The virtuous cycle:

By making farming more efficient and sustainable, smart agriculture helps achieve food
security. Food security, in turn, allows for healthier populations and a more stable society,
which is essential for achieving sustainable development. Sustainable development practices
then create an enabling environment for continued advancements in smart agriculture.

In essence, smart agriculture is a tool that strengthens the link between food security and
sustainable development. By promoting resource efficiency, it ensures we meet the needs of
today while safeguarding the ability to produce food for tomorrow.

Food security means that everyone has access to enough safe, nutritious food to meet their
dietary needs. Smart agriculture contributes to food security by:

 Boosting yields: Through efficient resource use and targeted interventions, smart agriculture
helps farmers produce more food on the same amount of land.
 Reducing food waste: Precise monitoring helps prevent spoilage during storage and
transportation, leading to more food reaching consumers.
 Enhancing food quality: Smart techniques can improve crop health and reduce reliance on
harmful chemicals, leading to safer and more nutritious food.

1. Increased Productivity: Practices like using drought-resistant crops and improved irrigation
techniques can help farmers grow more food despite changing weather patterns.
2. Enhanced Resilience: Techniques like conservation agriculture (minimal tillage) and
rainwater harvesting improve soil health and water retention, making farms more resistant
to droughts and floods.
3. Reduced Emissions: Practices that reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers and manage
manure effectively can help lower greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

How CSA Contributes to Food Security

By achieving these three goals, CSA directly contributes to food security in several ways:

 More stable food production: Increased productivity and resilience lead to more reliable
harvests, reducing the risk of food shortages.
 Improved livelihoods for farmers: Higher yields and incomes from CSA practices empower
farmers to invest in their farms and become more food secure themselves.
 Climate change adaptation: By building resilience, CSA helps farmers adapt to the impacts of
climate change, safeguarding long-term food security.

Examples of CSA Practices taken from (FAO, 2019):

 Crop rotation: Planting different crops in sequence helps maintain soil fertility and reduce
pest problems.
 Integrated pest management: Using natural methods to control pests reduces reliance on
harmful chemicals.
 Agroforestry: Integrating trees into farms provides shade, improves soil quality, and offers
additional food sources.
For example climate _smart village in kenya : building resilient farming systems.
Kenyas nyando valley has carved with deep gullies caused by soil erosion

These villages of nyando 80% of families experience 1-2 hunger months or a

period where they are unable to produce food. To cope up with these challenges
many farmers have started practicing CSA including using climate smart species
and cultivars and climate information services. These skills help farmers to
produce more yields for both present and future generation to meet their
intended needs.

WORLD BANK, 2016.Climate smart successes in Africa