Agriculture
Millions of people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, but this sector is particularly vulnerable to weather and climate shocks.
Agriculture is the primary livelihood for millions of people around the world, and provides food for millions more. Agriculture is also particularly vulnerable to changes in weather patterns and extreme climatic events. Droughts, floods, and increasingly unpredictable rainfall disrupt agriculture and livestock production, deeply impacting the food security and nutrition of households and communities.
Strengthening farmers’ and pastoralists’ ability to produce, sell, and distribute food is therefore essential to community food security and nutrition. Access to quality inputs, training, and markets, coupled with opportunities to diversify outside of and between crop production and animal rearing, can make households more resilient and better able to feed themselves and their communities even in the face of shocks and stresses.
Climate smart agriculture builds resilience to the shocks and stresses of climate change through climate-appropriate practices while reducing agriculture’s contributions to climate change. Farmers need access to and investment in appropriate climate-smart technologies and practices that increase productivity, build farmers’ resilience to climate change, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
Featured Resources
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Senegal is one of the poorest countries in the world but thanks to its political and social stability has experienced a higher economic...
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The National Resilience Strategy (NRS) introduces a new sense of common purpose to break the cycle of food insecurity in Malawi by bridging...
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In late 2018, the Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment, and Resilience (CEADIR) Activity and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) ...
Climate Change AdaptationAgricultureEcosystems and NRMEthiopiaKenya -
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Join REAL and team members from USAID-funded programs in Uganda, Nepal, and Ethiopia for an interactive discussion on successes and challenges of implementing integrated resilience programming in food security activities.
Collaboration and Collective ImpactAgricultureNepalUgandaEthiopia -
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Ten USAID implementing partners find success through collaboration around water security with two-year Integrated Water Management Activity .
WaterAgricultureNepal -
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Some development programs are designed on the premise that they can trigger lasting changes in poverty or food security. An intervention in eastern Uganda to increase the use of improved seed varieties and basic farming practices among women smallholders was phased out after four years due to a...
AgricultureUganda -
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Agricultural extension promotes improved inputs and more productive farming practices, which could boost food security and reduce poverty in developing countries. We evaluated how a large-scale agricultural extension program for smallholder women farmers in Uganda impacted food security....
AgricultureUganda -
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Since 2006, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have developed drought-tolerant maize (DTM) varieties to address a widespread risk of drought in Sub-Saharan Africa. From 2014-2018, MRR Innovation Lab...
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Drought-tolerant seeds are designed to protect farmers from moderate, mid-season drought, but can still fail when conditions are severe. In Tanzania and Mozambique the project paired drought-tolerant maize (DTM) with index insurance designed to protect farmers when even drought-tolerant...
AgricultureMozambiqueTanzania -
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For many rural families in developing economies, a single drought or flood can create immediate economic distress as well as lingering effects that can last generations. Even the risk of these disasters can create lasting hardship. Recent evidence shows that effectively managing these...
AgricultureAccess to Markets -
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This research brief looks at the benefits and
comparative advantages of the group model for youth in agriculture in northern Uganda as well as
the possible challenges associated with youth
associations.AgricultureDiversify Livelihood RisksFinancial InclusionSocial Inclusion -
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Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan economy, contributing to approximately 26 percent of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Pastoralist and agricultural activities are dependent on rain for sustainability. Erratic rainfall has led to...
AgricultureEvidence and AnalysisKenya