8 July 2015: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) have released the ‘Mitigation Advantage Report’ at Our Common Future Under Climate Change Science Conference held by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France.

The report reveals the mitigation potential of smallholder farming, finding that helping farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change can also significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and that mitigation could be another benefit of adaptation activities. The report shows that 13 IFAD-supported adaptation projects could reduce GHG emissions by 30 million tons, which represents about 38% of IFAD’s 2020 emissions reduction target under its Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP).

Launching the report, Michel Mordasini, IFAD Vice President, stated that smallholder farmers are “a key part of the solution to the climate change challenge,” and that, with the right investments, “smallholders can feed a growing planet while at the same time restoring degraded ecosystems and reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint.”

Sonja Vermeulen, Head of Research, CCAFS, highlighted new opportunities in light of the role smallholder adaptation plays in helping reduce global emissions. Noting that, currently, over 90% of public and private climate funds go to mitigation as opposed to adaptation, she stated that, for future food security, “it would be very helpful if the majority of the world’s farmers, who are smallholders, could access those funds.” [UN Press Release] [IFAD Press Release]