Building a comprehensive systems perspective of climate-smart agriculture goes beyond implementation and of new technologies and practices. A holistic approach brings together the understanding of economic, environmental and social impacts within value chains from production to processing and trade. While no one individual, community or government can do everything, it is central to a holistic systems perspective that everyone work cooperatively to address the growing demands.

The videos below provide a glimpse into the complexity of agriculture in changing climate stressors and the need for an encompassing approach of government ministries and policies, social and community networks, to identify and priorities issues to address. No one adaptation or practice will bring about resilient agricultural production we seek, it requires diverse adaptations globally and over time. There is a lot we can be doing today to addressing the impact of changing climate patterns such as, among others:

• Fostering clean energy options
• Maintain healthy watersheds, forests and landscapes
• Use the best climate science to predict and prepare

A holistic approach calls for adaptations at the smallholder farm level along with landscape responses and large holder farmers, lpolicies or laws, and on-and-off-farm changes. Agriculture production with climate awareness calls individuals towards a mindset of adaptation with flexibility. Taking the perspective of economic, environmental and social impacts, we know that weather event stressors have an economic impact beginning at the farm level and production and moving on through the value chain.

We invite you to:

• Review some or all of the following videos
• Join the conversations of lessons learned in your community
• Share the links to your project as you apply agriculture approaches to align with changing weather events in your region

A Systems Approach to Climate Smart Agriculture, USAID

FAO Policy Series: Climate Smart Agriculture, FAO

Climate Smart Agriculture Resource, CGIAR (available in English, French and Spanish)

Join the Discussion

• How are you using social and community networks as tools within communities to address agricultural issues and expand holistic system approaches?
• What adjustments are you observing in the value chains in response to climate variations in your region?