AUTHOR=Amarnath Giriraj , Taron Avinandan , Alahacoon Niranga , Ghosh Surajit 

TITLE=Bundled climate-smart agricultural solutions for smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1145147

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2023.1145147

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=Smallholder farmers are amongst the most vulnerable to climate shocks in Sri Lanka. Lack of education and technical skills, poverty, risks inherent to agricultural investments, limited assets, and financial capital are major reasons for low investments in enhancing adaptive capacity. The study explores the use of agricultural technologies in improving smallholder resilience to water-related disasters and their opportunities for recovery. Four services were bundled to form climate-smart solutions, which included weather index insurance (WII), agronomic advisories dissemination via SMS, weather services, and climate resilient seeds of maize and rice. This was referred to as Bundled Solutions of Index Insurance with Climate Information and Seed Systems (BICSA) to manage agricultural risks in Sri Lanka. The bundled solutions were tested in three agroecological regions spread over five districts and covering more than 2,500 farmers in three cropping periods of Maha and Yala seasons in the country. The results demonstrate that providing bundled solutions significantly protects smallholders against moderate drought events. The satellite-based weather index insurance can offset the long-term consequences of severe yield losses and mitigate the longterm drop in farm productivity. Our findings demonstrate the importance of bundled insurance to mitigate financial risks associated with extreme weather events and enhance resilience to climate change among vulnerable smallholders. BICSA solutions also demonstrate the emerging role of private entities like seed companies, insurance companies, and technological partners, along with public institutions like agricultural extension services. These solutions enable farmers to adapt their farm systems to climate change in ways that provide greater food security and improved income.