Editor’s Pick: Mitigation Low-Emissions Agriculture Blogs

Increased extreme weather events and shifts in seasonal patterns, including temperature and precipitation, are having a significant negative impact on agriculture production, livelihoods, and food security. USAID is developing and scaling climate-smart agriculture practices that both respond to the threats posed by climate impacts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. The following blogs reflect the March and April theme of Mitigation and Low-Emissions Agriculture, as well as highlight some of the ways USAID is working at the intersection of climate and agriculture and food systems.

Advancing Low-Emissions Agriculture and Food Systems: How USAID is Championing Food Security and Climate Action

At COP28, the United States signed the Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action declaration, which is a global recognition that climate and food security goals go hand-in-hand. USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy also recognized this intersection, explicitly calling for food systems transformation that contributes to climate change mitigation. Currently, USAID’s approach to Low-Emissions Agriculture and Food Systems focuses on targeted emissions reductions, as well as support of adaptation efforts with mitigation co-benefits through multiple funding streams, including agriculture, climate, biodiversity, water, and governance. 

Integrated Rice-Fish Farming in Nigeria: A Resilient Approach in the Face of Climate Change

Severe weather events such as flooding, drought, and rising temperatures are endangering the livelihoods of fishing and farming communities in Nigeria. To address this, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish introduced farmers to a new method of growing rice and fish in the same aquatic ecosystem. This approach reduces greenhouse gas emissions and builds food supply, boosting nutrition in the community. 

More Milk with Fewer Cows: The Potential for Methane Reduction in Kenya’s Dairy Sector

The agriculture and livestock sector is critically important to food security, nutrition, and economic growth in many low- and middle-income countries, including Kenya. The impact of this sector on climate change, particularly through methane emissions, is a concern, but USAID is championing potential win-win agricultural interventions that can meet both climate and food security goals. In Kenya, the Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Activity works with farmers to improve their milk yield and productivity in a way that generates positive benefits for the environment.

Conservation Agriculture a Saving Grace for the Kavango Region

Rural communities in the Namibian catchment areas of the Okavango River Basin rely on rain-fed farming, so poor rainfall caused by climate change is exacerbating food insecurity. USAID’s Resilient Waters Program spearheaded a climate adaptation initiative by equipping farmers with innovative climate-smart skills to minimize the likelihood of negative outcomes from climate shocks. In just two months, Resilient Waters trained 552 farmers on Conservation Agriculture, a modern sustainable agriculture production technique.

Cultivating Sustainable Solutions for Peru’s Cacao Farmers

The USAID-supported Peruvian Extension and Research Utilization Hub (PERU-Hub) helps farmers in Peru combat climate challenges and prevent losses that could hurt their livelihoods and weaken Peru’s economy. The Hub explores the application of advanced technologies to climate resilience, crop diversification, and food production with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 200 tons CO2e by 2026.