Climate Technologies for Agrifood Systems Transformation: Placing Food Security, Climate Change and Poverty Reduction at the Forefront

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FAO & UNFCCC. 2024. Climate technologies for agrifood systems transformation – Placing food security, climate change and poverty reduction at the forefront. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/cd2877en

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Contents

Foreword

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Glossary

Executive summary

1. Introduction

1.1 Overview of the report

2. Climate technologies for sustainable agrifood systems transformation

2.1 Agrifood systems

2.2 Agrifood value chains and technology needs assessments

2.3 Climate technologies and agrifood systems value chains

3. Factors driving capacity needs for climate technologies in agrifood systems

3.1 Climate risks and vulnerabilities

3.2 Existing capacity in place

3.3 Institutional needs for climate technology adoption

3.4 Financial institutions as barriers and enablers to climate technologies

3.5 Legal and regulatory institutions

3.6 Information and awareness

4. Financial flows and needs for climate technology, in general and in relation to agrifood systems

4.1 Climate finance flows to climate technologies in agrifood systems

4.2 Demand for technology investments in agrifood systems expressed in NDCs

5. Country-specific examples of climate technologies and agrifood systems

5.1 Adapting to water scarcity in Lebanon and the potential of treated wastewater for agrifood systems

5.2 Protected cultivation systems for climate adaptation

5.3 Climate technologies and the TNA process in the livestock sector in Mongolia

5.4 Agroforestry parklands for climate adaptation in Senegal

5.5 Climate technologies and capacities of small-scale producers through farmer field schools on forestry and agroforestry

5.6 Climate technology in post-harvest fisheries in Papua New Guinea

5.7 Supporting climate action by reducing food loss and waste in micro, small and medium-sized food-processing enterprises in Thailand

5.8 Gender-sensitive technologies for climate action in Africa

6. Policy gaps and opportunities

6.1 Policies to address capacity needs and institutional requirements of climate technologies in agrifood systems

6.2 Coordination of agrifood systems and climate change policies for NDCs

7. Conclusions

References

Tables, Figures and Boxes

Tables

1. Adaptation categories and options relevant to the agrifood sector

2. Mitigation measures

3. Agricultural breakthrough technological areas

4. Public sector agricultural R&D spending (2011)

Figures

1. Food-insecure people by region, 2020 and 2050 projections

2. Agrifood systems

3. Summary of climate change impact on the agriculture sector

4. Food security, food security dimensions and linkages to technology

5. Transformational change in the context of technology needs assessments

6. A typical agrifood value chain

7. Stages of the crop value chain

8. A generic livestock value chain

9. A generic fisheries value chain

10. A generic aquaculture value chain

11. A generic sustainable forestry and agroforestry value chain

12. Map of climate–agriculture–gender inequality hotspot risk index

13. Mobile internet connectivity in LDCs, LMICs and HICs, 2020–2021

14. Access to education

15. Enablers identified in the adaptation sectors: agriculture and water

16. Contributions to climate technology in agrifood systems (2013–2022)

17. Main financed sectors for climate technology in agrifood systems (2013–2022)

18. Geographical distributions of flows to climate technology in agrifood systems (2013–2022) 50

19. Shares of climate objectives of climate-related development finance for technology-related projects (2013–2022)

20. Number of patents for mitigation technologies by country/aggregation

21. Number of patents for adaptation technologies by country/aggregation

22. Financial conditionality of provision of climate technologies for agrifood systems (% of technologies)

23. Financial conditionality of provision of climate technologies for agrifood systems (% of technologies), by country income level

24. Climate technology needs for agrifood systems included in NDCs, by sector/system and purpose (adaptation/mitigation)

25. Climate technology needs for agrifood systems included in NDCs, by value chain stage

26. Climate technology needs for agrifood systems included in NDCs, by type and purpose (adaptation/mitigation)

Boxes

1. Definitions of climate technology, climate adaptation technology and climate mitigation technology

2. Water-Energy-Food Nexus and climate technologies

3. Emerging technologies and innovations for agrifood systems

4. Reducing food loss and waste in agrifood systems transformation.

5. Building the case for prioritizing rural women’s access to, and use of, information and communication technologies (ICT) for adaptation

