Agriculture, being a climate sensitive sector, is highly vulnerable to climate change. At the same time, agriculture also contributes to climate change. Livestock and rice generate substantial greenhouse gas emissions but are also significant sources of farmer livelihood. Emission intensity could be reduced by promoting carbon sequestration activities that benefit farmers, such as regenerative agriculture and agroforestry.

Conventional fertilisers are a major source of emissions. Agriculture contributes almost a third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Livestock and rice are major emitters of methane. Agrochemical production, agrifood processing, and supply chain logistics are highly energy intensive.

Agrifood systems depend heavily on fossil fuels, particularly for processing and transportation. Traditional farming often uses resource intensive processes such as land clearance, excessive water use, and agrochemical application. These practices worsen greenhouse gases emissions and otherwise diminish sector capacity to mitigate climate change.

Transitioning to sustainable agricultural techniques demands a fundamental shift in farmer practice and mindset. Challenges to this shift arise from financial constraints, deeply ingrained cultural practices, and farmers having little access to modern knowledge and training.

Transitioning to sustainable agricultural techniques demands a fundamental shift in farmer practice and mindset

Smallholder farmers are highly risk averse because their entire livelihood depends on their next harvest. Even simple changes of practice require a significant leap of faith, which can be made easier for farmers by training and demonstration farms, access to high-quality agricultural inputs and equipment, targeted subsidies, payment for ecosystem services, affordable financing, crop insurance, and guaranteed offtake.

The unpredictability of weather poses another significant challenge. As extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves become more frequent and severe, they disrupt agriculture, reducing crop yields, causing livestock losses, and making smallholder farmers more vulnerable. This discourages long-term planning and investment in climate-resilient agricultural strategies.

Farmers require modern irrigation systems that provide an assured but flexible water supply. Inadequate technological adoption and innovation hinder climate action in the sector. While high-quality agricultural inputs and equipment, precision agriculture, hydroponics, and agroforestry offer promising avenues for reducing emissions and increasing productivity, their adoption is uneven and generally low. High costs up front, a lack of access to information and resistance to change can prevent the integration of these technological innovations into traditional agricultural systems.

Climate-resilient food production systems require reliable irrigation, which can be achieved by modernising irrigation infrastructure and strengthening management and information systems to minimise water and food production losses. Adverse impacts from climate change, such as droughts, floods, sea level rise and storms, are increasing substantially.

Therefore, investment in climate-smart water management is essential, both on the farm and across the watershed. Systems that disseminate climate information using cost-effective digital agricultural services can be critical adaptation investments incorporated into agriculture, food, and natural resource projects. Policy reform should repurpose agricultural subsidies and incentivise climate-smart agriculture.

Nature based climate solutions are critical to halting and reversing biodiversity loss. Nature based climate solutions offer significant social, environmental, cultural, and economic benefits. They contribute to rural development, sustainable livelihoods, and food security by adopting a complete food chain approach to agrifood system transformation that among other benefits boosts the productivity and sustainability of agrifood systems, while enhancing carbon storage.

In urban areas, nature based climate solutions can prevent flooding while creating green spaces to make cities more livable. They can advance gender equality by promoting economic empowerment and providing women with income generating opportunities. Securing the rights of Indigenous people to their land and resources and harnessing their local knowledge is among the most effective ways to protect and restore fragile ecosystems.

The government should revisit fertiliser subsidies to promote greener alternatives. Innovation from the private sector should be promoted for all agricultural inputs, providing seed and preferring biological fertiliser and protection from pests and disease. Smallholder farmers can help preserve and restore natural capital assets, many of which are major carbon sinks It is essential to promote policies that avoid deforestation. Smallholder farmers need support. More investment is required in nature-based climate solutions, including landscape approaches, biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management, agroforestry, and mangrove conservation. It is imperative to multiply these investments by manifold.

The agrifood system is dominated by small holder farmers, who are among the people most affected by climate change. Training farmers in climate smart agriculture is critical for a just transition to net zero, as is supporting the decarbonisation of agrifood systems. Renewable energy and energy efficiency should be promoted. Reducing food losses would shrink the sector’s carbon footprint. The promotion of agrifood value chains is crucial to shrink carbon footprints and strengthen resilience across entire value chains.

The author is development professional with focus on climate change and author of book “Earthly Matters”.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 24th, 2025