"There is a growing demand for AgMIP integrated assessments and collaborative research tools. They can help to bridge research with agricultural extension services and rural communities."
With Zimbabwe enhancing its diligence in climate resilient agriculture, National research institutions were selected as entry point for the Green Climate Fund. Their role is in packaging technologies and interventions for extension services, who have the direct links with farmers and reach wide parts of the population, as more than 90% of population is involved in agriculture. This provides opportunities for training and demonstrations of adaptation technologies and interventions, and improving access to weather, climate and hydrological information.
Matopos Research Institute hosts one of the GCF-funded Innovation Platforms (IPs), for testing climate change adaptation packages under semi-arid farming conditions. This contributes to climate proofing technologies and interventions for specific farming systems, under current climatic conditions and projected climate impacts.
AgMIP integrated assessments can provide information about benefits and impacts of specific technology packages, and to what extend agricultural extension services needs to be improved, and thereby becoming more relevant for farmers.
There is a growing demand for AgMIP integrated assessments and collaborative research tools. The AgMIP tools are handy to make research more useful. They can test the impacts of particular adaptation packages that have been proven to work, under particular farming systems and climatic conditions. This can support mainstreaming climate change adaptation in agriculture, through better tailored technology packages, and requirements for these packages to work.
At the same time, this type of research offers opportunities for building capacity. Capacity gaps exist how to carry out climate related research with specific focus on agriculture. Currently, adaptation packages are being promoted, which have not been tested using the right tools. Using AgMIP tools, integrated assessments can be done through the Department of Research and Specialist Services, to develop sets of adaptation packages and information that the IPs can use.
Through the IP we congregate relevant stakeholders to take the research results further, involving researchers, farmers, private sector, government and development organizations. We create a common understanding on the challenges for agriculture under climate change, what technologies work under climate change, to what extent they can contribute to increase farm productivity and farm income, and enhance the contribution of agriculture to GDP growth, as it is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy.
The IPs thus develop new ways of grounding agricultural research in application and extension; making AgMIP foreward-looking tools available to the IPs helps fostering these bonds.
AgMIP research methods can thereby strengthen the role of IPs to become applied oriented learning centers, and build capacity of extension services on climate resilient agriculture. They can help to bridge research with agricultural extension services and rural communities.
