Farming experts to push for special climate change adaptation fund at COP30

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New analysis indicates that $443 billion (about shillings 1,556 trillion) a year in climate finance is needed to help small-scale family farmers adapt to climate change impacts.

This is less than the $470 billion (about shillings 1,651 trillion) a year that the UN estimates is spent on agriculture subsidies that are harmful to people and the planet, and is equivalent to an annual average investment of $953 for a one-hectare farm.

The above analysis was conducted by Climate Focus for Family Farmers for Climate Action (FFCA), a farmer-led campaign representing 95 million small-scale producers in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific.

According to analysis, smallholder farms produce half of the world’s food calories and support over 2.5 billion livelihoods across the globe.

With adaptation high on the COP30 agenda, and current finance flows to smallholders amounting to just 0.36%, there is a need for a major boost in adaptation finance and the establishment of a ‘Farmers Fund’ to ensure money gets to where it will have the most impact.

Situation at hand

According to the report, last year is believed to have been the hottest year, whose extreme heat affected agricultural production. In addition, across the world, extreme drought, floods, and storms are damaging harvests, fuelling hunger, driving up food prices, devastating livelihoods and undermining economies.

“The urgent need to build more just, resilient, sustainable and healthy food systems is now widely recognised,” the report reads.

The authors add that food and agriculture is one of the seven key target areas under the global goal on adaptation; where 160 governments signed the COP28 UAE Food Systems Declaration that commits them to include food and agriculture in revised national adaptation and mitigation plans ahead of COP30; and the Brazilian Presidency of COP30 has made food and agriculture one of the six core themes of the conference.

Actual financing needs

The analysis by Climate Focus for Family Farmers for Climate Action estimates that the world’s 498 million small-scale producers farming land of 10 hectares or less require approximately $443 billion (about shillings 1,556 trillion) a year to build resilience and adapt to climate impacts. This is equivalent to an average annual investment of US$800 per hectare to incentivise climate-resilient and low-emission practices.

This includes measures to boost soil health and fertility, including a thorough shift to nature-positive practices such as agroecology that have been shown to build climate resilience; install micro irrigation systems, such as drip irrigation that saves water by delivering it directly to plant roots, and increase access to improved seeds, including traditional varieties more resilient to drought.

$141 is needed per farmer to secure resilient livelihoods through adaptive safety nets and early warning systems. This includes crop or livestock insurance to compensate farmers for climate loss, and systems to help farmers avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

$12 per farmer for digital climate service provision so producers can make more informed decisions about farm management.

For example, a mobile app that provides weather forecasts and agricultural advice tailored to the locality can help farmers plan when to plant.

Financing commitments made at Cope 29

At COP29, there was an agreement to mobilise at least $300 billion (about shillings 1,053 trillion) a year by 2035 for developing country mitigation and adaptation, with developed countries “taking the lead”.

It urged all actors to collaborate in scaling up climate finance from all public and private sources to at least US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035. Although the aspirational target of US$1.3 trillion a year offers a foundation for scaling climate finance in the years to come, there are significant concerns about both the quantity and quality of the finance agreed.

For example, the Independent Expert Group on Climate Finance estimates that US$3.1 to US$3.5 trillion a year is needed by 2035 to meet the climate finance needs in emerging markets and developing countries, excluding China.

The finance deal also fails to guarantee a minimum level of public grant-based financing, which is of particular importance for marginalised groups such as family farmers.

As the world prepares for the next COP30, which is taking place in Brazil, it’s not yet clear whether developed nations will deliver on their Glasgow Climate Pact, where they promised to double adaptation finance to US$38-40 billion by 2025 among other commitments.