Climatelinks’ theme for March and April is Mitigation and Low-Emissions Agriculture. Agriculture and food systems is one of the most vulnerable sectors to the climate crisis, but it also contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions from sources like livestock, rice paddies, excessive use of fertilizers, and conversion of ecosystems to agricultural uses. The following resources offer guidance on how USAID programs can limit emissions from the agriculture sector and implement other climate-smart agriculture practices.
Operationalizing USAID’s Climate Strategy to Achieve Transformative Adaptation and Mitigation in Agricultural and Food Systems
The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development’s report, Operationalizing USAID’s Climate Strategy to Achieve Transformative Adaptation and Mitigation in Agricultural and Food Systems, presents six detailed recommendations and targets for adaptation, mitigation, and finance in agrifood systems that align with USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. The recommendations are intended to help USAID accelerate achievement of its Climate Strategy goals within agrifood systems programming.
Climate Finance for Low-Emissions Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: Climate Finance Innovation for Agriculture Report
The USAID Africa Trade and Investment Activity conducted a landscape analysis to explore climate finance opportunities for low-emissions agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. The report identifies barriers to scaling climate finance, highlights innovative solutions, and proposes key interventions to enhance the flow of climate finance in the region. One of the key challenges identified in the assessment was a limited focus on high-emissions sub-sectors like livestock due to limited emissions data and awareness.
USAID Climate Strategy Webinar Series: Climate-Smart Agriculture
During the release of USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy, Climatelinks hosted a webinar on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). The webinar recording explores what CSA is, highlights important co-benefits of implementing CSA practices, and considers ways in which approaches to food security can be "climate proofed.”
Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems
USAID’s food security programming has generally contributed little in the way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions even though agriculture and food systems are responsible for roughly a third of global emissions. This resource provides guidance for achieving climate change adaptation and mitigation outcomes in Feed the Future activity designs while also safeguarding productivity gains and livelihoods.
An Evaluation of Evidence for Efficacy and Applicability of Methane Inhibiting Feed Additives for Livestock
The inclusion of feed additives in livestock diets is a standard nutritional management practice, which means feed additives are a prime opportunity to reduce enteric methane emissions. This report explores the ten leading classes of compounds being studied for methane mitigation to understand whether these additives are available and effective and to identify any constraints or risks associated with their use.
Explore additional Mitigation and Low-Emissions Agriculture resources here.
Jamie Schoshinski
Jamie Schoshinski is a Program Associate with Environmental Incentives, primarily supporting USAID’s Advancing Capacity for the Environment (ACE) project as a Climatelinks Content and Social Media Manager. Jamie has a Master’s in Environmental Policy from American University and a BA in English and Political Science from Temple University.
