Background
The Country Profile for Colombia is a product of a collaborative effort between the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the lead Center of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE); and the World Bank. This initiative was part of a project to identify country-specific baselines on CSA, in line with the situation analysis steps presented here for CSA plan, in seven countries in Latin America: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Grenada, Mexico, and Peru and two states in Mexico.
Climate-smart considerations in Colombia include:
- There are a variety of existing CSA practices that could increase the climate smartness of landscapes and the agricultural sector if taken to scale.
- Scaling up investments in agricultural research and development (R&D), which is currently only 0.2% of the gross domestic product (GDP), would foster innovation.
- Planning processes with a focus on sub-national and local levels are needed to analyze the agro-climatic risks, to identify the most promising CSA practices, and to implement adaptation and mitigation responses.
- There is potential for scaling CSA livestock options, such as improved pastures and silvopastoral systems, across 3 million hectares, which would mitigate climate change, improve livelihoods, and create sustainable landscapes.
- Efficient use of nitrogen fertilizers, especially in rice and maize, is an important mitigation opportunity.
- Agroforestry practices are already implemented in more than 35% of coffee systems but could be expanded to include more farmers and to other crops and production systems, including cocoa, rubber, and fruit orchards.
- Liking international funds and low-emissions development policies (National Strategy for REDD+, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions [NAMAs], and the Colombian Low-Carbon Development Strategy [CLCDS]) to support integrated agriculture, conservation, adaptation to climate change, and mitigation opportunities and to scale out CSA adoption. Strengthening inter-ministerial dialogue to move agriculture initiatives beyond productivity.
- Development of and access to Integrated Decision Support Systems that compile and analyze climatic, agronomic and market information, and deliver results to a range of stakeholders and decision makers.
- Closing critical gaps such as limited provision of agriculture insurance, which creates opportunities for further development of rural agricultural markets. A comprehensive agriculture risk management strategy is needed.
Link
- Climate-Smart Agriculture Country Profiles for Latin America and the Caribbean: http://dapa.ciat.cgiar.org/csa-profiles