This is the second part of an articles series based on based on conversations held during COP16 (Cali) and COP29 (Baku) side events by leading food system actors, who explored solutions provided by agroecology. Learn why this fall is crucial for food systems governance as world leaders and food system actors gather to discuss solutions to biodiversity loss, climate change and land degradation. Read part one.
Agroecological policies, which are currently being developed in several countries, can contribute significantly to governments achieving their climate mitigation and adaptation goals. And integrating these into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)—which countries are scheduled to revise by COP30—can help them tap the climate finance needed to make food systems transformation a reality.
How to deliver this was the theme of a side event during COP29 in Baku. Called “Resilient food futures: agroecology and climate finance for ambitious NDCs 3.0,” it marked a continuation of discussions at COP16 on how agroecology can support biodiversity action.
Food systems both contribute to and are impacted by climate change, noted Oliver Oliveros, Coordinator of the Agroecology Coalition. For example, livestock production, fertilizer use and deforestation for farm expansion exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions. And food systems are vulnerable to volatile weather patterns and land degradation.
The 13 principles and 10 elements of agroecology can help break that link, delivering food systems that are nature-positive, less carbon intensive, and more resilient to climate change.
By developing policies and frameworks aimed at scaling agroecology, governments can better coordinate their climate mitigation and adaptation action while also fighting biodiversity loss and land degradation, noted Moritz Fegert, Project Officer at Biovision Foundation. Some of the agroecological policy interventions proposed by Biovision and partners for inclusion in governments’ NBSAPS can also be suitable for NDCs, he added.
Civil society organizations can help governments build evidence-based agroecology policies and integrate them into NDCs and national adaptation plans (NAPs), proposed Bridget Mugambe, Programme Coordinator at Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). And including the voices of pastoralists, fisherfolk and other marginalized stakeholders in policy discussions lends them legitimacy. For example, AFSA’s recent Thousand African Youth Summit on Food Systems and Agroecology gave African countries’ NDC and NAP focal points exposure to issues facing young people.
And despite barriers, momentum for agroecological policymaking is already building, with 134 countries addressing food systems in their NDCs and 19 specifically referencing agroecology, a study by WWF and Climate Focus shows.
Africa sets the example. Tanzania launched its National Ecological Organic Agriculture Strategy in November 2023, Kenya its National Agroecology Strategy in November 2024, and countries like Uganda and Zambia will soon follow suit, noted Fegert. And with many countries still revising their NDCs and NBSAPs, a window of opportunity to include agroecological interventions remains open.
While Kenya focused purely on climate-smart agriculture in its initial NDC, its revised ‘NDC 3.0’ will include agroecological practices, said Patrick Kibaya, Head of the Climate Change Unit at Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture. It will be complemented by the launch in December of a National Agroecology Strategy for Food Systems Transformation 2024-2033. These will deliver the “triple wins of increasing production and productivity from the sector while building resilience of our communities and at the same time minimizing emissions,” he said.
In Latin America, Brazil and COP16 host Colombia both launched national agroecology strategies in October 2024. In Colombia this will feed directly into its NBSAP. And in Asia, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is progressing proposed policy guidelines to help scale and fund agroecology transition, noted Oliveros.
Vietnam—whose Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development with a vision to 2050 includes agroecology as a key pillar—has strongly backed ASEAN’s proposals, said Nguyen Do Anh Tanh, Director General, International Cooperation Department at the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Vietnam now aims to become a regional hub for agroecological knowledge-exchange, he added.
The creation of national agroecology frameworks also helps open funding opportunities for food system transformation, as concrete interventions feed directly into NDCs and NBSAPs, proposed Fegert.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will support food system transformation by scaling its climate-food-nature nexus approach, which funds low-carbon agricultural practices and the sustainable management of natural resources to ensure long-term food security, said Shingo Kimura, Principal Natural Resources and Agriculture Specialist. For example, decarbonizing the rice sector—a major source of methane emissions in Asia—is a key focus for the bank.
Vietnam is doing this work in the Mekong Delta, where the World Bank has pledged $350 million of loans to scale up sustainable rice farming practices across 1 million hectares, helping eliminate 10 million tonnes of CO2. It will seek further concessional lending plus commercial bank funding to build infrastructure that supports agroecological approaches, said Nguyen.
In Kenya, funding for agroecological projects will be partly channelled through its Funding Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) program. This involves the central government leading on policy development and capacity building, with implementation cascaded to individual counties, said Kibaya.
Agroecology’s focus on inclusion helps governments deliver social benefits and tackle inequalities experienced by vulnerable groups like small-scale farmers, noted audience member Irish Baguilat from the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development. And many small-scale farmers strongly support policies aimed at agroecological transition.
But funding smallholders, who produce a significant portion of the world’s food but attract a tiny percentage of climate finance, remains challenging, participants agreed. And more efforts are needed to channel climate finance to women—who represent up to 80 percent of Africa’s agricultural labour force and stand ready to invest in sustainable practices like agroecology—argued Gertrude Kabusimbi Kenyangi, Executive Director of Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment, Uganda.
The ADB lends US$1 billion per year to help expand commercial banks’ capacity to finance smallholders, noted Kimura, adding that organizing into cooperatives can help SME agribusinesses tap such support. The first International Financial Institutions (IFI) Global Forum for Food Systems Transformation in February 2023 also saw development banks share knowledge on how to develop innovative and better targeted financing mechanisms for sustainable agriculture.
Finally, “funding does not necessarily mean new money,” noted Oliveros. Governments can for instance repurpose subsidies to support agroecological alternatives, such as through including bio-inputs in existing fertilizer subsidy schemes, agreed Fegert.
Developing quality standards and inspection systems can also improve market access for sustainable and agroecological farmers, including smallholders, said Kimura. Enabling them to benefit from the price premium available for such produce would incentivize more to transition, he argued.
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Photo courtesy of Abdelrahman Ismail, Unsplash
