24 November 2011: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a policy brief titled “Building bridges between REDD+ and sustainable agriculture: Addressing agriculture’s role as a driver of deforestation.”

The brief notes that drivers of deforestation and forest degradation often come from outside the forestry sector, and that many are closely tied to agriculture. To succeed in implementing policies for REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks), it calls for an integrated landscape approach that takes into account all land uses in a holistic way and works to lessen the competition for natural resources among different sectors.

The brief promotes climate-smart agriculture, where: agricultural development is directed along pathways that lead to sustainable increases in agricultural productivity; social and ecological resilience are increased in order to contribute to climate change adaptation; and agriculture is used to support the achievement of national food security and development goals.

The Brief recommends, inter alia: promoting inter-sectoral policies; including integrated landscape approaches in the activities covered under different carbon finance funds; promoting evergreen agriculture, which combines agroforestry with conservation farming; reflecting on tenure rights, governance and other potential socioeconomic impacts during cross-sectoral REDD+ planning processes; and improving methods for landscape level carbon accounting. [Publication: Building Bridges Between REDD+ and Sustainable Agriculture: Addressing Agriculture’s Role as a Driver of Deforestation]