy emerging and future technologies to anticipate and mitigate the disaster and climate risk to protect the development gains and build the resilience of communities, assets, livelihoods, and systems. As technological development scales up, technologies for all aspects of disaster and climate resilience will also need to be adopted more widely.

Artificial Intelligence (AI),  the  Internet of  Things  (IoT), blockchain, robotics, and others are critical to accelerating this process, making disaster and climate resilience smarter, more efficient, affordable, and accurate—from multi-hazard detection and early warning to resilient connectivity solutions to climate-smart crop management, etc. To make these elements functional, trained people with the right skillsets as well as resources for the application of technologies are a must.

With technical and financial support of US$3.5 million from the World Bank and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and implemented by ADPC under the umbrella of the CARE for South Asia project, we aim to support innovation in climate resilience building through the provision of grants to pilot-proven transformative, scalable, affordable, and accessible resilience technology solutions.

The writer is the Deputy Executive Director of ADPC.

Email: aslam@adpc.net