What we do
CIAT generates knowledge about climate change impacts, identifies adaptation options for the rural poor as well as options that can help mitigate climate change.
How we do it: Solutions from agricultural and climate science
CIAT research on crops has made significant strides in developing new generations of more resilient varieties, such as drought-tolerant rice and beans, insect- and disease-resistant cassava, and superior tropical forages adapted to drought, flooding, and other harsh conditions. Some of the latter also show great potential for sequestering carbon and reducing nitrous oxide emissions.
Center specialists in soils are exploring the close links between improved soil health and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Center experts on decision and policy analysis are developing and applying novel methods to project the likely impacts of climate change on agricultural production. One such tool, called Climate Analogues, permits comparisons between projections of future climates at specific locations and similar conditions already existing at other sites on the same or other continents.
In addition, CIAT scientists are assessing best-bet policies and actions to enhance farming systems and ecosystem services, despite a hostile future climate. The quick and easy-to-read Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) country profiles, developed by CIAT and CCAFS, in partnership with the World Bank, Costa Rica’s CATIE, and USAID, give an overview of the agricultural challenges in 12 countries, and how CSA can help them adapt to and mitigate climate change.