Rural smallholder farmers have big potential to reduce agriculture's carbon footprint
PARIS, FRANCE - 8 JULY 2015 Helping farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change can also significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions – which is good news for the planet and for future generations, says the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
Speaking at UNESCO’s Our Common Future Under Climate Change Science Conference in Paris, CCAFS and IFAD have released details of their latest research on what mitigation potential smallholder farming actually has.
The study finds reducing emissions may not be as big a burden as some may believe. The Mitigation Advantage Report has found that mitigation could be another benefit of adaptation activities. The study, released today, examines IFAD’s portfolio of projects focused on making smallholder agriculture more resilient to climate change.
The Mitigation Advantage Report shows that thirteen IFAD-supported adaptation projects could reduce CO2e emissions by 30 million tons. This represents about 38 per cent of IFAD’s target to reduce 80 million tons of CO2e by 2020 under its Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP).
Whilst IFAD’s investments are focusing on the key priorities of rural poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and food security, the mitigation target set by the organisation shows how resilient, climate-smart agriculture can make a substantive contribution to the global fight to curb greenhouse gas emissions. “What this report shows is that smallholder farmers are a key part of the solution to the climate change challenge,” says IFAD’s Vice President Michel Mordasini. “With the right investments, smallholders can feed a growing planet while at the same time restoring degraded ecosystems and reducing agriculture's carbon footprint.” IFAD’s climate change adaptation initiatives include improved agronomic practices, afforestation and rehabilitation of degraded lands. These practices help address farmers’ immediate needs, like dealing with unpredictable rains, and gradual shifts in crop suitability.
If smallholder adaptation can help reduce global emissions, there could be new opportunities, according to CCAFS Head of Research, Sonja Vermeulen. “Currently over 90 per cent of public and private climate funds go to mitigation, not adaptation. For future food security it would be very helpful if the majority of the world’s farmers, who are smallholders, could access those funds,” she said.
IFAD is supporting projects in over 40 countries through its innovative climate financing mechanism, the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP). Launched in 2012, ASAP has become the largest global financing source dedicated to supporting the adaptation of poor smallholder farmers to climate change.
Editors Notes:
B-Roll is available from James Heer, Manager, Broadcast Communications, T +39 06 5459 2550, Email j.heer@ifad.org.
Contacts
Brian Thomson
IFAD’s Environment and Climate Division
Tel: +39 366 6121101
Email: b.thomson@ifad.org
Vanessa Meadu
CCAFS
Tel: +44 777 2195317
Email: v.meadu@cgiar.org
