Experts seek priority for small farmers in climate finance, urge caution on AI in agriculture

Experts have called for increased financing for the agriculture sector to tackle the risks of climate change. They stressed, in particular, greater investment to support small farmers in developing countries. In their view, forecasting climate change alone is not enough; arrangements must also be made so that farmers can use that information to take timely decisions to protect their crops and farms.

The United Nations climate conference COP31 begins on November 9 in Antalya, Turkey. Ahead of the conference, a recent webinar discussed climate finance for agriculture, the adaptation capacity of small farmers and the use of technology. Participants included Moroccan scientist Ismahane Elouafi, executive managing director of the international agricultural research network CGIAR, and Todd Rosenstock, the organisation's director of climate action.

According to figures presented at the webinar, the agriculture and food sector accounts for about 33 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet only 2.5 percent of total climate finance from public sources goes to agriculture and land management. Ismahane Elouafi said that if the agriculture and food sector is responsible for 33 percent of global emissions, financing must also increase to cut emissions from the sector and to confront the impacts of climate change.

In the experts' view, forecasts of drought, flood or cyclones alone cannot reduce farmers' losses. There must also be arrangements for farmers to use forecast information to take the necessary decisions in time.

CGIAR's director of climate action, Todd Rosenstock, said farmers do not live by eating forecasts. In his view, a drought or flood forecast is useful only when it helps a farmer take practical steps to reduce crop losses.

The webinar cited El Nino as an example. This weather phenomenon, in which water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean rise above normal, can change rainfall and temperature patterns in different regions of the world. In such a situation, farmers can change the timing of seed sowing, choose crops suited to the weather, and change water management and livestock care. But the experts said that alongside the necessary information, money and institutional support are also essential for taking such decisions.

According to Rosenstock, scientists can provide early information about climate risks. Governments can use that information to formulate suitable policies for farmers and make preparatory investments. Development banks can also take climate risks into account when deciding allocations. But, he said, farmers' trust must be earned, and information must reach them in a form they can easily understand.

The webinar held that investment is needed in both kinds of initiatives in climate finance: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. But in Ismahane Elouafi's view, support for small farmers in developing countries must be prioritised. She said that to change farming systems, farmers' capacity to adapt to climate change must first be increased, so that they can move from farming methods that produce more greenhouse gas emissions to environmentally friendly methods.

The webinar also noted that in many low- and middle-income countries, the productive capacity of farmland is not being fully used. Elouafi advised focusing on raising the productivity of land already in use rather than bringing new land under cultivation. She said this is possible through improved seeds, irrigation systems and agricultural technology. In the same way, livestock productivity can be raised through better animal feed and vaccines, which can also increase milk production.

The experts also cautioned that although the use of technology in agriculture is growing, the same solution does not work in every region. Technology must be chosen considering local weather, soil type, water availability and farmers' means. Rosenstock gave the example of a method to reduce methane emissions from rice fields in Southeast Asia, in which water is not kept standing in the field at all times; after a set period the field is dried and watered again. But many farmers cannot control irrigation water themselves, so the method cannot be applied to every field.

The webinar also discussed the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, in agriculture. In the experts' view, the effectiveness of AI depends largely on the data used to train the models. But the webinar noted that much of the data used so far to build AI models does not adequately reflect the real experience and needs of small farmers in Africa, Asia and the Americas.