Action for Climate and Environment
Agriculture plays a unique role in the climate change dilemma. It contributes to a large proportion of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but is also highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. In India, climate change disproportionately burdens the marginalized farming population with small landholdings and limited access to resources.
ABOUT ACE
DRF’s Action for Climate and Environment Program (ACE) focuses on climate-proofing the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers to the increasingly adverse impacts of climate change by pushing or nudging them to adopt climate-friendly technologies and farming practices. The program seeks to leverage the agriculture sector’s immense inherent potential for mitigating emissions by encouraging the adoption of technologies and practices that sequester carbon and lower GHG emissions. It focuses on a co-benefit approach that aims at identifying strategies that prioritize win-win solutions aimed at capturing not only climate benefits but also secondary economic, social or environmental improvements in a single measure or policy.
KEY ISSUES
Agriculture is the second highest contributor to GHG emissions
19.6% of total emissions
Climate change impact on agriculture leads to
1.5% loss
in India’s GDP
OUR SOLUTION
Promoting and implementing climate smart/friendly agriculture practices that focuses on sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; lowering and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions; and adapting and building resilience to climate change through lead farmer platforms. Climate action focuses on a co-benefit approach.
EXPECTED OUTCOME
A major outcome of DRF’s climate action work in agriculture, besides boosting agricultural productivity and income, would be reduction in farmer’s carbon and water footprints and overall increase in agricultural resource use efficiency. Adoption of climate smart agriculture practices by farming communities would also result in increased adaptive capacity of the community to long term climate stressors like erratic weather patterns or shortened seasons.
