Climate-smart agricultural practices for enhanced farm productivity, income, resilience, and greenhouse gas mitigation: a comprehensive review

Abstract

This study reviews the literature published between 2013 and 2023 to comprehensively understand the consequences of adopting climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices. We categorize the literature into three categories based on the scopes of climate-smart agriculture: (a) sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes; (b) adapt and build the resilience of people and agrifood systems to climate change; and (c) reduce or where possible, avoid greenhouse gas emissions. The review demonstrates that adopting CSA practices, in many instances, improves farm productivity and incomes. This increase manifests in increasing crop yields and productivity, income and profitability, and technical and resource use efficiency. Moreover, adopting CSA practices reinforces the resilience of farmers and agrifood systems by promoting food consumption, dietary diversity, and food security and mitigating production risks and vulnerabilities. Adopting CSA practices is environmentally feasible as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves soil quality. An integrative strategy encompassing diverse CSA practices portends an optimized avenue to chart a trajectory towards agrifood systems fortified against climatic change.