Dr Eklabya Sharma, Director of Programme Operation, represented the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in the panel discussion, which was moderated by Dr Ismahane Elouafi of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA).

Sharma shared ICIMOD’s Climate Smart Village (CSVs) as a success story, an approach jointly implemented by the Center for Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research, Extension and Development (CEAPRED) in Nepal, which includes social, economic and ecological dimensions of development. Sharma shared the six smart interventions of CSVs that included nutrient: water, crop, energy, future, nutrient, and information and communication technology (ICT). The success of these interventions are directly attributed to the involvement of women and the farmer user groups. Intervention uses local resources, links with local government schemes and includes local knowledge in the formulation and the implementation of the programme.

‘The key to rapid out-scaling of any initiative is in identifying and recognizing where the smartness and collective intelligence is’, Sharma said. ‘In our case, in Nepal, these were the women’.

Agricultural diversification is an essential element of sustainable, healthy landscapes. To achieve this, working with consumers, academics, including other sectors of the economy is imperative. Dr Hans Friederich from the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) emphasised the role of bamboo as one of the major complements to climate change strategies.

Dr Jose Joaquin Campos from CATIE said innovations within the approach of climate smart territories are very much based on ecological principals, thus relating to agro-ecology.

Panelists agreed the successful implementation of CSA and landscapes approach requires local adjustments that make them affordable and effective under local conditions in addition to having a good understanding of the mechanisms for decisions and the analysis of the consequences of these decisions for future livelihoods.

About AIRCA: The formation of the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA) in 2012, was stimulated by the need for integrated action to deliver sustainable agricultural intensification at the landscape scale. The nine-member alliance is focused on increasing food security by supporting smallholder agriculture and rural enterprise within healthy, sustainable and climate-smart landscapes.