Abstract for:What are trade-offs and synergies from climate-smart agriculture to effectively deliver resilient and sustainable food security? Investigation in a climate-smart village

The triple goals of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can potentially contribute to meeting sustainable development goals (SDG) of zero hunger (SDG2), eliminating poverty (SDG1), gender equality (SDG 5), climate action (SDG 13), and life on land (SDG 15). In most developing countries where (i) food insecurity is prevalent, (ii) vulnerability and exposure to CC change risks are high, and (iii) the contribution of agriculture to GHG emission is considered low, sustainable intensification and adaptation goals are crucial priorities. However, focusing on adaptation and yield increase can lead to maladaptation and path-dependency with a negative impact on the environment and gender equity. Furthermore, lack of dynamic understanding of trade-offs and synergies could compromise the achievement of SDGs and generalisation of the climate-smartness for all interventions. This study utilizes systems thinking and system dynamics modeling (SDM) to investigate the system-wide impact of on-going interventions in the climate-smart village (CSV) in northern Ghana over temporal and spatial scale, considering clime change (CC) impacts, and population growth.  Modeling “businesses as usual scenario” and “alternative interventions” show that when considering CC and population growth, only small improvement in food security (SDG2) is expected with trade-offs for gender equity (SDG5), and environment (SDG15).