Bridging Knowledge Gaps in Climate-Smart Agriculture: Extension, Training, and Awareness

Abstract

Climate change is presenting challenges to global agriculture that have not been encountered before, including unpredictable rainfall and longer periods of drought, higher temperatures and more extreme weather events. Smallholder farmers livelihoods, food security and agricultural production are all at risk because of these changes, particularly in developing nations. A comprehensive strategy to increase productivity, increase climate variability resilience, and lower greenhouse gas emissions, is provided by climate-smart agriculture, or CSA. However, owing to lack of awareness, knowledge gap and ability of farmers, extension agents and other stakeholders, CSA adoption is limited even today. Strategies to fill up these gaps are critically reviewed in this analysis with an emphasis on coordinated training, agricultural extension and awareness campaigns. Digital innovations such as mobile applications, ICT-based advisory services etc. are highlighted as useful tools, as are participatory approaches such as farmer field schools, on-farm demos, capacity building workshops etc. Geographical inequalities in access to climate information, gender inequity, socioeconomic constraints and lack of institutional support are examples of longstanding barriers. Research suggests that a combination of extension services, education and awareness campaigns enhances farmer decision-making and there is encouragement to use climate resilient techniques, and build adaptive capacity at a community level. In order to ensure the long-term and wide-scale adoption of CSA, the study concludes with recommendations for policymakers, researchers and extension specialists that put a strong emphasis on financing capacity building initiatives, digital platforms, participatory knowledge-sharing systems and inclusive policies.