| Sumario: | Smallholders’ role in climate change adaptation and mitigation
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted a critical
trade-off between agricultural development and climate change mitigation. On the one
hand, agriculture, forestry and other kinds of land use (AFOLU) account for about a
quarter of net human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions are
mainly caused by deforestation, as well as soil and nutrient management practices, and
livestock. For example, in the ten years since 2001, agricultural emissions from crop and
livestock production – mainly in developing countries – grew from 4.7 billion tons of
carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) to over 5.3 billion tons – a 14 per cent increase
(IPCC, 2014). However, agriculture is central to global food and nutrition security, in
particular for millions of smallholders for whom it is the main source of livelihood.
Smallholders are, therefore, both dependent on agriculture and contributors to related
emissions – but they also hold the key to reducing these emissions if supported
through innovative and holistic programming
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