Modelling Climate Smart Agriculture with Ontology

Human beings are largely affected by the environment. Negative changes in the climate severely affect the functioning of human beings, e.g. the accumulation of carbon dioxide impact plant growth negatively, which in turn impact animal life that is dependent on plant, and thus the food chain as a whole. Climate smart agriculture (CSA) focuses on transforming agricultural development under the stresses of climate change (CC). Various actors from different fields need to collaborate in order for CSA to succeed. Transdisciplinary information sharing and access needs to be addressed so that each member's concerns and solutions can be heard. The building of an ontology for CSA helps this and adds the element of automation to a task that would otherwise be daunting and extremely labour intensive. This ontology will thus provide a formal representation of all relevant CSA information and solutions needed by users. This ontology focuses on practices and techniques of CSA that will help reduce the effects of climate change. This ontology is designed to educate stakeholders better who will benefit from the use of CSA practices and techniques in their various fields of work by linking them with the climate, crop, and economic modeling communities through information technology. It also serves as a quick and efficient means to find the most suitable practice options or techniques for climate change signals.