Climate-Smart Smallholder Agriculture – What Role for Carbon Finance?
During Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) on 3 December, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) will together with CARE and Ecoagriculture Partners hold a learning event with the title ”Climate-Smart Smallholder Agriculture – What Role for Carbon Finance?”.
During Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) on 3 December, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) will together with CARE and Ecoagriculture Partners hold a learning event with the title ”Climate-Smart Smallholder Agriculture – What Role for Carbon Finance?”.
In small-holder agriculture in western Kenya, and in other similar contexts, it is becoming increasingly clear that a voluntary market agricultural carbon project is not financially viable without substantial public sector subsidies. The rationale for a direct payments for ecosystem services — based approach at farmer level is also questionable as some key barriers to adoption may not necessarily be addressed by cash payments to farmers.
At the same time, there is a growing realization of the need for an integrated approach to enhancing and sustaining small-holder agricultural production, building resilience to climate change, and climate change mitigation, with the overall goal of enhancing food security.
However, even if mitigation is not the primary goal, performance-based carbon finance may still have an important role to play. This event will present and review these arguments and their implications for the design and financing of climate smart agriculture initiatives, and climate change financing policy.
