Low-Emission and Climate Resilient Agriculture in Colombia

The document outlines a request for USD 642,600 from the Green Climate Fund's Project Preparation Facility to prepare a larger investment project (estimated at USD 83 million) focused on climate-smart agriculture in Colombia. The proposed project aims to reduce economic losses from extreme weather events and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by scaling up technologies such as agro-climatic forecasting, site-specific agriculture, and low-carbon farming practices. It targets seven priority crops: rice, maize, banana, sugarcane, coffee, potato, and forage. The preparation phase, led by CAF and executed by CIAT, involves feasibility studies, impact assessments, and the development of a Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) mechanism for carbon footprints.

• The proposed project targets seven prioritized crops based on their vulnerability to climate change and the number of families involved: rice, maize, banana, sugarcane, coffee, potato, and forage.
• Agriculture and livestock raising are significant contributors to climate change in Colombia, accounting for more than 50% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions.
• Climate variability, specifically El Niño and La Niña events, has caused substantial economic damage to Colombia's agricultural sector, including losses of approximately USD 480 million from El Niño in 1997-1998 and USD 1,000 million from La Niña in 2010-2011.
• The project aims to reduce economic losses for farmers by at least 15% in the selected crops through the implementation of LECRA practices.
• The total indicative cost for the full project is estimated at USD 83,008,025, with USD 47,000,000 requested from the Green Climate Fund in the form of grants and senior loans.
• The Project Preparation Facility (PPF) request totals USD 710,000, with USD 642,600 requested from the GCF and the remainder provided as counterpart funding by CIAT (USD 100,000) and CAF (USD 50,000).
• CIAT has demonstrated the effectiveness of agro-climatic forecasting in rice production, helping 170 farmers avoid over USD 3 million in losses in 2014 by adjusting planting dates.
• The project includes a component to enhance CIAT's germplasm bank to preserve climate-resilient seed varieties for beans, cassava, and tropical forages.
• The project's mitigation strategy focuses on increasing productivity per hectare to prevent the expansion of the agricultural frontier, which is a primary driver of emissions in the AFOLU sector.
• The project will be implemented in coordination with several national producer associations, including FEDEARROZ (rice), FEDECAFE (coffee), FEDEPAPA (potato), and FEDEGAN (cattle).

APA

Green Climate Fund (2019). Low-Emission and Climate Resilient Agriculture in Colombia. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ppf-application-low-emission-and-climate-resilient-agriculture-colombia.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Low-Emission and Climate Resilient Agriculture in Colombia. 2019. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ppf-application-low-emission-and-climate-resilient-agriculture-colombia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Low-Emission and Climate Resilient Agriculture in Colombia |date=16 April 2019 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ppf-application-low-emission-and-climate-resilient-agriculture-colombia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2019lowemission, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Low-Emission and Climate Resilient Agriculture in Colombia}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/ppf-application-low-emission-and-climate-resilient-agriculture-colombia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }