Climate adaptation & mitigation
Improving small-scale producers’ resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from food systems.
Objectives
Through research and innovation, CGIAR aims to address these challenges and contribute to collective global targets for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation:
- Implement all National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.
- Equip 500 million small-scale producers to be more resilient to climate shocks, with climate adaptation solutions available through national innovation systems.
- Turn agriculture and forest systems into a net sink for carbon by 2050, with emissions from agriculture decreasing by 1 Gt per year by 2030 and reaching a floor of 5 Gt per year by 2050.
Activities
To contribute to these collective global targets, CGIAR will:
- Provide scientific evidence and climate-smart solutions and unlock innovative finance that feed into local, national, regional, and global processes governing land use, land restoration, forest conservation, and resilience to floods and droughts, contributing to climate action, peace, and security.
- Co-develop production systems and portfolios of practices, adapted to the local needs of small-scale producers to enhance their adaptive capacity while reducing emissions, and provide affordable and accessible climate-informed services, particularly using digital tools.
- Focus on adaptation to a changing climate through adapted breeds and varieties, for example heat tolerant livestock breeds, strains and crosses, drought-tolerant maize, and heat-tolerant beans; and on inclusion of long-term accessions in genebanks to provide solutions for future climates.
Platform
Each CGIAR Impact Area is supported by a dedicated Platform. To enable CGIAR to achieve maximum impact, this Platform:
- Guides and amplifies CGIAR research, ensuring meaningful and lasting contributions to the global targets above.
- Strengthens the performance of gender and social science research within and beyond CGIAR by identifying the highest standards and setting strategic direction.
- Conducts independent research across the CGIAR portfolio, to synthesize evidence and fill gaps.
- Engages a wide range of partners, builds capacity and informs global policy discussions.
To learn more about the work of the Platform, visit the Platform webpage or check out the brochure.
News
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GoN Scales CIMMYT’s Commercial Maize Model in Nepal
The Government of Nepal is scaling CIMMYT’s Maize Commercial Model (MCM)—an inclusive, market-based approach that turns spring and winter rice...
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Food Security and Women’s Unpaid Care in Post-Disaster Zimbabwe
After Cyclone Idai, women in rural Zimbabwe carry the hidden cost of recovery. This blog reveals how unpaid care work expands under climate stress,...
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Understanding Climate Security at the Frontier of Research
Climate security is shaped by complex, local interactions. Drawing on leading researchers, this blog explores how climate stress, conflict, data...
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100 Most Influential Africans 2025
CGIAR Executive Managing Director, Ismahane Elouafi, named as one of the continent's top change makers.
Publications
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Prevalence of Escherichia coli Campylobacter spp and Salmonella spp in the East African Community a systematic literature review and metaanalysis
Pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Salmonella</i> spp. and <i>Campylobacter</i> spp. are bacteria associated...
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Armed conflict communitybased cash transfers and social cohesion Evidence from a randomized intervention in Ethiopia
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Pioneering sustainability in cattle ranching Colombias silvopastoral systems as a model for scaling across the tropics
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Improving crop management can help Cambodia become a major rice exporter
Cambodia has shifted from being a rice importer to a net exporter. Further rice yield improvement is essential to maintain self-sufficiency and...