Sustainable intensification: What is its role in climate smart agriculture?

TLDR

Sustainable intensification and climate‑smart agriculture are complementary strategies that adapt to climate change, lower emissions per unit of output, and provide a foundation for risk management and local institutional support, yet they are only one component of a broader food‑security agenda. The study argues that adaptation must extend beyond intensification to include diversified farming systems, local planning, responsive governance, leadership development, and asset diversification.

Abstract

The ‘sustainable intensification’ (SI) approach and ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) are highly complementary. SI is an essential means of adapting to climate change, also resulting in lower emissions per unit of output. With its emphasis on improving risk management, information flows and local institutions to support adaptive capacity, CSA provides the foundations for incentivizing and enabling intensification. But adaptation requires going beyond a narrow intensification lens to include diversified farming systems, local adaptation planning, building responsive governance systems, enhancing leadership skills, and building asset diversity. While SI and CSA are crucial for global food and nutritional security, they are only part of a multi-pronged approach, that includes reducing consumption and waste, building social safety nets, facilitating trade, and enhancing diets.