A side event, held during the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, shared lessons learned from implementing the Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme in Colombia, Guatemala and Uruguay, and underscored the need to consider the land, agriculture and forestry nexus.

The event took place on 5 December, and was titled, ‘Agriculture and Land Use Sectors in Latin American and Caribbean NDCs: Identifying Gaps in Mitigation and Adaptation Policies, and Promoting Participative Solutions.’ It was organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO).

Enzo Benech, Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Uruguay, said 80% of his country’s income comes from the production and export of food and commodities, noting that any climate impacts on agriculture are felt across the economy. He lamented that Uruguay has been “vilified” due to the cattle per capita ratio, and called for more dialogue to understand differing national priorities.

Paula Andrea Zuleta Gil, Director, Financing and Agricultural Risk, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Colombia, described: local, multi-stakeholder technical agroclimatic committees that are addressing emissions from farming; a rigorous process that resulted in consensus recommendations for each crop; and an innovative agriculture insurance scheme for small-scale coffee farmers. She said her country’s NAP-Ag will focus on risk management, sustainable agriculture, agriculture and livestock resilience, low-carbon policies, and institutional integration. 

Panelists also mentioned, inter alia:

• a loss and damage component in Uruguay’s NAP and the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation process;
• an Earth Security Group report, ‘Financing Sustainable Rice for a Secure Future,’ which describes innovative finance partnerships for mitigation and adaptation such as a rice bond, which could help rice processors, traders and retailers provide farmers with capital to transition to sustainable agriculture, improve resilience and boost yields; and
• integration of traditional knowledge into implementation of Guatemala’s NAP.

The NAP-Ag programme, a multi-year initiative funded by the Government of Germany, supports partner countries to identify and integrate adaptation measures for the agricultural sector into relevant national planning and budgeting processes. [IISD RS Coverage of Side Event] [UNDP’s NAP-Ag Website] [FAO’s NAP-Ag Website]

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IISD Reporting Services is providing coverage of selected side events during the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid, which is meeting through 13 December.