Asia - China, Pakistan, United States, Vietnam 
Challenge
Smallholder farmers face growing climate risks but often lack access to technologies and practices that support resilience.
Solution
Collaborative research to explore innovative climate-smart agriculture approaches for smallholder farmers.
Overview
Smallholder decentralized operations are highly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, yet they dominate Chinese agriculture. Smallholder farmers often adopt technologies to improve their resilience to climate extremes.
An ongoing Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)-supported project led by Hui Ju (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China) is focused on smallholder farmers in arid and fragile regions of China, with collaboration from partners in Pakistan and Vietnam.
The project is carrying out regional climate risk assessments and examines local agricultural production circumstances to clarify climate change’s impacts and risks on agricultural systems. It is also organizing dialogue with local farmers to understand their adaptation technology needs and working to build smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity to cope with climate change and strengthen resilience to climate risks.
Experts are invited to climate-smart agriculture workshops to conduct training on innovative technologies. Village cadres and large crop growers are also involved in the training to raise awareness. The project aims to improve smallholder farmers’ resilience and provide reference countermeasures for local administrations’ risk management.
As part of its outputs, the project funds several scholarly publications that share findings with the wider scientific community. See “Related information” for details on those articles.
Project details
| Project title | Exploring Technologies Innovation for Smallholder Farmers in the Context of Climate Smart Agriculture |
|---|---|
| Year started | 2023 |
| Duration | 2 years |
| Countries involved | China, Pakistan, United States of America, Vietnam |
| Funding awarded | US$54,390 |
| Funded by | Asia‑Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) |
| Grant DOI | https://doi.org/10.30852/p.25872 |
| Program | Scientific Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE) |
| Project leader | Hui Ju (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China) |
Acknowledgements
This project is supported by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) under its Scientific Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE).
Related information
- Project Permalink
- Chen, W., Ju, H., Zhang, D., & Batchelor, W. D. (2024). Identification of thresholds and key drivers on water use efficiency in different maize ecoregions in Yellow River Basin of China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 482, 144209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.144209
- Zhang, X., Ju, H., Liu, W., Zhang, D., & Hu, W. (2025, February 11). Climate change perception of smallholder farmers and the driving forces of their adaptation practices choice: A case study from Shaanxi Province [Preprint]. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5132696
- Chen, W., Long, X., Wang, J., Liang, X.-Z., Zhang, D., & Ju, H. (2025). Future implications of climate change on maize yield and quality in the Yellow River Basin of China. Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 156, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-025-05482-3
- APN Facebook
- APN LinkedIn
- APN X
DISCOVER MORE