6. Asset-collateralized loans to finance adaptation for small-scale dairy producers

7. Role of social protection in facilitating uptake of climate technologies

8. Farmer field schools: An effective platform to empower smallholder farmers in responding to climate change

9. Adapting to climate change by improving irrigation practice in Vipava Valley, Slovenia

10. Crop diversification and improved soil management for climate adaptation in Segovia (Spain)

11. Indigenous agroforestry systems in Central and Latin America

12. Bank of practical and technological low-cost climate solutions in the agriculture sector in Latin America and the Caribbean

13. Technologies for agrifood systems identified in NDCs

14. The Climate Resilience Food Systems Alliance

15. Climate technologies for agrifood systems in Panama’s NDC and national policies

16. Climate technologies identified in the Gambia’s Technology Needs Assessment

17. Technology action plans and technology needs assessments supporting transformation in the forestry sectors of Uganda and Somalia

Foreword

Meeting the nutritional and livelihood needs of our planet should be within our grasp. And yet, hunger is a fact of life for over 700 million people worldwide, with more than 648 million poor and over 2 billion people without access to clean water. Without positive action, climate change is likely to make that situation worse. Changing weather patterns, and more extreme weather events such as droughts, storms and floods, are increasing food and water insecurity and hindering efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, agrifood systems are under increasing pressure to meet the demands of a growing population.

But climate technologies can provide significant opportunities to adjust to and mitigate climate change, and strengthen food security. Such technological advances can come in many forms, and include innovations in production techniques, more efficient value chains, and more equitable involvement of farmers, workers and communities in the agrifood systems which they sustain.

Many of these climate technologies already exist, while the potential of others is still emerging. The specialist skills and facilities needed to make the most of climate technologies will require investment in education, capacity-building, technology development and deployment. The specific context and needs of local conditions will determine which technologies can work and yield the most effective results. To accelerate and maximize the transformation, we need to understand the specifics of diverse agrifood systems and consider how to overcome obstacles such as lack of finance, limited capabilities, and legal and regulatory barriers. Many countries have recognized this in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) processes.

This report, the result of a partnership between the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), provides an overview of the interlinkages between agrifood systems and climate technology. It identifies challenges and potential solutions to facilitate the transformation of agrifood systems, especially involving capacity and finance. It also showcases examples of technology in action in the field.

We hope that this report will prove interesting and informative to different stakeholders including policy makers, financial institutions, NGOs, and negotiators. Furthermore, we believe it will support positive outcomes in the next NDC rounds and encourage investment in technology in agrifood systems to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

This report was developed in the context of the collaboration between the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) of the Technology Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Overall leadership and guidance were provided by Kaveh Zahedi and Inkar Kadyrzhanova of the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment FAO, and Ariesta Ningrum and Bhava Dhungana of UNFCCC. Overall technical coordination and guidance were provided by Irini Maltsoglou (FAO) with the support of Leslie Lipper (FAO).

For the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment FAO, input for the report – including background analysis – was prepared by consultants Veljko Vorkapic, Alexandr Strekalov, Julian Mashingaidze, Giulia Galbiati, Krystal Crumpler, Lena Abou Jaoude, Kristen Roe, Joachim Otte, Manas Puri (in his previous role as FAO consultant) and Alessio D’Amato (Associate Professor, Tor Vergata University, Rome).

Contributions to technical sections, country work and field experiences were provided by Ivan Landers (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO), Leone Magliocchetti Lombi (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO), Mayling Flores Rojas (Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO), Dominik Wisser (Animal Production and Health Division, FAO), Aimable Uwizeye (Animal Production and Health Division, FAO), Tarub Bahri (Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO), Fernanda Garcia Sampaio (Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO), Omar Riego Penarubia (Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO), Ma Xuechan (Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO), Ansen Ward (Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, FAO), Amy Duchelle (Forestry