With rising temperatures and unpredictable, extreme weather events, climate change is already threatening food security in many parts of the world. In response, FAO is ramping up its work to help transform our agri-food systems to better respond to the climate crisis. One way of doing this is by spreading the use of green and climate-resilient agricultural techniques, which can help to reduce the negative impacts from the way our food is produced and reaches our plates.

FAO is helping farmers and food producers around the world to implement green and climate-resilient, innovative solutions for instance:  in areas of eastern Paraguay, deforestation and forest degradation are widespread, and climate change makes communities who are dependent on family farming for food production and livelihoods increasingly vulnerable.

FAO is responding to the needs of these communities as the lead agency implementing an ongoing Green Climate Fund (GCF) project in the area, which focuses on 87 000 people, many from indigenous communities. Farmers will receive Environmental Conditional Cash Transfers in exchange for undertaking climate-sensitive, agroforestry projects. These initiatives include growing trees such as eucalyptus, citrus fruits and yerba mate plants and abandoning the practice of chopping down native forests for fuel. The cultivation will help provide shade, conserve soil, store CO2 and regulate water flows, helping small-scale farmers adapt to more frequent droughts and floods by diversifying from their traditional mainstays of cotton, beans, cassava, sesame and sugarcane.

For another three examples in Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and  Malawi click here.