Climate-Smart Agriculture: Climate Change-Friendly and Resilient Agriculture

Abstract

The world is now facing a dilemma because; on the one hand, agriculture intensification to feed the skyrocketing population entails more fossil fuels consumption and more synthetic fertilizers application inducing more Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions that exacerbate climate change. Climate change, on the other hand, has led to adverse effects on the agriculture sector on a global scale despite some minor advantages in higher latitudes. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA), hence, is the only solution to ensure sustainable agriculture productivity and maintain its resilience to climate change consequences. It is a modern approach to responding the climate change by reducing the trade-offs and improving the synergies of agricultural practices. It stands on three main pillars namely, sustainable productivity, resilience-building, and GHGs emissions mitigation using indigenous knowledge and site-specific solutions. Among several practices applied, the Internet of Things (IoT) in agriculture is one of the modern initiatives that can achieve the principal goals of CSA significantly. Therefore, the overall goal of this review paper is to examine the reciprocal effects of climate change and agriculture, discuss the concept of CSA, and ascertain its applicability in Afghanistan.