Building Climate-Resilient Agri-Food Systems: How the CRISP tool empowers you to climate-proof your project

Weather and climate are the main drivers of agricultural production and ecosystem services, but their variability and long-term changes are an ongoing source of disruption. These changes pose a significant threat to global food security, the sustainability of agri-food systems and the livelihoods of people across the world. In the rural areas of developing countries, the effects of climate change are particularly severe and increasingly visible. Smallholder farmers often lack the resources and infrastructure to respond appropriately to the changing environment and climatic conditions.

In this increasingly challenging reality, adaptation is more necessary than ever before. Many national government agencies collaborate with research and development organizations to design solutions and tools to address the adverse effects of climate-related risks. To contribute to their efforts, the Alliance and Eurac Research – with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – developed the Climate Risk Planning & Managing Tool for Development Programmes in Agri-Food Systems (CRISP).

CRISP is a free, web-based tool designed to mainstream climate-risk considerations and science-based adaptation options into agri-food project design and implementation. It equips project managers, policymakers, funders, researchers, and the private sector with the knowledge and resources to boost adaptation, strengthen resilience and protect food security and livelihoods in the face of climate change.

According to Dr. Osana Bonilla-Findji – one of the members of the CRISP team – the objective of the tool is to entrench climate action in all agri-food sector projects and innovations, as well as provide ways for practitioners to develop science-based adaptation hypotheses and effectively promote context-specific adaptation options.