Climate change is threatening agriculture globally, and small-scale farmers in low and middle income countries are particularly vulnerable. To strengthen their resilience, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) awarded a $300,000 competitive grant to World Vision through AgMission, an initiative co-created by FFAR and the World Farmers’ Organisation to unlock agriculture’s potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. World Vision is providing additional funding for this project. The joint investment will enable in-depth examination of small-scale farmer adoption of climate-smart agriculture in India, Kenya and Bangladesh.
Climate-smart agriculture aims to increase productivity, adapt crops and livestock to changing climates and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. A variety of climate-smart farming practices and technologies exist; however, their adoption by farmers is believed to be low, particularly in low and middle income countries.
“Barriers to small-scale farmer adoption of climate-smart agriculture include poor access, limited knowledge, inability to take risks, weak financing mechanisms and lack of rapidly attractive value propositions,” said Yuan Zhou, SFSA head of agricultural policy.
Through a series of assessments, World Vision is validating suitable practices and strategies for farmers, with a particular emphasis on gender equity and social inclusion. The study focuses on the poorest farmers, women-led farming households, young farmers and those with very small farms.
In collaboration with researchers at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex (IDS) and ODI, World Vision technical specialists will evaluate farmers’ access to inputs, resources and education within and across the three countries and examine how access varies between small-scale groups. This research will be complemented with an assessment of the enabling environment for climate-smart innovations and their adoption, including policies, regulations, the contribution of the private sector and farmer and civil society organizations.
While the research specifically assesses climate-smart practices in India, Kenya and Bangladesh, it is possible that valuable insights can also be applied elsewhere. The World Vision, IDS and ODI team will analyse trends in climate smart farming and its financing, and identify successes in promoting climate-smart agriculture especially in low and lower middle income countries.