Fact sheet of the project Innovation, monitoring and evaluation to improve the adoption of climate-smart technologies: Context, objectives, location, partners, methodology, initial results and next steps. The Cauca climate-smart village (CSV) is led by Fundación Ecohabitats, with support from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

1. CNagles(CIAT)
Family farming in Latin America has developed a multitude of strategies for coping with climate variability; however, the
climate changes manifested in the increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in the region require the
implementation of new solutions, not only technically but also in organizational terms.
The project “Innovation Platform to improve adoption of climate-smart technologies for the small family farmer” (PiASAC
in Spanish) seeks to encourage a process of adoption of solutions to improve the ability of small farmers to deal with
climate change and variability. The project ties in with initiatives in Honduras, through the Local Committees of Agricultural
Research (CIAL in Spanish), and in Colombia with the Cauca climate-smart village (CSV) seeking to improve the capacity of
smallholder farmers to adapt to climate change and variability.
Innovation, monitoring and evaluation to improve the
adoption of climate-smart technologies

2. Objectives
• Propose a methodology for monitoring and evaluation
of technical and organizational changes using
measures of adaptation to climate change.
• Propose simple tools for decision-making of technicians
and producers in order to analyze the effect of the
adoption of new practices and technical solutions.
• Generate evidence on low-cost solutions inspired by
current practices and taking into account the limited
financial capacity of smallholder farmers.
Location
Department of El Paraíso (Honduras) and CSV Cauca
(Colombia)
Partners
CIRAD, CIAT, Fundación Ecohabitats, Secretaría de
Agricultura y Ganadería de Honduras (SAG).
Methodology
Three types of indicators were defined:
• Process indicators: for monitoring changes in the
institutional environment of the producers and power
relationships among research participants.
• Knowledge indicators: improvement or not in the
domain of key concepts such as climate change,
climate variability, etc.
• Indicators of the effect of the three pillars of climate-
smart agriculture (CSA): a tool was developed to help
producers easily calculate one to three indicators for
each CSA pillar and it shows an average value. The
farmer introduces key data of his farm and the tool
estimates the CSA indicators using the data provided,
combined with parameters that come from the literature
or are observed in the region.
Initial results
• The results show that the implementation of a portfolio
of CSA practices improves the efficiency of the farm
compared to a business-as-usual scenario. For example,
in a 2.5 ha farm with coffee and sugarcane crops, the
introduction of CSA practices improves productivity
by 2% and adaptation by 14%. By integrating more
practices, it was possible to improve productivity by 5%,
90% adaptation, and 20% mitigation.
• In the process of defining the effect of the CSA
portfolios and other adjustments at the farm level, such
as changes in crop areas, synergies between the CSA
pillars were found, although in some cases tensions
between mitigation and adaptation were identified. For
example, for a coffee crop of 1/2 ha, it was possible to
achieve a 10% improvement in productivity and 150%
in adaptation, but a 60% reduction in mitigation due to
increased fertilizer use.
Next steps
The tool will be further developed based on lessons
learned from the first exercises on how to improve it
and how to articulate it with a methodology to consider
the environmental effects (life-cycle assessment of the
products of the farm).
The indicators used for monitoring will be approved for
comparative analysis with the CSVs of other regions.
This will provide evidence of how the CSV approach
fosters adaptation to climate change at the local level, as
it responds to the need for the producer to make better
informed decisions with respect to the uncertainty that
climate change and variability impose on productivity
and, thus, on food security.
More information
Nadine Andrieu (CIRAD), Project Leader
nadine.andrieu@cirad.fr
www.ccafs.cgiar.org
About CCAFS
The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), led by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT),
brings together some of the world’s best researchers in agricultural science, development research, climate science and Earth System science, to identify and
address the most important interactions, synergies and tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture and food security. www.ccafs.cgiar.org.
CCAFS Latin America
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Km. 17 Recta Cali-Palmira.
Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Led by