Climate resilience – it’s more than just planting trees

Family farmers in FFF-funded countries are taking part in climate resilience training to boost their skills and understanding of the range of climate action they can take. As well as bringing new thinking, the training is helping FFPOs unlock vital climate funding.
With recent severe droughts in Zambia, forest fires in Bolivia, freak hailstorms in Tanzania and strong typhoons in Viet Nam, climate change is hitting many small-scale farmers hard. But despite being critical to frontline climate action, small-scale farmers are frequently not involved in decisions about climate resilience receiving only 0.3% of international climate finance. They are seldom even aware of all the adaptation actions that they implement and don’t see themselves as climate actors.
That’s why FFF partner, AgriCord, has developed a face-to-face “Building Resilience” training programme to support family farmers in taking climate action. The aim is threefold: to help farmers recognise themselves as key climate actors; to give them visibility of the climate actions they are already taking; and to support them in creating a tailored climate action plan specific to their own situation. This will vary from location to location according to the local issues they face.
Climate action is diverse
What has emerged from the workshops is that all farmers are concerned about the impacts of climate change. Many are already taking action, but often they do not label what they do as “climate action.” To many, climate action means planting trees, and the training helps them to recognise that it is much, much more than that.
For example, it could be installing solar-powered irrigation systems to overcome drought, or employing agroecological practices to improve soil nutrition and crop yield. Or perhaps it could involve using a stronger material for a water channel that always breaks during flooding, or changing how and where a product is sold because more frequent storms are preventing customers from going to the marketplace.
In addition to changes in weather patterns, in all countries, farmers have highlighted a frequent and severe increase in pests and diseases attacking their crops, identifying this as a key climate hazard.
Cascading knowledge
Over the past three years, the workshops have been rolled out to FFF-funded farmers in Tanzania, Kenya, Nepal, Viet Nam, Madagascar, Ecuador, Togo, and most recently in Ghana and Zambia. The idea is to “train the trainer” so that participants then cascade their learning to their own communities – adapting it to share in their own language using examples of crops and activities that are relevant to them. So far, over 2100 farmers have attended the Building Reslience workshops, which build on their existing knowledge and practices.
“Many of the farmers in our women farmers’ organization are illiterate. After taking part in the Building Resilience Train the Trainer week, I feel confident in conducting the training for our members – with some drawings and explanation, the tool can be used also like we did today – sitting outside under a big tree,” said Esther Awuni from Maaltaaba Peasant Women Farmers' Cooperative, who took part in the most recent training in Ghana.
The programme has evolved over time. Early implementation included a training of trainers event for 2-3 days after which attendees arranged their own participatory workshops with local farmers. However, the concepts and the solutions required more time for reflection, so more recent training of trainer events now take 5 days. They start with two days of training (learning, coaching and discussion with flipcharts and pens), followed by a one day field visit to clarify concepts and review examples. The last two days are coached practice in the field to help farmers grow in confidence and independence in applying their knowledge and sharing it with their communities.
Exploring the impact of climate hazards on livelihoods during the training
Impact of the training
Having recently completed the Building Resilience training, the Tanzanian Tree Growers Association Union (TTGAU) in the Njombe Region implemented several actions to help them cope with climate change. They trained their peers on sustainable agricultural practices, such as alley cropping where crops such as avocados and beans are grown in between rows of trees to promote biodiversity and improve farm resilience. They also shared knowledge on the production and use of biochar – a material that helps improve soil health and increase crop production. To prevent and control future wildfires, they have strengthened village and ward fire by-laws and held training sessions on effective fire management techniques.
In Togo, regional and national climate resilience plans have also been developed as a result of the training which involved members of the Togolese Coordination of Peasant Organizations and Agricultural Producers (CTOP). The plans place a large emphasis on agroecological practices. As part of the implementation of their plans, 80 young people received training in more than ten agroecological practices including composting, crop rotation, ash slurry, crop association, mulching, biochar, and agroforestry to implement on their farms.
Access to climate funding
AgriCord has noted that there is a need to provide more support at the organizational level. Part II of Building Resilience aims to help FFPOs articulate their climate rationale and to take their climate action to a more systemic level. Part II is being tested in the field will be rolled out in 2025.
Being able to translate how their everyday actions contribute to climate resilience is critical in helping FFPOs unlock climate funding and invest in capacity. Based on the regional workshops through Part I of Building Resilience, CTOP in Togo developed their national resilience plan which was a critical component in securing funding from the World Bank.
The climate resilience workshops are in great demand, and AgriCord plans to refine the methodology and the community of practitioners involved. More training will be rolled out over the coming year, including in Bolivia, enabling small-scale farmers and cooperatives to take effective climate action and tackle head-on the largest threat to their livelihoods.
AgriCord’s Building Resilience tool