Smallholder farmers provide the key to tackling the climate crisis

A statement by Ban Ki-Moon calling for a radical increase in financial assistance and policy support for smallholder farmers to address the climate crisis, ensure food security, and meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

• Smallholder farmers, defined as those with less than two hectares of land, number over 500 million globally and produce 80 per cent of food. In Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the agriculture sector accounts for an average of 40 per cent of jobs and 15 per cent of GDP.
• There is a significant gap in climate finance for smallholder farmers. While their global financial need is estimated at $240bn per year, they received only $10bn in 2018, representing 1.7 per cent of total global climate finance according to a 2020 report by the Climate Policy Initiative and the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development.
• Food systems contribute more than one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, nature-based adaptation solutions could provide one-third of the mitigation required by 2030 to maintain global warming below 2°C.
• Data collection is a major barrier to effective intervention, with only 10 per cent of countries possessing the capacity to publish or collect sufficiently disaggregated data on food systems.

APA

Ki-Moon, B. (2021). Smallholder farmers provide the key to tackling the climate crisis. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/news/smallholder-farmers-provide-the-key-to-tackling-the-climate-crisis/

Chicago

Ki-Moon, Ban. Smallholder farmers provide the key to tackling the climate crisis. Climate Policy Initiative, 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/news/smallholder-farmers-provide-the-key-to-tackling-the-climate-crisis/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Ki-Moon |first1=Ban |title=Smallholder farmers provide the key to tackling the climate crisis |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=15 October 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/news/smallholder-farmers-provide-the-key-to-tackling-the-climate-crisis/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{kimoon2021smallholder, author = {Ki-Moon, Ban}, title = {{Smallholder farmers provide the key to tackling the climate crisis}}, publisher = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/news/smallholder-farmers-provide-the-key-to-tackling-the-climate-crisis/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }