Reshaping policies for climate-smart farming

UNTIL the world's small farmers adopt a series of necessary changes, climate talks such as the United Nations Rio+20 Summit, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in June, will never translate into action.

The emergence of a global green economy requires governments, other policymakers and businesses from developed and emerging economies to recognise the inextricable linkages between climate change, the environment and food security. This means bringing the world's smallholder agriculture into the discussion.

Every day, smallholder farmers in developing countries confront the consequences of climate change. They are often the very first to fall prey to fickle global markets or extreme weather events.

Yet, smallholders cannot be ignored when it comes to climate-change solutions: the world's half-billion small farms account for 60 per cent of global agriculture production and provide up to 80 per cent of the food supply in developing countries.

Can we really count on these farmers, many of them desperately poor, to take a leading role in addressing the twin challenges of food security and environmental sustainability? Can they produce more food while protecting the natural environment?

We believe the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. Real-world experience shows that they can. But success is possible only if they can adopt environmentally sustainable techniques that preserve and enhance soil and groundwater.

Examples of how this can be done include terracing to prevent soil loss and degradation through erosion and flooding; radically reducing tillage; rotating crops and applying natural fertilisers to improve soil structure and fertility; and integrating trees with crops and livestock in agro-forestry systems.

Rwanda's recent experience provides a beacon of hope that increased agricultural output and environmental protection can go hand in hand.

In Ngororero district, for example, a project backed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development has helped farmers to increase crop yields by up to 300 per cent through higher-quality seeds, better planting technologies and application of fertilisers.

On a larger scale, farmers across Rwanda are replacing greenhouse-gas-producing chemical fertilisers with manure.

Rwanda has quadrupled its agricultural production over the past five years. It is now a food-secure country. Rwanda's efforts to promote climate-smart agriculture are supported by a wider policy and investment framework that seeks to ensure that all farmers, however small, have access to improved seeds, technical know-how, and a market for their output.

Every developing country must understand that we can ensure that smallholders produce more food in sustainable ways only if their farming is profitable.

Indeed, increasing environmentally sustainable farming among smallholders around the world will require reshaping national policies and the architecture of public and private investment. Project Syndicate

Reshaping policies for climate-smart farming

UNTIL the world's small farmers adopt a series of necessary changes, climate talks such as the United Nations Rio+20 Summit, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in June, will never translate into action.

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