GEORGETOWN GUYANA-JUNE 4, 2024- The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) , Caribbean Small Island Developing States (CSIDS) multicountry soil management initiative for Integrated Landscape Restoration and climate-resilient food Systems (SOILCARE) Project has taken a significant step forward by deciding to adopt the Climate Smart Agriculture Compliance (C-SAC) Tool as the de facto standard for climate-smart agriculture in the project.
This strategic move replaces the previously utilized High Nature Value Index (HNVI) tool, highlighting the project’s commitment to more robust and dynamic methods for assessing climate-smart agriculture.
Developed by Caribbean scientist Steve Maximay, the C-SAC Tool is a sophisticated mechanism designed to determine the degree of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) compliance in various projects, processes, and products. The tool employs a twenty-question evaluation protocol under five (5) operational arms, contributing to an overall compliance score that is assessed on a hundred-point scale. This numerical score is further interpreted through the visual C-SAC pentagon, providing a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of CSA compliance.
“The adoption of the C-SAC allows us to start imagining the future of agriculture in the changing world,” said Dr. Allan Williams who designed the HNVI tool.
“We needed a more precise vision to execute agricultural strategies and promote them in a smart way, that would become sustainable in the face of changing climatic conditions,” he added.
Steve Maximay, the creator of the CSAC Tool, explained, “For several years most Caribbean Governments have stated that their agricultural efforts will follow the Climate Smart Agriculture Approach, without quantitatively and qualitatively announcing what it entails. C-SAC provides a means to promote, measure and incentivize a truly comprehensive approach”
Project Manager for the CSIDS SOILCARE Project welcomed the use of this new tool. According to him, “Evaluating the impacts of Climate Smart Agriculture practices has always been extremely difficult for technical officers conducting field assessments and capturing impacts of Climate Change adaptation interventions. The CSAC tools will allow them to do so while building farmers’ capacity to use it and obtain a higher value for their crops.”
The integration of the Climate Smart Agriculture Compliance (C-SAC) Tool marks a pivotal moment for the SOILCARE Project, signaling a forward-thinking approach to Land Degradation Neutrality and climate-resilient food systems. This move is expected to enhance the project’s ability to address the unique challenges faced by Caribbean Small Island Developing States, fostering a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future.
The C-SAC tool can be used in three (3) ways, manual-based, excel-based, and Mobile Application.
For more information, contact the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management at info@pislmsids.org or soilcarepagnd@pislmsids.org.
