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Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduce or minimise risks to human health and the environment, focusing on all practical options for reducing or eliminating pesticides. The practice of IPM for crop protection is widely encouraged, as the practice can enhance crop production and reduce risks associated with use, storage and management of pesticides. The integrated nature of this approach ensures that it is climate smart, as it utilises the best possible options to ensure sustainable productivity, which will in turn allow adaptation to climate change. However, as it may require the use of pesticides as one strategy, the climate-smartness may be affected.

Flooding irrigation is a practice where water is pumped or allowed to flow into channels passing between crop rows in areas where farmers have level fields. This flooding system is an effective method of managing weeds and pests, preventing the completion of their lifecycles as they are either drowned or isolated from air and sunlight. This practice is applicable in areas where there are favourable climatic conditions with high rainfall amounts; and is not recommended in arid and semi-arid environments. Flooding is controlled using water pumps in order to reduce waterlogging problems, and fields should not be entirely flooded, with surges of periodic flooding used to distribute water and avoid wastage to run-off, evaporation and creation of anaerobic conditions in the soil. Flood waters can be filtered using a fine mesh to control pests and diseases from spreading to neighbouring fields. Sandy soil is not favourable for flood irrigation as it does not evenly distribute water across the field whereas loam and clay soils distribute water efficiently across the field.

It is considered a climate smart practice because it requires less energy, and can promote crop productivity, whilst controlling weeds and pests.

Locally/home-made organic pest control involves the use of home-made remedies to kill and control pests naturally without harming the crop or the environment. Some of the natural pesticides that farmers can use includes soap water, neem, chilli, vegetable oil spray and garlic. These natural remedies are cheaper than the use of chemicals but should be applied in specific amounts for them to be effective. The field must be kept clean to avoid weeds, which provide habitats for insects and weaker crops that are infected must be removed and disposed of away from the field area to avoid attracting further infestations. It is important to minimise disturbance of soil through digging or tilling if not necessary as this can introduce pests into the soil. Alternative approaches such as intercropping, crop rotation, and push/pull systems can also contribute to preventing the spread of pests. This is a climate smart option as it reduces the contribution of pesticides/insecticides to greenhouse gas emissions, and supports sustainable agricultural productivity. If organic insecticides are not effectively killing insects at the rate the farmer wants/needs, chemical controls can be used to halt pest infestation and avoid complete crop loss. However, chemical control of pests should always be the last resort, as chemical pesticides while often hugely effective, are expensive and must be applied precisely to be effective. Furthermore, if used inaccurately chemical pesticides can contaminate crops and the environment, and can impact the farmers’ health. The use of chemicals destroys natural pest enemies and can lead to pest invasion and resistance to pesticides in future, driving continued reliance on chemicals. For example, ants can be a very effective biological control agent against Fall Armyworm (FAW); however, ant populations will also be affected by pesticides.

Short-term reactive practices are control options for pests and diseases once they have reached a level where the economic losses are likely to be greater than the cost of controlling the pest/disease outbreaks and can be used to maintain or increase production. Pests and diseases are better detected at an earlier stage to make it easier to act and prevent severe crop losses and prohibit the spread of pests and diseases throughout the whole field, achieved through regular and systematic field inspections. The practice is considered climate smart as it reduces losses, which in-balance lowers greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of crop produced, it retains agricultural productivity through management of pest infestation and/or disease outbreaks, and is applicable as it can assist farmers adjust to changing climate, and the threat of new and changing pest diseases.

A push pull system is a technique that repels parasitic plants and pests that attach themselves to the crop roots and feed on them.. In push-pull, a cereal crop is intercropped with a leguminous plant like desmodium or molasses grass, while a popular fodder crop, Napier grass, is planted as a border around the field. Desmodium produces volatile chemicals that attract predators of the cereal e.g of maize pests. More importantly, by giving a false distress signal to the moths that the area is already infested, these chemicals ‘push’ the egg laying moths away from the crop to seek out habitats where their larvae will face less competition for food. Napier grass also produces volatile chemicals that ‘pull’ the moths towards them, and then exudes a sticky substance that traps the stem borer larvae as they feed. Few larvae survive. Napier grass attracts stem borer predators.  The intercropping is a climate smart practice as it mitigates emission of Greenhouse gases through the reduced need for pesticides. The push-pull system improves food security and boosts farm income.

Resistant varieties are new crop varieties that improve yield production, are resistant to pests and diseases, more tolerant to drought, salinity or other changing or undesirable environmental conditions. Crop plants used within this practice are usually only resistant to a limited number of undesirable characteristics e.g. pests or drought – but usually not both, and some other desirable traits may be lost while others may be strengthened. Hence, careful selection of candidate species must be undertaken. Resistance varieties common in southern Africa include drought resistant maize, sorghum, rice and cowpea (beneficial legume for intercropping) strains, striga (witch weed) resistant sorghum and maize strains, and others all help farmers adapt to changing climate conditions, by being able to farm crops that survive the increasingly variable climate, which can result in less rainfall, or the presence of new pests. Striga results in crop losses totalling over USD 1 billion per year, whereas research has shown that planting climate resilient maize varieties can lead to up to a 25 % increase in crop yields.

