Agriculture is highly exposed and vulnerable to climate-induced disasters. This is evident by a recent FAO study which revealed that agriculture absorbed 26 % of the total economic damage and loss caused by climate-induced natural hazards in developing countries. The most vulnerable groups are smallholder farmers which provide over 70 percent of the world’s food needs, and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sectors. Thus, FAO suggests that climate and disaster risk reduction is a prerequisite for achieving sustainability and resiliency in the agricultural value chain, development and enterprise.

In line with this background FAO organized a workshop entitled “Risk-informed agricultural development and enterprises” on 29 October. The workshop was hosted by the ITC-UNFCCC Conference on “Fostering engagement of the agri-food sector in resilience to climate change. The workshop aimed at (i) identifying risks faced by agri-SMEs and how they reduce their vulnerability to such risks and threats and ultimately build their resilience; (ii) sharing key lessons learned on how agri-SMEs overcome the challenges posed by climate change and disasters through the uptake of risk-informed innovations and technologies; and (iii) identifying policy options/interventions that help enhance SMEs ability to build resilience to climate change and disasters.

The events resulted in fruitful and interactive discussions between panelists and the audience.

Key messages from the discussion are as follows:

• Smallholder farmers and their communities need to adapt and be prepared for the new realities – increasing frequency and intensity of climate variability and climate-induced disasters (ie., floods, droughts, storms, landsides) which will negatively impact their agricultural productions.

• We need to produce more with less – therefore transforming agriculture and our food systems is vital to achieving sustainable development for a zero-hunger world. In this context climate-smart agriculture measures including good agricultural practices in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) are key.

• A FAO study reveal that specific DRR agricultural technologies do perform, on average, 2.5 times better than usual practices under hazard conditions. Therefore, DRR and CCA practices in agriculture sectors are to be further adopted and upscaled.

• Local empowerment is crucial in supporting sustainable agricultural practices at the community level. • Climate and weather information system including early warning technology need to put in place at the local level to provide early warning/information for early action (for all concerned stakeholders).

• Promoting the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) – a locally focused quality assurance system provides certification at a lower price.

• Awareness raising – consumers and retailers awareness of food safety and nutrition is one of the drivers for organic farming.

• Youth and Women – involve and engage youth and women in agri-business and train them as vibrant climate change and disaster risk reduction agents.

Major barriers faced by smallholder farmers and SMEs include:

• Smallholders do not have access to credit (high interest rate).

• Lack of access to market, information and technology.

• Limited access to good quality of agricultural inputs (i.e., seeds, fertilizers, agri-machinery).

• Lack of extension service; limited/lack of enabling environment.

• Lack of policies to support risk-reduction for SMEs.

Priority measures needed to increase the investment in more resilient agriculture production are as follows:

• Research & Development (R&D) – developing and introducing new agricultural technologies and practices to adapt in a changing climate.

• Enhancing farmer support systems to strengthen their resilience to climate change and disasters.

• Information sharing - linking information from national level to subnational especially at the local level.

• Local capacity development to further promote community-oriented preparedness and preventive measures to effectively reduce the exiting risks, mitigate the creation of new risks and strengthen capacities to absorb shocks or mitigate their impacts.

• Local empowerment - promoting, adopting and scaling up community-based adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction.

• Future investment is needed in data and information system in particular early warning system allowing famers and SMEs to take early actions.

• Promoting the adoption and upscale of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) to certify organic farmers which in turn provides farmers with high niche market access.

• Incentivize youth and women to engage in agri-SMEs with innovative yet simple technologies which are easy to adopt.

• Intensify partnership between the private sector and government. There is a need for stronger stakeholder involvement in agri-business planning and decision making in particular the SMEs – they should be promoted as the agents of change to help transforming sustainable and inclusive agricultural development.

• Awareness raising to consumers on safe and nutritious food and adopting a better/responsible lifestyle by reducing food loss and waste with the aim of aching a zero-hunger world.