The Climate- Smart Agriculture (CSA) profile for Sindh province was launched virtually at Hyderabad, Sindh with the Secretary, Agriculture Supply & Prices Department, as the chief guest. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The Alliance Biodiversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have jointly prepared the profile assisted by funding from the United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
The Sindh CSA profile provides a unique opportunity in identifying the climate smart practices and technologies for all the major crops (rice, wheat, sugarcane and cotton) and horticulture crops factoring productivity enhancement, adaptation to the changing climate and mitigation of the greenhouse gas emissions. The CSA profile offers adaptation measures in order to effectively mitigate climate change risks whereby smallholders would have the potential to enhance Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the farm-level through the systematic integration of climate smart practices and technologies.
Deputy FAO Representative in Pakistan, Mr. Farrukh Toirov stated that climate change is happening now and farmers have to adapt to the new realities. Productivity of the traditional crops are falling in some places and climate volatilities are making the practiced farming technologies less effective. FAO is promoting Climate Smart Agriculture approach to help farmers in introducing resilient farming practices and increasing productivity, he added.
Climate Action and Advisory Services Regional Leader for Asia and Interim Country Representative to Vietnam,The Alliance Biodiversity International and CIAT (Vietnam), Dr. Godefroy Grosjean, said that the launch of the Sindh CSA profile is a timely and important event. Agriculture in Sindh is repeatedly impacted by climate hazards and natural disasters, a situation which is projected to worsen under future climate change. These hazards exacerbate existing development issues in the province, eroding livelihoods and reversing the recent progress that has been made across a range of socio-economic indicators, he informed.
Along with the launch of the Sindh CSA profile on Tuesday, a panel discussion was run, as part of the Food Security and Nutrition Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation (FIRST) Programme’s FIRST Pakistan Dialogue Series 2020, on the topic, “Strengthening the linkages between CSA and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in future policies, program design, and implementation”.
Panel moderator Ms Genevieve Hussain, Policy Officer FAO, said that the Sindh CSA profile will help policymakers and practitioners in Sindh carry forward the vision of a climate-resilient agriculture system in Sindh, as per one of the key objectives of the Sindh Agriculture Policy 2018-30.  The profile should become an important resource in planning and developing the sector’s future, she added.
More than 30 participants attended the launch event, whereas more than 40 participants attended the launch virtually. Participants from UN agencies, officials from government of Sindh, academia, and civil society, national and international non-governmental organization participated.