Exploring new pest or drought resistant varieties in a regional will require demonstration and testing in ‘test plots’, so extension workers can ensure that the outcomes are aligned with farmers wants/needs/tastes, and so farmers are familiar with the new varieties before they are mainstreamed. Acceptance of new varieties, and any changes is traits will be critical, as resistant varieties is a key intervention for climate adaptation in southern Africa, as they will allow farmers to remain productive for longer under challenging conditions, and while different crops altogether are investigated.

Cultural pest control practices Are pest control management measures to control pests (insects, diseases, weeds) by manipulation of the environment or implementation of preventive practices including using plants that are resistant to pests, raising the mowing height of pastures to shade out weeds, aerating pastures to reduce compaction and plant stress. Several beneficial cultural practices can meet both demands, helping with pest and disease control and minimizing the use of toxic chemicals. In the insect pest management context, cultural practices may be considered as specific crop production practices that may be implemented either in the initial stages of the organic farm plan but also as a continuous plan to reduce the likelihood of insect pest infestation to a crop and damage. They form part of the Integrated Pest management (IPM) Practices and are based on tactics to disrupt pest infestation of crops by having the crop unavailable to pests in space and time, making the crop unacceptable to pests by interfering with host preference or location, reducing pest survival on the crop by enhancing natural enemies, altering the crop’s susceptibility to pests. The tactics or methods used in IPM include one or a combination of the following: Cultural control (crop rotation, use of locally adapted or pest resistant/tolerant varieties, sanitation, manipulating planting/harvest dates to avoid pests). Cultural pest control or IPM results in reduced pests/diseases and increased yields and is a climate-smart practice as its emphasis of prevention helps to control pests and diseases before they occur;  its continuous long-term practices without use of chemicals encourage healthier and more pest resilient crops and landscapes, encouraging the use of beneficial insects  making it an adaptation benefit. The possibility of prediction and recognition of pest outbreaks enables earlier management consultations and decisions. The reduction in losses results in lower GHG emissions per tonne produced.

Resistant breeds Disease resistance is the reduction of pathogen growth in or in a plant or animal; denoting less disease development in a particular breed than that which is relatively susceptible and is specific to a particular strain of disease or attribute. Breeding resistant breeds  . Resistance” means the animal actively fights infection by various means. Building resistant breeds can be done through selection. Selective breeding, sometimes called artificial selection, where different breeds of animals with desired characteristics or attributes like resistance to. drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests can be developed by selective breeding and thus able to relatively thrive in some conditions which would otherwise not be able to, e.g. This assists in the reduction of diseases, results in healthier productive animals and reduces risk of secondary infections in livestock. These breeds create a potential for more efficient conversion of feed into meat or diary, and thus a climate smart attribute since by reducing emissions per unit of production (proportionately less faeces are dropped per unit consumption of feed) as well as contributing to food security.,. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, local breeds are more resistant to many of the pests and diseases and may be the best option for some farmers in the Arid and semi-arid areas of the region.

Species diversification involves a shift from a single species of livestock to more species in an attempt to manage risk and explore more resilient livestock farming options. Species diversification can be introduced in response to changes in local environment/climate conditions, including increasing temperatures, unreliable sources of water and availability of pasture, etc. The aim of this approach is to explore the introduction of species that may be more viable and adaptable in changing local conditions thus improving production levels by keeping animals that will be productive under harsh weather conditions and sustain the quality of the produce. Diversification as a climate smart practice assists farmers with utilising available resources more effectively, e.g. mixing grazers and browsers. Species that react well to changing climatic conditions may cause a shift of demand from grazers to browsers. This practice mitigates disease control, can improve soil fertility and increase water management. Government policies can also influence farmers in diversifying their species with many countries dedicating agricultural research and extension to explore the introduction of different species (e.g. cattle to goats) to assist farmers. It is important that species that are introduced do not have an adverse impact on local fauna or the surrounding environment.

The Alternative breeds approach involves substitution of breeds, introducing a new (alternative) breed with a current breed to potentially increase production levels in a farm. Breed substitution involves genetic improvement of cattle and goats especially in dairy farming and meat production. Alternative breeds are introduced in order to ascertain competition between breeds based on health, fertility, performance, profits and management requirements. The substitution breeds are picked because there some traits that may be lacking in current breeds at the farm. For example, some farmers in Malawi who have introduced the Black Australop breed of chicken, either by crossbreeding with local chickens or replacing the local chicken altogether. This breed produces much more meat and lays more eggs, which increases farm production and income. This is a climate smart option as it introduces breeds that may require less water or can manage with lower quality feed – thereby reducing costs, and risks.