Promoting Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) through Strengthening the Capacity of Smallholder Farmers

Kapuas Hulu District in West Kalimantan has abundant natural resource potential but faces growing sustainability challenges in the context of climate change, particularly for key plantation commodities such as cacao, rubber, coffee, and oil palm, which are generally cultivated in monoculture systems. These systems are highly vulnerable to market price fluctuations, pest and disease outbreaks, and climate variability. The promotion of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) through agroforestry is seen as a way to strengthen the economic and environmental resilience of smallholder farmers in responding to climate change impacts.
To build smallholders’ capacity to apply CSA practices, the Enhancing the Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies and Practices of Smallholder Commodity Farmers (ECSAP) program implements a range of activities aimed at driving behavioural change using the ADKAR approach (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement). The program has supported the emergence of 24 Independent Extension Agents and Model Farmers who provide farmer-to-farmer extension to promote the adoption of CSA practices for the main plantation commodities in Kapuas Hulu.
This brief also presents a set of recommendations for relevant stakeholders at local and national levels to support smallholder capacity building and to encourage the wider and more sustained implementation of CSA.