The project has facilitated implementation of the pilots for alternate means of livelihood (bee keeping, drying of foods etc.) by providing the required equipment. However, the equipment for such activities needs periodic replacement. To ensure sustainability, it would be helpful if the project includes the initiatives to make such equipment locally available. The initiatives to make the equipment locally available may include the designs and skills to the fabricators at the local level. Local availability of the equipment would also help in the replication of the initiatives, thus, multiplying the results manifold. It is recommended that the project design involving the pilots having provision of equipment, must combine such a provision with the development of the skills for fabrication of such equipment at the local level.

The project has supported development of entrepreneurship amongst the farming community at some locations. It is recommended that the project design includes activities facilitating development of entrepreneurship through introduction of specific courses (targeted at youth) at some of the vocational institutes / colleges, on specific opportunities (e.g. mushroom cultivation, drying processing of agro products, making of jams / juices / pickles), along with training on commercial aspects (marketing, accounting, management etc.). The effectiveness of such an initiative may be further increased via efforts towards the development of the micro enterprises and the availability of micro finance to the youths trained at these vocational institutes / colleges.

The pilot under the project has been able to demonstrate that there is a great possibility of reduction in the expenditure (by the government) in the form of relief provided in case of disaster risk reduction (DRR) projects (e.g. construction of all weather approach roads / bridges). In some cases, the reduction in the expenditure for relief would pay for the capital expenditure done on the DRR projects. It is recommended that a case study highlighting the cost benefit analysis of the DRR pilots done under the project be carried out and further case studies be prepared to highlight the aspect of reduction in the relief expenditure.

In order to make good use of the success of the project, case studies / knowledge products (particularly from the pilots) may be produced and disseminated using different media. Such case studies / knowledge projects can also be the part of the curriculum on climate smart agriculture etc., which is being proposed under recommendation 8.

Making use of the training modules that were developed as part of the training activities undertaken under the project, the universities / colleges may introduce short duration courses for government officials and other stakeholders. These courses may include case studies and field trips to the pilots undertaken under the project. This will help to upscale the results of the project to the provincial and national level.  An information center on climate smart agriculture along with an information dissemination (in local language) mechanism (including a dedicated website) may be created and hosted in a university (please see recommendation 8 as well).

One of the adaptive measures, which could have been combined with the set of measures introduced under the project is Livestock (along with biogas) and fisheries. This may require involvement of the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Animal Husbandry. It is recommended that future projects for climate change adaptation may include the measures like livestock, dairy (along with biogas).

While different climate smart measures introduced under the project have helped the local communities, combination of these measures with the post-harvest care can multiply the effectiveness of the measures (based on discussions with stakeholders it is estimated that presently there is 30-40 percent wastage). It is recommended that the future projects should include components pertaining to post harvest care.

One of the prerequisites to achieve the upscaling and replication of a successful demonstration is to ensure the availability of skilled / trained human resources on a sustained basis. This can be achieved by introducing courses relating to adaptation towards climate change (e.g. climate smart agriculture practices, adaptive practices for water management etc.) in the schools, colleges and the universities. It is recommended that a course on climate smart agriculture be introduced in one of the universities. Such a course may make good use of the case studies / knowledge products created under this project. Further, the demonstrations / field training at the sites of the pilots implemented under this project can be effectively used for the same. The university may also host a website to disseminate the information about ‘climate smart agriculture’. (please see recommendations 4 and 5 as well).

The project has promoted alternate cropping of the paddy fields as one of the strategies to improve the resilience of the farming community. However, an important aspect to be noted in this regard is to make the required changes in the Paddy Lands Act, No. 1 of 1958 and the Agricultural Lands Act, No. 42 of 1973, to allow the use of Paddy Lands for alternate crops. Somehow, this important aspect got missed out in the design and implementation of the project. It is recommended that this policy reform may be taken up in a subsequent climate change adaptation project.

As a part of an earlier project, some of the farmers are practicing rain water harvesting (from rooftop) at the household level, using tanks. The tanks were provided as a part of that project. The water collected through this system serves the drinking and cooking needs of the family for 6-9 months. The concept of roof top water harvesting using tanks did not get replicated (in-spite of the interest), due to high initial cost of the tank. The lesson learnt is that apart from demonstrations, it is also necessary to include the activities which will reduce the capital cost (e.g. training / technology transfer to fabricate tanks at the local level, use of alternate materials, mass production to get the benefit of the scale of operations, increase the sources of supply to bring in the market forces etc.). Since drinking water as well as the water requirement for the home gardening is one of the key issues, the future projects may explore the possibility to integrate rain water harvesting at the household level as one of the activities. The rain water harvesting component may include ideas to reduce the upfront cost. Please see recommendation 1 as well.

In most of the cases while selecting the beneficiaries, emphasis is often laid upon the attributes like most venerable, poorest etc. While it is good to do so, it will help to take on board some of the beneficiaries with good resources, to enable the upscaling of the activities.

At the pilots, as a part of home gardening, the use of plastic films / bags got promoted. While facilitating the use of plastic films for home gardening, education regarding the hazards associated with its usage may also be highlighted. This may be combined with the knowledge regarding safe disposal of used plastic films.