The C-SUCSeS project is a four-year joint initiative between the SAC, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and  SAARC Development Fund (SDF). The project fosters partnership and cooperation between government of SAARC member countries, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES), SAARC and IFPRI to further the agenda of climate smart agriculture.

The overall goal of the project is to promote sustainable and resilient agricultural intensification in South Asia through enhanced capacity (policy, institution, skills) to scale-up climate smart strategies and technologies.

The specific objectives include:

1. Accelerating the identification of and scaling-up of viable CSA interventions through national policies and programs in South Asia;
2. Setting-up effective and efficient mechanisms for knowledge sharing, policy dialogue, and cooperation in Research and development programs among SAARC countries on CSA.

Key activities:

1. Scaling-up technically viable and gender-sensitive CSA technologies for smallholders in selected farming systems;
2. Policy analysis/advocacy and institutional development;
3. Knowledge management and capacity building; and
4. Project management. Successful implementation of this project within the grant time frame between 2021 and 2025

Expected outcomes by the end of the project:

• best CSA technologies and practices suitable for smallholders, particularly for identified women farmers, and scaled up in project countries;
• CSA policies and strategies mainstreamed in national agricultural development strategies with appropriate institutional arrangement for effective implementation;
• enhanced capacities of national staff (policy, research and extension system) and smallholder farmers (with special focus on women farmers) on CSA technologies and sustainable and resilient agricultural intensification; and
• enhanced SAC-led regional cooperation program on CSA in the SAARC region

The C-SUCSeS project is intended to generate and facilitate the delivery of technological solutions to smallholders, with a specific priority on the intensification and resilience of smallholder agriculture, contributing inter alia to increasing water management efficiency; and promoting innovative, pro-poor approaches and technologies with demonstrated scaling-up potential; strengthen partners’ institutional and policy capacities; enhance policy engagement, and generate and share knowledge. The programme promotes bottom-up applied research with the active participation of smallholder farmers based on the experience of other participatory research experiences in the region, including the climate-smart village (CSV) concept.

Targeted Beneficiaries

The grant activities will directly target 7,500 smallholders, as well as researchers, extension workers, and policymakers in SAARC countries. Of the 7,500 beneficiaries, 1,500 farmers will participate in validation of CSA technologies and practices, and 6,000 farmers will benefit from training, exposure visits, and other knowledge events. Beneficiaries’ distribution across farming systems and target countries will be defined in consultation with NARES.

About 50,000 smallholders will indirectly benefit from scaling-up activities and implementation of scaling-up strategies developed under the grant. NARES and relevant government technical agencies will broadly benefit from the project in terms of improved institutional capacity and program development.

About SAC and other organizations involved

SAC: SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC) SAC is the first Regional Centre established in 1988 by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) with a mandate to promote agricultural research and development as well as technology dissemination initiatives for sustainable agricultural development and poverty alleviation in the region. SAC has the responsibility to promote and support regional cooperation among SAARC member states in fostering sustainable and resilient agricultural adaptation in South Asia. It is governed and supported directly by the Member States under the umbrella of SAARC.  For more, please visit, https://www.sac.org.bd/our-team/

IFAD: IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided US$23.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached an estimated 518 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency based in Rome – the United Nations food and agriculture hub.  For more, please visit: https://www.ifad.org/en/

IFPRI: About International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. It is a research center of CGIAR, a worldwide partnership engaged in agricultural research for development.  For more , please visit: https://www.ifpri.org/

SDF: About SAARC Development Fund (SDF) SAARC Development Fund (SDF) was established in April 2010 as a regional financial institution for all SAARC projects and programs. SDF’s Mandate is to promote regional integration and economic cooperation. In the last eleven years, SDF has embarked on projects, forged new partnerships, and initiated numerous interventions to enable SDF to become a more robust umbrella-funding institution, amply capable of delivering the benefits of regional engagement to the millions in the region through project-based collaboration. SDF operates through the three financing windows: Social, Economic and Infrastructure. SDF has about 100 projects approved by the SDF Board under the three funding windows with a fund commitment/allocation of over US$ 165 million. SDF has an authorized capital of US$ 1.5 billion and a capital base of over US$ 560 million. For more, please visit: www.sdfsec.org