Building climate-resilient food systems in sri lanka through site-specific agricultural management

Abstract

Agriculture has both witnessed and caused climate change. Therefore, building climate resilience in the food production system is mandatory. Currently in Sri Lanka, recommended climate-smart agricultural practices recommend a common package to the entire country. However, considering the diversity that occurs across the country in every social, and ecological aspect it is essential to understand the cultural, ecological, and socio-economic conditions of the country to determine more efficient agricultural practices to improve the resilience of the agricultural systems in a particular region. To achieve this objective, numerous traditional methods can be employed in modern farming strategies in order to make it more nature-friendly. Therefore, this literature review was developed to provide insights for the development of an evidence-based framework to enhance the climate resilience of Sri Lanka's agricultural systems. In that aspect, 36 scientific communications were considered over 13 years, using articles from the Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases (2010–2023). In addition, 4 country papers, and publications from the UN, ADB, FAO, and IPCC were cited. In this literature review article, the relationship between agriculture and climate change was identified. Then, the climate-resilient ability of traditional agriculture and its location specificity were reviewed. The status of climate resilience in the existing food system was analyzed considering the Batticaloa farming system as a case study. Finally, an appropriate location-specific framework was suggested to build climate resilience by integrating traditional farming techniques into modern agriculture. As per the results, rainwater harvesting strategies as cascade village tank system, management of limited water through practices as shared cultivation (Bethma govithena), shared responsibility (Pangukariya) for the maintenance of village tanks, dry seed paddy farming (Kekulam govithena), maintaining agro-biodiversity via, mixed cropping, agro-forestry, use of resistant crop varieties are the key Sri Lankan traditional agricultural practices which can be adapted to build the system resilience. These practices are developed based on the specific cultural, ecological, and socio-economic conditions of each region of the country. However, the establishment of micro-irrigation systems, utilizing early warning systems, development of high-yielding resistant crop varieties, crop-livestock integration, and cultivation of location-specific crop varieties are the main modern agricultural practices recommended to build up the climate resilience of the food systems. However, many of these recommended practices were exercised during the traditional agricultural systems as well. There are many other specific practices available that can be applied with modification even for present-day agriculture to enhance its climate resilience. Integrating the knowledge from traditional agriculture into modern agricultural practices will directly facilitate the achievement of three sustainable development goals of climate action, zero hunger, and no poverty through the development of regional-specific sustainable agricultural practices that restore the resilience of agriculture. Therefore, this literature review article proposes a framework for managing location-specific climate-resilient food systems on par with the regional agroecological and socioeconomic conditions of Sri Lanka.