April 2024 Newsletter Recap: Mitigation and Low-Emissions Agriculture

Did you miss the Climatelinks April newsletter? We’ve got you covered. Please find a recap of the April ‘Mitigation and Low-Emissions Agriculture’ theme below. You won’t want to miss this short list of top resources and blogs from the month. Subscribe to our newsletter today. Do you want to contribute to the Climatelinks community? Send us a resource, blog, or event.

The agriculture and food systems sector is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts while also contributing to climate change by releasing planet-warming greenhouse gases, including methane, into the atmosphere.

Fresh Blog Posts

Advancing Low-Emissions Agriculture and Food Systems (Part 2): How USAID is Driving Down Methane for Urgent Climate Action

Accounting for roughly 30 percent of global warming since the Industrial Revolution, methane offers one of the largest emissions reduction opportunities in agriculture and food systems. Analyses of USAID Feed the Future programs found opportunities to reduce methane emissions from cattle rearing, rice production, and food loss and waste while increasing incomes and food security. For this reason, USAID and its partners are catalyzing Low Emissions Agriculture and Food Systems (LEAFS) to rapidly reduce methane emissions in the agriculture sector.

Advancing Low-Emissions Agriculture and Food Systems (Part 3): A Transformational Shift to Climate-Resilient, Net-Zero Agrifood Systems

Deforestation and land use account for nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions but mostly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. USAID and partners work to achieve LEAFS through efforts to reduce emissions, protect and restore ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, and strengthen food security. Integrated efforts like these can help USAID support a transformational shift towards a climate-resilient, net-zero agrifood system.

Advancing Low-Emissions Agriculture and Food Systems (Part 4): Driving Increased Investment for Food Security and Climate Action

Less than 5 percent of global climate finance is directed towards agriculture and food systems. Achieving a climate-resilient, net-zero transformation in the sector calls for a groundswell of additional finance from public, private, and philanthropic sources. USAID is investing in programs and initiatives that mobilize finance to integrate climate objectives across sectors to drive this climate action.

USAID’s Climate Strategy in Action: Expanding Seedling Production in Lebanon Amidst Climate Change

The Baalbek-Hermel Governorate in the Beqaa region is one of Lebanon’s most vulnerable communities to climate change because many of its residents rely on agricultural production for their livelihoods. Skyrocketing inflation amidst the country’s ongoing socio-economic crisis and the subsequent electricity crisis has placed increasing strain on local farmers as they struggle to purchase and raise crop seedlings. With support from USAID’s Community Support Program, Cooperation Without Borders operates a nursery to provide small-scale farmers with organic vegetable and aromatic seedlings to strengthen the region’s agricultural resilience.

Creating Market Incentives for Rice Farmers to Support Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in Cambodia

USAID Morodok Baitang is working with local farmers in Cambodia to advance low-emissions agriculture and reduce deforestation in and around protected areas. By providing economic incentives to help farmers adapt to and mitigate climate change, the activity demonstrates how agriculture can be climate-smart, conservation-friendly, and economically viable.

Targeted Livestock Feeding to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Reducing livestock emissions while increasing production efficiency in Africa is key to mitigating climate change while also ending hunger, and can be achieved with improved feeding practices and management techniques. Zirakamwa, a feed ration balancing app based on an original version developed as part of the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, is helping farmers in Rwanda reduce food waste, increase productivity, and improve milk quality–ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

New Resources

Adapting Agrivoltalics for Solar Mini-Grids in Haiti

Haiti grapples with both energy poverty and food insecurity. Distributed solar, especially solar mini-grids, can help address both challenges, but the overlap of land that is suitable for both solar  agriculture creates tension that agrivoltaics may be uniquely positioned to address. Under the Energy Access Partnership for Haiti with USAID, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory explored whether agrivoltaics–a shared land-use solution that pairs solar with agriculture–could work in the context of Haiti’s mini-grids.

Prosperous and Resilient Landscapes

The Prosperous and Resilient Landscapes activity aims to create a more sustainable future for both people and nature in Guatemala. It reduces land-based greenhouse gas emissions and increases carbon sequestration while also boosting economic growth in forest-dependent communities. 

Climate Risk Management Spotlight

Climate Risk Management Screening and Management Tool for Strategy Design

This tool guides USAID strategy planners and support staff through the process of assessing and addressing climate-related risks to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of strategy objectives in the face of climate variability and change. 

Call for Content

Share your events and resources or write a blog related to an upcoming monthly theme! Check out our upcoming themes to see if your climate work aligns:

• May and June: Youth-led Climate Action
• July and August: Climate Resilience
• 2024 Cross-cutting Themes: Systems Change and Locally Led Development

If your USAID-related climate change work relates to these themes, Climatelinks would love to feature your work and share your resources. Send us a resource or blog.