Innovation Platform to Improve Technology Adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture by Farmers: Pilot in Honduras and Colombia

The project was implemented in Popayán, Colombia and in the Dry Corridor of Honduras with networks made up of NGOs, CIAT and farmers working together on improving adaptation to climate change. Practices and facilitation tools were tested, such as working with focus groups, simulation of the effect of innovations on food security, resilience and GHG emissions, and on-farm testing of technologies. Innovations tested by 30 producers per site increased food availability by more than 10% and resilience in allotment cultivation by 40%, through diversification and greater water access, and decreased GHG emissions by 30% with compost and reduced use of fertilizers. The number of farmers who understand climate change increased by more than 30%. 90% of the farmers adopted the practices. With additional funds from Agropolis and CCAFS, ten technologies were validated (harvest and storage of rainwater, water pump, allotments, compost, solar dryer, and improved varieties of sorghum, corn, beans and avocado) and a methodological manual with indicators and tools to analyze areas of study, define objectives, prioritize technologies, evaluate the change of knowledge of producers and analyze the trade-offs between production, adaptation and mitigation was produced. The methodology is used by CCAFS in its 36 study sites worldwide. Five technicians, with master’s and doctorate levels, were trained on innovation platforms.