1. Background

South Asia is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions in terms of climate change impacts. The region is still a predominantly agrarian society, with much of the population dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, but the sector is at high risk from climate change. Agricultural production is severely constrained by extreme climate events whose frequency has increased in the past few decades. Estimates show that South Asia could lose between 10 and 50 percent of crop production by the end of the century due to global warming.  Moreover, South Asia is still home to more than a quarter of the world’s hungry and undernourished population. The region will likely need to double its food production to feed a population of up to 2.68 billion people by 2050.

Climate change has thus emerged as a major challenge to farming systems’ ability to respond to the increasing demand for food in a sustainable way. Consequently, sustainable intensification of agriculture and climate change adaptation have become inextricably linked agendas. For South Asia, a paradigmatic shift is required in the design of agricultural programs and interventions that couples enhanced resilience with greater efficiency in natural resource use at the farm level, prioritizing farming systems that are most vulnerable to climate change and exposed to natural resource degradation.

Climate change challenges are being tackled locally through nationally supported experimentation with climate-smart technologies and practices. Further development of these technologies and practices is urgently needed, along with catalyzing existing efforts and scaling up proven successes. A major effort is needed to match existing technologies with farmers’ needs, market opportunities, and environmental concerns. Currently, cross-border cooperation among National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) in South Asia is constrained by lack of capacity, which precludes access to opportunities.

The SAARC Agricultural Centre (SAC) plays a pivotal role in enhancing regional cooperation as it has an explicit mandate to promote and support regional cooperation among member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to foster sustainable and resilient agricultural systems in South Asia.

The 2014 SAARC Summit in Kathmandu agreed on sustainable intensification and climate adaptation of agricultural systems as strategic priorities for cooperation among member states and between the SAARC system and international development partners. The third meeting of the SAARC Agriculture Ministers in April 2016 called for a broader engagement between SAARC and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on a regional agricultural program. In addition, the SAARC–CGIAR roundtable meeting (August 2017) on Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) in South Asia identified climate change adaptation as a high-priority area. This has led to the creation of a consortium between SAC and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to promote climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in South Asia by catalyzing NARES’ national programs through regional cooperation, knowledge-sharing, and scaling-up of innovative solutions and best practices through national programs and policies. Further, the fourth meeting of the SAARC Agriculture Ministers in June 2019 endorsed the project with appreciation.

Building on this, IFAD developed and approved the Consortium for Scaling Up Climate Smart Agriculture in South Asia (C-SUCSeS) grant to SAC, with co-financing from the SAARC Development Fund (SDF), SAC, IFPRI, and the NARES — totaling over US$3 million. The project will foster partnership and cooperation between C-SUCSeS partners, other CGIAR Centers, and SAARC governments around the CSA agenda.

2. Introduction

Consortium for Scaling-up Climate Smart Agriculture in South Asia (C-SUCSeS) project is a four- year (one-year no-cost extension, granted in September 2021) joint initiative between the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Agriculture Centre (SAC), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The program fosters partnership and cooperation between the SAARC, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES), IFPRI and other Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers, and SAARC governments on the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) agenda. The C-SUCSeS project is intended to support agricultural research’s roles to generate and facilitate delivery of technological solutions to smallholders, with a specific priority on the intensification and resilience of smallholder agriculture, contributing inter alia to increasing water management efficiency; and promote innovative, pro-poor approaches and technologies with demonstrated scaling-up potential; strengthen partners' institutional and policy capacities; enhance policy engagement; and generate and share knowledge. The program promotes bottom-up applied research with active participation of smallholder farmers based on the experience of other participatory research experiences in the region, including the climate smart village concept. This Program was co-developed by the SAC, IFPRI and IFAD in close consultation with the SAARC Member States. The Grant Agreement of the Programme was signed between SAC and IFAD on 05 November 2020 and it formalizes the approval and administration of the IFAD Grant provided to SAC and the supervision of the Programme implementation over four years (05 November 2020 – 31 December 2024). SAC shall be responsible for administering the Grant following the financial and administrative rules and procedures of SAARC Harmonized Rules.

3. Goal

The overall goal of the project is to promote sustainable and resilient agricultural intensification in South Asia through enhanced capacity (policy, institution, and skill) to scale up CSA strategies and technologies. 

