A new policy brief has just been released by the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) highlighting what can be done to assist smallholder farmers to mitigate climate change. Scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre were involved in its production.

The brief looks at the costs of mitigation practices in smallholder agriculture, the different kinds of incentives available to farmers, and the enabling conditions needed to make mitigation attractive and feasible to smallholder farmers.

While smallholder farmers in developing countries could contribute significantly to climate change mitigation, this would require millions of people to change their farming practices and they need tangible incentives to do so.

The brief calls for climate finance and other sources of funds to be channeled through existing financial and technical services to directly support farmers’ needs.

Such funds could be used to help farmers implement climate-smart agriculture practices such as agroforestry, using nitrogen fertilizers more efficiently or improving feed and grassland management for livestock. Farmers would benefit from greater productivity and as a result higher incomes from higher yields. This is often enough for farmers to cover the maintenance costs of the practice.

Recommendations for organizations at all levels are provided in the policy brief, from agricultural development institutions to national governments, extension services and credit schemes. It also looks at how mechanisms such as REDD+ come into play.

Read the full story on CCAFS blog: Supporting smallholder farmers to mitigate - how do we move forward?

Download the policy brief: Helping smallholder farmers mitigate climate change