Climate Smart Agriculture, Resilience and Food Security: What works?

Climate-smart agriculture programs are based on a sequence of expectations: that farmers learn which practices suit their conditions, that they are able to adopt them, and that their households end up more secure as a result. This session follows that sequence through evidence from Ghana, Ethiopia and a portfolio of randomized evaluations across sub-Saharan Africa. Research from Northern Ghana shows how farmers obtain and judge climate information, how access differs between women and men, and what keeps farmers from acting on what they know. A study from the central highlands of Ethiopia estimates how adopting combinations of practices affects household food consumption and income. Randomized evaluations by J-PAL affiliated researchers, including trials funded by UJALA, show where uptake breaks down and whether programs measure resilience where it matters most, at the household level. The discussion will consider what each type of evidence offers those who design and finance programs, and what should change for climate-smart agriculture to reach farmers at scale.