FAO, EU launch €5.3m project to promote climate-smart farming in three countries

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the European Commission of the European Union (EU) have announced a new €5.3 million project aimed at helping Malawi, Vietnam and Zambia transition to a “climate-smart” approach to agriculture.

The EU is providing €3.3 million to support the effort while the FAO’s contribution is €2 million.

The climate-smart agriculture, launched January 16, 2012, is an approach that seeks to position the agricultural sector as a solution to major challenges facing the sector.

“This project will look closely at three countries and identify challenges and opportunities for climate-smart agriculture and produce strategic plans tailored to each country’s own reality,” said Hafez Ghanem – FAO Assistant Director-General for the Economic and Social Development Department in a statement.

The statement noted that the project involves making changes in farming systems that achieve multiple goals: improving their contribution to the fight against hunger and poverty; rendering them more resilient to climate change; reducing emissions; and increasing agriculture’s potential to capture and sequester atmospheric carbon.

The FAO will take the overall lead on the project.

By Ekow Quandzie