significant innovations . A wide array of industries — telecommunications media , transportation , life sciences and more — are experiencing the disruptive effects of emerging technologies .
These technologies are also transforming how innovations are being conceptualised , designed and commercialised and , more generally , how businesses operate . For example , companies such as Kickstarter , Innocentive , Crowd Spring , Amazon , Google , and Salesforce have created online platforms that reduce the barriers to entry and transaction costs for innovators developing and commercialising new products of their own .
Climate Smart Agriculture ( Source : World Bank )
A growing global population and changing diets are driving up the demand for food . Production is struggling to keep up as crop yields level off in many parts of the world , ocean health declines , and natural resources — including soils , water and biodiversity — are stretched dangerously thin . A 2020 report found that nearly 690 million people — 8.9 % of the global population — are hungry , up by nearly 60 million in five years . The food security challenge will only become more difficult , as the world will need to produce about 70 % more food by 2050 to feed an estimated nine billion people .
The challenge is intensified by agriculture ’ s extreme vulnerability to climate change . Climate change ’ s negative impacts are already being felt , in the form of increasing temperatures , weather variability , shifting agroecosystem boundaries , invasive crops and pests , and more frequent extreme weather events . On farms , climate change is reducing crop yields and the nutritional quality of major cereals and lowering livestock productivity . Substantial investments in adaptation will be required to maintain current yields and to achieve production and food quality increases to meet demand .
The problem also works in reverse . Agriculture is a major part of the climate problem . It currently generates 19 – 29 % of total greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions . Without action , that percentage could rise substantially as other sectors reduce their emissions . Additionally , one-third of food produced globally is either lost or wasted . Addressing food loss and waste is critical to helping meet climate goals and reduce stress on the environment .
Achieving the Triple Win of CSA Climate-smart agriculture ( CSA ) is an integrated approach to managing landscapes — cropland , livestock , forests and fisheries — that address the interlinked challenges of food security and accelerating climate change . CSA aims to simultaneously achieve three outcomes : a . Increased productivity : Produce more and better food to improve nutrition security and boost the incomes especially of 75 % of the world ’ s poor who live in rural areas and mainly rely on agriculture for their livelihoods . b . Enhanced resilience : Reduce vulnerability to drought , pests , diseases and other climate-related risks and shocks and improve capacity to adapt and grow in the face of longer-term stresses like shortened seasons and erratic weather patterns . c . Reduced emissions : Pursue lower emissions for each calorie or kilo of food produced , avoid deforestation from agriculture and identify ways to absorb carbon out of the atmosphere .
While built on existing knowledge , technologies , and principles of sustainable agriculture , CSA is distinct in several ways . First , it has an explicit focus on addressing climate change . Second , CSA systematically considers the synergies and tradeoffs that exist between productivity , adaptation and mitigation . Finally , CSA aims to capture new funding opportunities to close the deficit in investment .
Climate-Smart Agriculture and the World Bank Group The World Bank Group ( WBG ) is currently scaling up climate-smart agriculture . In its Climate Change Action Plan as well as its 2025 Targets to Step Up Climate Action , the World Bank committed to working with countries to deliver climate-smart agriculture that achieves the triple win of increased productivity , enhanced resilience , and reduced emissions . In 2020 , 52 % of World Bank financing in agriculture also targeted climate adaption and mitigation .
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