Background: Global food systems face unprecedented pressure from climate variability, land degradation, and rising demand. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) offers an integrated framework to simultaneously enhance productivity, resilience, and environmental sustainability.
Objective: This study comparatively evaluates major CSA practices—conservation agriculture, crop diversification, agroforestry, precision irrigation, integrated pest management (IPM), and organic nutrient management—to determine their relative effectiveness across productivity and sustainability dimensions.
Methods: A systematic literature-based comparative methodology was employed, drawing on peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2024. Practices were assessed against standardized indicators including yield improvement, greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, water-use efficiency, economic feasibility, and environmental impact.
Results: Precision irrigation demonstrated the highest water savings (30–50%) and yield improvement (20–35%), while agroforestry offered superior GHG mitigation (30–40%). Conservation agriculture provided well-balanced gains across all indicators. IPM and organic nutrient management showed moderate but consistent sustainability outcomes. Economic constraints limit the adoption of precision technologies in smallholder contexts.
Conclusion: No single CSA practice universally outperforms others across all dimensions. An integrated, context-specific application of complementary practices offers the most robust pathway to sustainable agricultural productivity. Policy support, capacity building, and targeted financing are essential to scale adoption globally.