The initiative titled ‘Enabling Stakeholder Participation and Applied Research in Policy Comprehension to Mainstream Climate Resilient Agro Farming Practices in National Climate Agenda’ was carried out by the South Asian Forum for Environment with support from the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research. It operated across India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and strengthened coastal agricultural resilience by linking applied research with policy interpretation and structured stakeholder engagement.
The work examined where national instruments fell short of field realities in climate exposed farming systems. It evaluated how programmes addressed salinity, cyclonic risk, rainfall variability, soil decline, and livelihood security in coastal production landscapes. A multi criteria assessment combined a comparative SWOT lens with decision matrices to judge policy coverage, implementation quality, and institutional coherence across environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
Field assessments were undertaken in the Sundarban in India and Bangladesh, the Sindh delta in Pakistan, and coastal zones of Sri Lanka. These assessments applied the Livelihood Vulnerability Index to capture exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity within community-based production systems. Geospatial work was integral to the field component, which included land use analysis with GIS, resource mapping, and the preparation of country specific spatial products to inform policy planning and gap mitigation.
Stakeholder workshops functioned as the framing process for the country white papers, bringing together scientists, administrators, and planners to validate findings, refine matrices, and agree on actionable directions. In parallel, additional workshops and citizen science sessions served as awareness and outreach activities that improved public understanding, encouraged adoption of adaptive practices, and supported inclusive participation by women and youth.
By its conclusion, the ESPAR project had developed white papers for four countries, each consolidating evidence, stakeholder insights, and policy pathways for embedding climate-resilient agriculture within national development frameworks.
