Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Training Course

This five-day training programme equips agricultural development professionals, extension officers, policymakers, farmer organisation leaders, and development practitioners with a comprehensive understanding of Climate-Smart Agriculture — its theoretical foundations, evidence base, practical tools, and implementation frameworks. Participants will engage with the FAO's CSA framework, the CGIAR Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) research programme findings, and national CSA investment plans, while examining practical CSA interventions including conservation agriculture, drought-tolerant varieties, agroforestry, and climate-informed advisory services. Case studies from East Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa contextualise global frameworks in local agricultural realities.

Climate change represents the single most significant long-term threat to global food security, with rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, increasing frequency of extreme weather events, and declining soil health collectively threatening the productive capacity of agricultural systems worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa — a region that contributes less than four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet absorbs a disproportionate share of climate impacts — faces particularly acute challenges: droughts are intensifying, floods are becoming more frequent, and agricultural seasons are growing less predictable. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) offers a transformative response framework, integrating productivity enhancement, climate adaptation, and greenhouse gas mitigation into a coherent agricultural development strategy. This course provides the knowledge, tools, and frameworks to translate CSA principles into practical action at the farm, community, and programme level.

This training program is designed to enable participants to:

1. 01• Understand the scientific basis of climate change impacts on agriculture, food systems, and rural livelihoods across Sub-Saharan Africa and globally
2. 02• Apply the FAO Climate-Smart Agriculture framework: the three pillars of productivity, adaptation, and mitigation in integrated programme design
3. 03• Evaluate and select CSA practices appropriate to specific agro-ecological zones, farming systems, and household vulnerability contexts
4. 04• Design and implement climate-smart crop and livestock production systems integrating improved varieties, conservation agriculture, and agroforestry
5. 05• Apply climate information services and seasonal climate forecasts to farmer decision-making and agricultural planning
6. 06• Assess greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems and design mitigation interventions for carbon sequestration and emission reduction
7. 07• Integrate CSA into national agricultural investment plans, food security strategies, and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
8. 08• Measure, report, and verify the productivity, adaptation, and mitigation outcomes of CSA programmes

This training course is designed for:

• Agricultural extension officers and rural development practitioners
• NGO and development programme staff designing climate-resilient agriculture components
• National ministry of agriculture staff responsible for climate adaptation planning
• Farmer organisation leaders and cooperative managers
• Development finance officers and project appraisal specialists in the agriculture sector
• Researchers and technical advisors in agricultural development
• Local government officers with agricultural development mandates

• Facilitated participatory sessions integrating CSA theory with practical case studies from African farming systems
• Agro-ecological zone mapping exercises: identifying climate risks and CSA priority interventions by context
• Participatory scenario planning: facilitating farmer-level climate adaptation decision-making
• Field exercise or farm walk (or virtual equivalent): observing CSA practices in a real farming context
• CSA programme design workshop: participants develop a CSA intervention package for a defined farming system
• Climate information services simulation: interpreting seasonal forecasts and translating to farm management advice
• Individual capstone: design of a CSA monitoring and evaluation framework for a specific intervention

Organizations sending participants to this course will benefit through:
• More climate-resilient agricultural programmes reducing the risk of climate-related project failure
• Stronger institutional capacity to access climate finance and green investment for agricultural development
• Improved MRV systems enabling evidence-based reporting on CSA outcomes to donors and governments
• Greater alignment between organisational agricultural programmes and national climate adaptation strategies
• Enhanced contribution to long-term food security and agricultural sector resilience in target communities

Participants attending this course will gain:

• Deep practical understanding of CSA principles, frameworks, and evidence applicable immediately in professional roles
• Enhanced ability to design, implement, and evaluate climate-smart agricultural programmes and projects
• Stronger capacity to integrate climate information services into extension advisory systems
• Improved ability to engage with climate finance mechanisms and align agricultural programmes with NDC commitments
• Greater professional credibility in CSA, climate adaptation, and sustainable agricultural development

At Strategic Revenue Africa, our certification goes beyond proof of attendance—it represents practical competence and measurable capability. Upon successful completion of our training programs, participants are awarded a Certificate of Completion from Strategic Revenue Africa, recognizing their ability to apply acquired knowledge in real-world settings. As an organization focused on architecting sustainable revenue and strengthening organizational performance, our certifications signal that participants are equipped with skills that drive results, not just theory.