- The worlds 1.3 billion forest dependent people (including 500 million indigenous people) and an estimated 500 million family farms 1, representing over 90 per cent of all farms globally, are frontliners in confronting difficult climatic conditions - droughts, flooding, and extreme temperatures. Organised into forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs), they are powerful agents of change towards delivering climate-resilient landscapes and food systems.

“We need to create resilience programs and safety nets against climate shocks for farmers as part of the green and climate funds”, pleaded Elizabeth Nsimadala, East African Farmers’ Federation, at recent conference Saving Our Future, Investing in locally led diversification for climate resilience and food security, organised by Forest and Farm Facility, in collaboration with the Vietnam Farmer’s Union.

COP27 - do farmers matter?

This year, the United Nations Climate Negotiations (COP27) will be held in Egypt from 7-18 November 2022. The UN estimates that by 2030 developing countries need $140 billion–$300 billion to cover their adaptation costs. By contrast, global adaptation finance flows in 2021 were less than $50 billion. Adding to the agony, there is a blatant discrepancy considering the  climate financing needs of family farmers and small scale agri-enterprises: They represent around 25% of the world’s population, but the total climate finance targeting small-scale agriculture represents only 1.7% of the total climate finance tracked. The adaptation challenges and current food crisis call for urgent COP 27 decisions and action for agriculture and support to farmers’ resilience. To keep farming alive, more funding is urgently needed for locally-led adaptation and resilience initiatives in agriculture.

“Agriculture climate investments are still very small, and farmers are often blamed for contributing to climate change because of our practices, whereas we see ourselves as part of the solution”, says Elisabeth Nsimadala, Eastern African Farmers’ Federation. An establishment of a specific farmer-led fund or facility channelling climate finance could be one of the options to ensure inclusive decision-making processes and direct investments in building resilience of smallholders.

Forest and farm producer organizations call for COP27 to recognize the importance of agriculture, food security and sustainable food systems in the global climate agenda. We urge COP27 to take decisions and actions to ensure investments in resilient agriculture and to secure livelihoods of smallholder farmers, women and other vulnerable groups.