This development was contained in a report titled, ‘The Smallholder Advantage,’ which gives a breakdown of Ifad’s response to climate change.
Kanayo Nwanze, president of Ifad said of the report: “We see smallholder farmers as an important part of the solution to the climate change challenge. With around 500 million smallholder farms responsible for around four-fifths of food supplies in developing countries, we recognise that rural women and men operate vital businesses on the climate frontline. Small farmers often experience more extreme and unpredictable weather, yet they are among the least represented in national and global policymaking on climate change. What Ifad emphasises in the climate change debate is that smallholders are among the most effective clients for public funds for dealing with issues around climate change. Ifad’s work demonstrates that investments that help farmers adapt to climate changes can improve family incomes, nutrition as well as be better for the environment.”
The Smallholder Advantage is the latest report on Ifad’s response to climate change and shows how investments in access to weather information, technology transfer and disaster preparedness are helping smallholder women and men to feed themselves and their families on a warming planet. The report draws on experiences from Ifad’s Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (Asap), which was launched in 2012 to make climate finance work for smallholder farmers. Asap blends climate finance from multiple donors with large-scale agricultural investment programmes that are financed by Ifad and its partners. Asap has now become the world’s largest adaptation programme for smallholder farmers, with over 350 million dollars in pledges and contributions from nine bilateral donors. The programme will enable Ifad to increase the climate resilience of around eight million smallholder farmers, as well as utilise climate-smart agricultural practices on over one million hectares of land. The Smallholder Advantage report shows that agricultural investment programmes can provide platforms for climate action. It also shows that effective climate action can be about more than just technology because Ifad is investing in institutional capacity and policy dialogue to boost and sustain smallholder resilience.
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