A. A. Ali, Bijay- Singh
Bridging the science-policy divide is essential for scaling up climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in developing countries, where agriculture remains highly vulnerable to climate change, land degradation, and resource constraints. Fragmented governance, overlapping mandates, weak accountability, and disciplinary silos limit integrated solutions, while poor knowledge translation and exclusionary policies marginalize farmers and extension workers, resulting in top-down interventions that overlook local realities. Bureaucratic inefficiencies, political instability, short-term funding cycles, climate extremes, and market fluctuations further hinder the integration of scientific evidence into policy frameworks. Addressing these challenges requires an adaptive framework that fosters participatory research, integrated knowledge-sharing mechanisms, and iterative feedback loops, enabling policies to evolve dynamically in response to emerging challenges. Case studies indicate that hybrid models – combining robust institutional support with active grassroots engagement – offer effective, scalable, and sustainable solutions for CSA. Strengthening extension services, institutionalizing CSA policy units, and securing long-term funding for applied research are critical, while development partners should prioritize capacity building, cross-regional learning, and locally led initiatives. This study adopts a narrative review approach, synthesizing peer-reviewed and selected gray literature through qualitative thematic analysis, complemented by illustrative case studies from Kenya, India, Peru, and Egypt to examine diverse science-policy engagement pathways in developing-country contexts.