Adapting agriculture for climate resilience: Strategies for sustainable production and food security

• Climate-Smart Agriculture offers a triple-win for productivity, resilience, and mitigation. • Meta-analysis reveals CSA boosts yields by 20–38% under climate-induced stress. • Soil carbon sequestration increases by 1.2–1.5 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ through CSA practices. • Precision agriculture improves nitrogen efficiency by 15–20% , cutting N₂O emissions. • Biochar and agroforestry reduce global warming potential by 27–35% versus conventional systems. • Global CSA investments exceed USD 19.5 billion , integrating policy with climate finance. • Adoption gaps remain—only <15% of farms in developing regions practice CSA at scale. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a pivotal framework for achieving sustainable food security under accelerating climate change. Rooted in three interlinked pillars—productivity enhancement, resilience building, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation—CSA integrates diverse interventions that align agronomic innovation with climate action. Core strategies include climate-resilient crop varieties, conservation agriculture to sustain soil fertility, agroforestry systems for carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, and precision agriculture leveraging digital tools for efficient resource management. Meta-analytical evidence indicates that CSA adoption can raise equivalent yields by up to 38%, while biochar application enhances productivity by 15.1% and reduces global warming potential by 27.1%. Climate-Smart Agriculture enhances food security by increasing productivity and resilience, and reducing emissions. Meta-analyses indicate that CSA can increase equivalent yields, standardized output adjusted for crop type, energy or economic value, by as much as 38%, with practices like biochar further increasing productivity and reducing climate impacts. Growing investments around the world are foregrounding the role of CSA in realizing a "triple win" for agriculture. Similarly, improved nutrient and soil management practices significantly curb nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, strengthening the productivity–mitigation nexus. At the policy scale, global momentum is accelerating—the World Bank has expanded CSA financing portfolios, the United States invested USD 19.5 billion under the Inflation Reduction Act, and countries such as India and Kenya have mainstreamed CSA within national adaptation strategies to empower smallholder farmers. Collectively, CSA delivers a “triple win” of enhanced productivity, adaptive capacity, and climate mitigation, positioning it as a cornerstone for resilient and low-carbon agri-food systems of the future.