CSA/SuPER project: Upscaling climate smart agriculture via microfinance in Tanzania

Small-scale farmers in developing countries are highly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. Adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices can mitigate those negative impacts. However, few farmers adapt those practices due to limited access to agricultural knowledge and finance.

Project goals

CARE, CIAT, SUA, and Wageningen University & Research came together in CSA-SuPER research project to investigate a new model for upscaling the adoption of CSA practices by small-scale farmers in developing countries. This new model implemented by CARE in Iringa, Tanzania bundles villages savings and loan associations (VSLAs) that provides agricultural finance with farmer field business schools (FFBSs) that deliver agricultural knowledge to groups of small-scale women farmers. The model also follows sustainable, productive, profitable, equitable and resilient, so-called SuPER, farming principles to guarantee that women are not excluded and receive equal opportunities to adopt those practices.

Project Outputs

The project team will prepare climate risk profile reports that summarize the major climate risks and coping options for small-scale farmers in Iringa. Following this, the team will conduct household surveys, focus group discussions, and lab in the field experiments to investigate the impact pathway of the model. The findings of the study will be shared with stakeholders through reports, scientific publications, presentations, and workshops.

Info Note: to upscale the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices

We introduce our project and methodology in our Info Note, which can be found here. The note explains the background, theory of change and objectives of the project.

Climate risk profile report: Iringa District

The project team completed the Iringa district climate risk profile, which summarizes the significant climate challenges that agricultural actors face at Iringa district. The profile documents that temperatures have significantly increased and precipitation have decreased in Iringa. Climate projections show that the adverse effects or climate change will increase in the coming years. Climate change affects most small-scale farmers, as they lack the adaptive capacity for climate change. If you want to read it further, you can reach the report here: Tanzania Country Climate Risk Profile Series. Iringa District.