Climate change

The global challenge

Climate change amplifies the impacts of other risks for smallholder farmers, such as extreme weather and pests and diseases.

No longer regarded as a future challenge to be faced in the next few decades, climate disruption is already causing substantial losses to agriculture by speeding up biodiversity loss and the spread of crop pests and invasive species.

Invasive species have been estimated to cost Africa's agricultural sector $65.58bn per year. Taken together, the impacts of climate change undermine development gains and push people back into, or further into, poverty.

SDG 13: Climate Action seeks to strengthen resilience to climate change. Small-scale farmers are among the ones who need most help in climate adaptation.

CABI empowers people with skills, tools and knowledge to adapt and become more resilient to the impacts of climate change on crops and landscapes.

CABI brings technical expertise in addressing major pest and disease threats linked to climate change, notably the increased spread and impacts of invasive species.

Our approaches benefit livelihoods and biodiversity by ensuring agricultural sectors are embedded in healthy and climate-resilient and biodiverse landscapes with clean water and air, healthy soils and functional ecosystem services.

Our action

To deliver change, we:

Support smallholder farmers and businesses with access to information and tools to assess climate risks and enhance their adaptive capacity

Inform national and farm-level planning by developing pest and disease risk analytics that incorporate climate data

Develop management and government plans to control invasive species on a landscape scale, providing enhanced climate resilience and also contributing to climate mitigation

Explore cutting-edge areas of research to improve climate adaptation practices including plant microbiome research

Examples of our work

Bagging up the peppercorn for transporting

Climate-smart agriculture

The Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) programme aims to drive investment in climate-resilient agri-food systems that increase smallholder incomes. It does this by showcasing the commercial and development potential of sourcing models involving empowered smallholder producers, and by tackling the information and evidence gaps holding back investment. As part of CASA, CABI has worked to increase investors’ engagement in climate-smart smallholder agriculture, including recommending improvements to guidance for financial institutions on climate risk assessments, analysing climate adaptation practices in the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s commercial agriculture portfolio, and gaining insights from investors and innovators on commercially viable climate-smart agriculture technologies.

Early warning systems

The Pest Risk Information Service (PRISE) uses a combination of satellite earth observation technology with climate change data, pest models and real-time field observations to provide tailored, accurate advice to farmers on when pest surges may occur, and clear advice on how and when to apply low-cost biopesticides to minimize crop damage. This comprehensive end-to-end approach ensures that information is received by those who need it most, when they need it most. PRISE has helped farmers in Africa reduce crop losses and decrease chemical pesticide applications, leading to higher yields, increased incomes and a healthier environment.

Climate-smart coffee

CABI has supported smallholder coffee farmers in Colombia with nature-based solutions to tackle climate change and insect pest threats. More than 75% of coffee crops in Colombia are affected by the coffee berry borer beetle. Climate change is expanding this range, while increased temperatures, extreme heat, and higher humidity are all negatively affecting coffee production. By harnessing nature-based solutions, CABI has helped farmers face these challenges using a combination of natural biocontrol products, improved habitats for natural enemies of pests, and increased use of agroforestry practices, all enhanced by a digitally-enabled early warning and advisory service.