Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America

Introduction: Climate change poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries. Enhancing the sustainability of these livelihoods is crucial for ensuring food security and nutrition at both global and regional levels. This study investigates the role of Climate Smar...

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Main Authors: Martínez-Barón, Deissy, Alarcón de Antón, Marina, Martinez Salgado, Jesús David, Castellanos, Andrea Estefanía
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Frontiers Media 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151509
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author Martínez-Barón, Deissy
Alarcón de Antón, Marina
Martinez Salgado, Jesús David
Castellanos, Andrea Estefanía
author_browse Alarcón de Antón, Marina
Castellanos, Andrea Estefanía
Martinez Salgado, Jesús David
Martínez-Barón, Deissy
author_facet Martínez-Barón, Deissy
Alarcón de Antón, Marina
Martinez Salgado, Jesús David
Castellanos, Andrea Estefanía
author_sort Martínez-Barón, Deissy
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Introduction: Climate change poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries. Enhancing the sustainability of these livelihoods is crucial for ensuring food security and nutrition at both global and regional levels. This study investigates the role of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices in improving rural livelihoods in Latin America, specifically through the Climate Smart Village (CSV) approach. Methods: Our analysis involved a dataset of 267 households, comprising both adopters and non-adopters of CSA practices in CSVs across Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia. We employed multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), Gower’s metric, agglomerative clustering, partitioning around medoids (PAM), and cluster validation. Our aim was to understand how CSA practices, which include the use of agroclimatic information, soil and water management practices, and risk diversification strategies, contribute to enhancing livelihoods. We examined this in the context of the five capitals (social, natural, physical, financial, and human) of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). Results: Our findings indicate that CSA farmers exhibit lower capital-based vulnerability compared to non-CSA farmers. This is particularly evident in the areas of social capital, as well as human and natural capital for certain CSA adopters. However, the similar performance in financial and physical capital between CSA and non-CSA farmers suggests the need for additional strategies to reduce vulnerability in these areas. We examined this through the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), which includes five capitals: social, natural, physical, financial and human. Conclusion: These findings offer a valuable framework for policy and decision-making processes, helping to identify which capitals and dimensions of livelihood vulnerability should be prioritized in different contexts to achieve climate resilience and sustainable development. The study advocates for continued research efforts, incorporating expanded indicators, such as gender indicators within social and human capital definitions, for a more comprehensive assessment of CSA’s impact. The application of SLF for analyzing CSA’s contribution to rural livelihoods represents a novel approach in Latin American studies.
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spelling CGSpace1515092025-12-08T10:29:22Z Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America Martínez-Barón, Deissy Alarcón de Antón, Marina Martinez Salgado, Jesús David Castellanos, Andrea Estefanía agricultura climáticamente inteligente climate-smart agriculture social capital capital social sustainable livelihoods human capital physical capital natural capital medio de vida sostenible capital natural capital humano financial capital Introduction: Climate change poses a significant threat to rural livelihoods in low- and middle-income countries. Enhancing the sustainability of these livelihoods is crucial for ensuring food security and nutrition at both global and regional levels. This study investigates the role of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices in improving rural livelihoods in Latin America, specifically through the Climate Smart Village (CSV) approach. Methods: Our analysis involved a dataset of 267 households, comprising both adopters and non-adopters of CSA practices in CSVs across Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia. We employed multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), Gower’s metric, agglomerative clustering, partitioning around medoids (PAM), and cluster validation. Our aim was to understand how CSA practices, which include the use of agroclimatic information, soil and water management practices, and risk diversification strategies, contribute to enhancing livelihoods. We examined this in the context of the five capitals (social, natural, physical, financial, and human) of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). Results: Our findings indicate that CSA farmers exhibit lower capital-based vulnerability compared to non-CSA farmers. This is particularly evident in the areas of social capital, as well as human and natural capital for certain CSA adopters. However, the similar performance in financial and physical capital between CSA and non-CSA farmers suggests the need for additional strategies to reduce vulnerability in these areas. We examined this through the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), which includes five capitals: social, natural, physical, financial and human. Conclusion: These findings offer a valuable framework for policy and decision-making processes, helping to identify which capitals and dimensions of livelihood vulnerability should be prioritized in different contexts to achieve climate resilience and sustainable development. The study advocates for continued research efforts, incorporating expanded indicators, such as gender indicators within social and human capital definitions, for a more comprehensive assessment of CSA’s impact. The application of SLF for analyzing CSA’s contribution to rural livelihoods represents a novel approach in Latin American studies. 2024-07-12 2024-08-02T13:03:12Z 2024-08-02T13:03:12Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151509 en Open Access application/pdf Frontiers Media Martínez-Barón, D.; Alarcón de Antón, M.; Martinez Salgado, J.D.; Castellanos, A.E. (2024) Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 8:1363101. ISSN: 2571-581X
spellingShingle agricultura climáticamente inteligente
climate-smart agriculture
social capital
capital social
sustainable livelihoods
human capital
physical capital
natural capital
medio de vida sostenible
capital natural
capital humano
financial capital
Martínez-Barón, Deissy
Alarcón de Antón, Marina
Martinez Salgado, Jesús David
Castellanos, Andrea Estefanía
Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America
title Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America
title_full Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America
title_fullStr Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America
title_full_unstemmed Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America
title_short Climate-smart agriculture reduces capital-based livelihoods vulnerability: Evidence from Latin America
title_sort climate smart agriculture reduces capital based livelihoods vulnerability evidence from latin america
topic agricultura climáticamente inteligente
climate-smart agriculture
social capital
capital social
sustainable livelihoods
human capital
physical capital
natural capital
medio de vida sostenible
capital natural
capital humano
financial capital
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151509
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