Adoption of climate smart agriculture for enhancing socio-ecological resilience: a systematic review of evidence from Punjab, Pakistan

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a structured review of CSA outcomes and barriers in a developing-country context, useful for comparative studies.

🏢実務担当者:Identifies specific CSA practices and implementation challenges that can inform agricultural projects in similar regions.

🏛政策担当者:Offers evidence for designing integrated policies and financing mechanisms to promote CSA adoption in vulnerable agricultural systems.

Climate change poses significant threats to socio-ecological systems in the developing world, especially in Pakistan, where smallholder farmers are highly vulnerable to climate variability, resource degradation and socio-economic constraints. In this context, Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a promising approach to improve agricultural sustainability while supporting climate adaptation and mitigation objectives. This study systematically reviewed the evidence on CSA practices and their reported socio-economic and ecological outcomes in Punjab province, Pakistan. The review follows PRISMA guidelines and is based on a structured literature search across major academic databases, including Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct, covering publications from 2010 to 2026. The findings indicate that CSA practices such as efficient irrigation systems, crop diversification, stress-tolerant crop varieties, conservation tillage, agroforestry and climate smart livestock management demonstrated positive adaptation outcomes and socio-economic benefits that may strengthen resilience capacities in Punjab’s agricultural systems under climate stresses. From an ecological perspective, these practices support soil fertility, land restoration, water conservation and carbon sequestration. Rather than directly measuring resilience, the reviewed studies primarily assessed indicators linked to farmers’ capacity to cope with climatic and environmental stresses. However, the adoption and scaling-up of CSA remain constrained by high technology costs, limited access to finance, weak institutional coordination, inadequate extension services and persistent gender inequalities. This study highlights the need for integrated and context-specific policy frameworks, strengthened institutional support, and inclusive financial mechanisms to promote widespread CSA adoption. The review highlights the importance of locally adapted CSA strategies, stronger institutional support and inclusive financing mechanisms to improve long-term sustainability of Punjab’s agricultural systems.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2026.1853469first seen 2026-07-01 05:18:05 · last seen 2026-07-01 05:18:17