Increasing carbon emissions are responsible for global warming. The carbon emissions related to each stage of the agricultural value chain contribute to climate change, while on the other hand, the negative impacts of climate change (e.g. growing frequency and intensity of rainfall, higher temperatures, shorter growing seasons, changing patterns of pests and diseases) may lead to crop damage, land degradation, and food insecurity.

ActionAid’s field work confirms that climate change-induced decline in crop production are already happening and affecting the food security of rural smallholder farmers. In

other words, too much or too little rainfall spells disaster for as much as 70 percent of the world’s extreme poor who depend on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods.

To face this threat, smallholder farmers have begun to respond to failing crops and increased hunger by adopting low-input agroecological farming techniques that help improve their food security and diversify their livelihoods.

ActionAid believes that agroecology-based Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture is an effective way to respond to both the climate and food crisis.

CRSA proposes to overcome the gaps of contemporary mitigation and adaptation programs in agriculture by bringing to the fore the actual priorities, needs, and knowledge of farming communities themselves. CRSA prioritizes the right to food, environmental conservation, and long-term community resilience in order to reduce food insecurity at the local level, and contribute to effective national and international climate change policies that support self-sufficiency and sustainability in agricultural systems worldwide.