At a high-level policy forum held in the Maldives from November 14 to 15, agriculture experts from South Asia stressed the critical importance of exchanging evidence-based climate-smart agricultural practices to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers, who are acutely impacted by climate change.
Organized by the Consortium for Scaling-up Climate-Smart Agriculture in South Asia (C-SUCSeS) alongside SAARC Agriculture Centre, IFPRI, IFAD, and the SAARC Development Fund, the event aimed to foster the large-scale adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies to promote sustainable growth and food security across the region.
The forum brought together policymakers, researchers, and technical experts from SAARC nations, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Key themes included policy support, technological innovations, and empowering vulnerable groups such as women in farming communities.
Dr. Aishath Rameela, the Maldives’ Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare, launched training modules and farmer guides to promote CSA technologies. These resources were developed with regional expertise and validated earlier this year in collaboration with SAC, IFPRI, and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council.
IFAD lead Regional Economist Abdelkarim Sma emphasized that CSA is no longer an option but a necessity for the region. The initiative seeks to advance large-scale solutions and strengthen smallholder farmers’ capacity to mitigate food insecurity and poverty.