Farmers producing one-third of world’s food receive only 0.3% of climate finance

A recent analysis by an organization representing the world’s 35 million ancestral, small and medium farmer families, who have been farming for generations, reveals a significant disparity in the distribution of international climate finance. Despite producing one-third of the world’s food, small-scale farmers receive a mere 0.3 percent of international climate finance for climate change adaptation in 2021.

UAE urges climate action, Include agriculture

The study, conducted by ‘Climate Focus’, was released just days before COP28, where a consensus on the Global Goals for Adaptation is expected to be reached. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the host of COP28, is urging governments to include food and agriculture in their national climate plans for the first time and to increase financing for food system transformation.

The United Nations Climate Summit this year will focus on food items. The COP28 Presidency has called on governments to formally integrate food and agriculture into their national climate plans and increase funding levels. A new global adaptation goal is also set to be agreed upon at COP28.

Climate Focus’s study of international public finance for climate mitigation and adaptation reveals the following:

• The agri-food sector secured $8.4 billion in international public climate finance, about half of the total energy spending of $16 billion. However, climate-vulnerable countries like Zambia and Sierra Leone received only $20 million each.
• Only 2 percent of international climate finance ($2 billion) was allocated to smallholder farming families and rural communities. This equates to about 0.3 percent of total international climate finance, both private and public. The estimated financial needs of smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa alone are US$170 billion per year.

Indeed, only a fifth of the international public climate finance spent on food and agriculture, amounting to US$1.6 billion or 19%, was used to promote sustainable and resilient practices such as agroecology. This is a small fraction of the estimated US$300–350 billion per year required for such initiatives, underscoring the need for increased investment in sustainable practices.

Climate finance neglects ancestral farmers

Hakim Baliriyane, President of the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers Forum, highlighted the impact of this funding gap.

He stated, “Since 2019, climate change has pushed 122 million people into the depths of hunger. This situation will persist as long as governments continue to neglect millions of ancestral farmer families. Collectively, we produce almost a third of the world’s food, yet we receive only a fraction of the funding needed to adapt to climate change.”

The report, ‘Untapped Potential’, discloses that 80% of international public climate finance spent on the agri-food sector is funneled through recipient governments and NGOs in donor countries. Complex eligibility rules, application processes, and a lack of information on how and where to apply make it challenging for ancestral farmers’ organizations to access these funds. In 2021, family farmers received only a quarter (24%) of the finance spent on the agri-food sector.

Many farming families are grappling with a lack of infrastructure, technology, and resources needed to adapt to the severe impacts of climate change on global food security and rural economies. Farms smaller than two hectares produce one-third (32%) of the world’s food, while farms of five hectares or less produce more than half of the global production of nine major crops – rice, peanuts, cassava, millet, wheat, potatoes, maize, barley, and rye. Furthermore, about three-fourths of coffee and approximately 90 percent of cocoa are grown in these areas.

Empower family farms for resilience

Family farms, which more than 2.5 billion people worldwide rely on for their livelihoods, are at the forefront of adopting more environmentally friendly and diverse food systems, a strategy that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identifies as the most effective way to ensure food security. For instance, in the Pacific region, farmers are planting drought-resistant breadfruit trees alongside other crops, which are rarely uprooted by storms and cyclones and also produce a nutritious main crop.

“Our message to governments is clear: more than 600 million ancestral farming families are already working to build more sustainable and resilient food systems,” said Alberto Broch, President of the Confederation of Family Producer Organizations of the Expanded Mercosur.

They have a wealth of knowledge and experience, which should be put to use. “By including their voices in decision-making and providing direct access to larger amounts of climate finance, we can build a powerful coalition to combat climate change.”

Esther Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers Association, echoes this sentiment. She believes that the combination of generations of ancestral farmers’ experience and cutting-edge scientific evidence shows that working with nature and empowering local communities is key to preserving food production in a changing climate. To support these tried-and-tested climate solutions, we need to reimagine climate finance. At the same time, we should focus on mobilizing more finance for ancestral farmers and sustainable practices like agro-ecology.

Keep Reading

Part 1: Cloudburst  in Ganderbal's Padabal village & unfulfilled promises