Delegates at COP29 in Azerbaijan—now in its second week—are hammering out a crucial climate finance deal. With climate impacts devastating farms across the globe the desperate need for more climate finance is clear. Equally important, say farmer groups, is getting finance to where it can have the most impact.
Research released by Family Farmers for Climate Action to mark Food, Agriculture and Water Day in Baku finds that the two biggest global climate funds are putting food security at risk by failing to get finance to the grassroots.
“The two biggest climate funds do not recognise the value of grassroots farmer organisations, said Esther Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers Association. They don’t benefit from our experience and expertise or our unique ability to scale up climate action across millions of family farms. Their restrictive policies ensure we have no meaningful control over how we adapt and build climate resilience. This blinkered approach is holding back the fight against hunger and climate change.”
The new analysis takes a close look at spending by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which manage billions of dollars of climate finance contributions from donor countries, regions and cities.
GCF, the world’s largest climate fund, has committed US$15 billion to adaptation and mitigation projects since its inception in 2010. GEF, which serves as a fund for the 3 UN Conventions on Climate, Biodiversity and Desertification, has invested over US$25 billion over the past 3 decades; last week in Baku, it announced another $20 million in grants.
The importance of small-scale family farmers cannot be overstated. In Africa, these farmers produce 70% of the continent’s food, while in Asia, they produce a jaw-dropping 80%. They are central to global supply chains for commodities like coffee and rice, and employ 30% of the world’s population. Family farms are also at the forefront of efforts to roll out diverse and nature-friendly practices that help restore the land, increase food security, and reduce emissions. Mounting evidence has consistently shown that these types of approaches are the best way to build climate resilience.
These farmers are on the front lines of climate change, witnessing firsthand how rising emissions are driving increasingly intense disasters. Extreme and erratic weather is damaging harvests from Southern Africa where a “once in a century” drought has wiped out 70% of Zambia’s harvest, to Asia where storms and floods have damaged over 50,000 hectares of farmland in the Philippines.
But despite the crucial role these farmers play, just 14% ($1.3 billion) in international public climate finance for agriculture and land use was directed at small-scale producers between 2021 and 2022. This is a fraction of the US $368 billion which family farmers invest in adaptation from their own dwindling resources each year.
This funding disconnect starts at the top.
“It is difficult to see how a just and sustainable rural transition will happen without direct financing of small-holder farmer organisations,” said Duncan Macqueen, Director of Forests at International Institute for Environment and Development. “Unclogging GEF and GCF pipes to ensure that at least some finance reaches the farmers who produce our food is critical.”
Further analysis of 40 projects – where more than half the total funding was earmarked for farming activities – revealed none of the money went directly to farmers or their organisations, and less than a fifth of projects (18%) included farmers in any decision making.
“We need an ambitious finance deal in COP29 to safeguard our food system and ensure everyone has enough to eat in a changing climate,” said Stephen Muchiri, the CEO of Eastern African Farmers Federation. “It’s equally important that any available finance is well spent. This means getting finance direct to family farmers and to sustainable, resilience approaches that the science shows are key to adaptation.”
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