4. Objectives

• To accelerate the identification of and scaling up of viable CSA interventions through national policies and programmes in South Asia; and
• To set up effective and efficient mechanisms for knowledge-sharing, policy dialogue, and cooperation in research and development programmes among SAARC countries on CSA.

5. Expected Outcomes and Outputs

Outcome 1: Best CSA technologies and practices suitable for smallholders, particularly women farmers identified and scaled-up in project countries

Outcome 2: CSA policies and strategies mainstreamed in national agricultural development strategies with appropriate institutional arrangement for effective implementation 

Outcome 3: Enhanced capacities of national staffs (policy, research and extension system), smallholder farmers (with special focus on women farmers) on climate smart agricultural technologies and sustainable and resilient agricultural intensification

Outcome 4: Enhanced SAC-led regional cooperation programme on CSA in the SAARC region.

Outputs of Component 1

1.1.: A report with an inventory of CSA technologies and practices that are relevant and scalable in selected agro-systems (rice-rice, rice-wheat, highland mixed, and rainfed mixed) in six project countries of South Asia.

Output 1.2.: A report and a policy brief based on the participatory research for viability assessment of CSA technologies and practices across project countries.

Output 1.3.: Reports and policy briefs based on the impact assessment and benefit-cost analysis of the most promising, smallholder-friendly, and scalable CSA technologies.

Output 1.4.: A set of three national strategies for three project countries for the scaling up of proven CSA technologies through NARES partners, farmer organizations, NGOs, IFAD-supported projects, and other government programmes.

Outputs of Component 2

Output 2.1.: Three policy papers outlining policy and institutional constraints to the adoption of the selected CSA technologies and practices and identifying strategies to reduce these constraints.

Output 2.2.: A strategy paper on how to promote regional cooperation for the promotion of CSA in South Asia.

Output 2.3.: One policy roundtable and one high-level policy forum to share scientific evidence, and experience in formulating and implementing CSA policies and find ways to improve regional cooperation for promoting climate-smart agriculture in South Asia.

Outputs of Component 3

Output 3.1.: A well-functioning community of practice on climate-smart agriculture consisting of researchers, entrepreneurs, farmer organizations, donors, and policymakers with regular exchange of experiences.

Output 3.2.: Training materials developed on CSA technologies and practices in collaboration with national and regional training centers to train farmers, researchers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs.

Output 3.3.: Enhanced knowledge and learning of farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs/service providers, and extension agents on CSA technologies.

Output 3.4.: Innovative knowledge-sharing approaches (e.g., Learning Routes) developed and pilot tested with the climate-smart community of practice.

Outputs of Component 4

Output 4.1.: A well-functioning Project Coordination Unit (PCU) set up and trained at SAC for effective implementation and monitoring of project activities.

Output 4.2.: Timely preparation and submission of progress reports and coordination of project activities.

6. Target Beneficiaries

The grant activities will target 7,500 smallholders, as well as researchers, extension workers, and policymakers in SAARC countries. Of the 7,500 beneficiaries, 1,500 farmers will participate in validation of CSA technologies and practices, and 6,000 farmers will benefit from training, exposure visits, and other knowledge events. Beneficiaries’ distribution across farming systems and target countries will be defined in consultation with NARES.

About 50,000 smallholders will indirectly benefit from scaling-up activities and implementation of scaling-up strategies developed under the grant. NARES and relevant government technical agencies will broadly benefit from the project in terms of improved institutional capacity and program development.

7. Program Management and Implementation

The SAC is the recipient of the IFAD Grant, and IFPRI is the sub- recipient. SAC and the IFPRI will work together for the management and implementation of the programme. The Grant will be managed, and the overall work will be coordinated by the PCU under the supervision of the Director of SAC.

SAC and IFPRI will organize the Programme Management Meeting (PMM) semi-annually, preferably face-to-face. SAC will be responsible for convening the PMM with support from PCU for preparing the PMM. The functions of PMM will be to report on the programme’s operational and disbursement progress and expenditure, discuss challenges/bottlenecks in implementation and review the programme’s approach, harmonize planned activities, and consolidate input to annual progress reports and AWPBs.

8. Project Duration: January 2022 – December 2024

9. Activities

The activities conducted in Nepal during the project period is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. List of activities conducted in Nepal during the project period 

10. Publications