July-August 2019 - LIFE AgroClimaWater

Α) Identity of the project

Description/Aim

The LIFE AgroClimaWater project’s main objective is to promote water efficiency and support the shift towards climate resilient agriculture in Mediterranean countries through the development of water management adaptation strategies in three Farmers’ Organizations (FORs) in two areas in Crete, Greece (Platanias and Mirabello) and one in Basilicata, Italy (Metapontino). The key objectives are:

1. Development and implementation of Water Management Adaptation Strategies at FORs level;
2. Determination and application of agricultural practices that increase water efficiency in the cultivation of perennial crops;
3. Establishment of pilot farms adapted to water scarcity;
4. Building adaptive capacity of farmers and FORs to climate change: information, awareness and training;
5. Informing and raising awareness of competitive water users regarding climate change impacts, on a sub-basin level;
6. Dissemination of the proposed strategies to be implemented by farmers and FORs in the target areas and other areas facing similar climate challenges;
7. Incorporation of the project’s results in the European and national environmental, climate change and agricultural policy and legislation.

Β) Best Practices

The best practices developed in the frame of LIFE AgroClimaWater project are related to the development of:

• Good Agricultural Practices at farm scale to enhance water efficiency and adaptability of perennial crops (olives, citrus fruits and peaches) to climate change;
• Governance actions to be implemented by the FORs in order to achieve equitable and transparent water governance;
• Floods and droughts action plan to ensure preparation and response to environmental incidents caused by climate change.

Moreover, the development of the following two guides can be characterized as best practice.

• “EWS standard: a tool for agricultural adaptation to climate change”;
• “Best practices for efficient water use in agriculture”.

Both guides will be published in the near future. The first guide will include guidance to the farmers’ organizations on how to organize an Agricultural Water Management System and the second one will present the proposed agricultural practices applied on the field during the project as a guide to efficient use of water resources in cultivations for farmers, in the view of adaptation to climate change. 

At the same time, good practices for the dissemination of information to the general public and the encouragement of behavior change are:

• The informative seminars with farmers inside the pilot areas;
• The training events in which the farmers were involved and trained on how to implement the proposed agricultural practices;
• The informative meetings with farmers’ organization outside project’s area the aim of which is the adoption of the proposed agricultural practices and the governance actions also by other Farmers’ Organizations;
• The organization of dedicative lectures in other countries (Cyprus, Spain, etc.) aiming at the replicability of the project’s results for the Agricultural sector in the other Mediterranean countries.

Also, the participation and active involvement of the main national main stakeholders in the evaluation the project’s results is another best practices, aiming at:

• The incorporation of project’s results in the national agricultural and environmental policy;
• The feedback on the potential of transferability and potential applicability (replicability) of the projects activities.

C) Results

The main project’s results so far are the following:

• organization of FORs related to water management issues through the development and application of the environmental system (EWS standard) and the water management strategy;
• development of Water Management Agricultural Strategies which integrated the proposed Good Agricultural Practices, governance actions and flood and droughts action plans;
• development and implementation of action plans related to governance actions such as compliance with legal requirements, interrelation of water with other resources, transparency and raising awareness on water topics, emergency preparedness and response plans and economic transparency;
• Training of 340 farmers and awareness raising of 5.400 related to the project, its main scope and results through various dissemination and communication actions.

 As far as the forthcoming results of the project are concerned they are related to:

• Determination of environmental and socio-economic benefits due to more sustainable water management at farm and Farmer’s Organization level;
• Well educated and involved farmers on water management adaptation practices in the targeted areas;
• Informed, sensitized and interested farmers and F.ORs in the implementation of the project’s results and the project’s lifespan;
• Informed and prepared competitive water users on the climate change impacts;
• Revision of the Water Management Adaptation Strategy.

 Moreover, during the last year of the project’s implementation the following results are expected to be achieved:

• The publication of two guides related to the implementation of EWS standard as a tool for agricultural adaptation to climate change and the implementation of the proposed GAPs;
• The organization of informative and training events with agriculturalists, farmers, FORs and stakeholders inside and outside the pilot areas;
• The organization of the project’s final conference (June 2020, Crete, Chania).

 The project’s results can be utilized on one hand by the farmers who cultivate specific perennial crops (olive, citrus and peaches) and on the other hand by other FORs operating both inside the pilot areas (Crete, Basilicata) and in other Mediterranean areas facing the same climate challenges.

 Moreover, the results of the LIFE AgroClimaWater project can be applied by the national competent authorities which can take into account the results and the proposed project practices for the formulation of the national environmental, climate change and agricultural policy and legislation.

 Interested parties can search for the project results through the project's official website (Actions - Deliverables), or for more information they can contact the Project Team.