Cauca TeSAC

Farmers of the Cauca TeSAC have noticed how in recent years the climatic conditions of their territory has changed due to climate variability and climate change. Different climate events such as droughts, heavy rains, hailstorms and strong winds have caused changes to the productivity of their crops, increased soil degradation, reduced access to water sources, and increased farmer’s vulnerability.

In 2015, the Ecohabitats Foundation and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), with the active participation of rural communities of Popayán, co-created the concept of "TeSAC", and wrote the Farm Plans for Adaptation to Climate Variability Manual (Paz and Ortega, 2014) using the Climate-Smart-Village approach, this plan can support farmers in increasing their climate resilience. By using this manual this community has incrased yields and generated surpluses to be sold in markets in the city.  Furthermore, women are empowered to play a main role as drivers of adaptation.  

The Sustainable Territories Adapted to Climate (TeSAC) is a scale-able approach where researchers, local partners, peasant communities and policy-makers work together to select and implement technologies and institutional interventions, based on global knowledge and local conditions.  The main objectives are to: Strengthen territorial governance, Increase productivity and income in a sustainable way, Build resilience to climate change variability, Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Promote and achieve food security and sustainable development goals, Promote family co-responsibility, and generate scaling processes by replicating lessons learned.  

The experience of the producers and researchers of the Ecohabitats Foundation has led them to establish the Itinerant School of Biodiversity Conservation and Adaptation to Climate Variability, through which they are scaling the lessons learned to other regions of the country and generating a training network for trainers.

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