Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adaptation, adaptation determinants and extension services synergies: a systematic review

Agriculture and weather are intrinsically linked. Variations in the weather patterns due to climate change pose a foremost risk to agricultural production and food security. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) propagates adaptation to tackle the irreversible climate change impact and its associated risks. The Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security, and Climate Change in 2010 gave the concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as an adaptation measure to enhance food security by raising productivity, developing resilience systems to adjust to climate change, and dropping GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions. This study systematically reviews the literature using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) to understand the different practices followed by the farmers and the factors that determine the CSA adaptation. Most importantly, it examines the role of extension services in adaptation. The results show that the adapted practices among the different study areas can be broadly categorised into resilient technologies, conservation technologies, management technologies, diversification of income security, and risk mitigation strategies. The paper finds that the CSA adaption achieves the intended benefits with possible trade-offs and is determined through the socio-economic, institutional, behavioural factors and the land’s physical characteristics. The critical evaluation of different extension systems exhibits the importance of varying field schools to promote the CSAPs. The study also emphasises developing networks among the different stakeholders, particularly between formal extension and informal extensions such as NGOs (non-governmental organisations), farmer groups, and private players, and the inclusion of ICTs (information and communication technologies) for the holistic extension systems and effective delivery to the farmers’ CSA adaptation.