By Ignacia Holmes
The climate crisis is no longer tomorrow’s threat, it is today’s reality. Farmers across the globe are already on the frontlines: battling floods, droughts, heatwaves, and changing seasons. Agriculture is both affected and a significant contributor to it. And yet, despite this critical link, agriculture and food systems receive less than 5% of total global climate finance.
The vicious cycle: climate & agriculture
Agriculture contributes nearly one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through livestock, fertilisers, and land-use changes. At the same time, climate change threatens the stability of food systems, through more frequent extreme weather events, changing growing seasons, and reduced water availability. This creates a vicious cycle that demands bold action, smart investment, and inclusive solutions.
What is climate-resilient agriculture (CRA)?
If you’ve read the article by my colleague Patricia Katto, entitled, ‘Food for thought: How climate-resilient agriculture can secure our food future’, you may already be familiar with the concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). However, just to recap, it is a toolbox of practices designed to increase productivity, strengthen resilience, and reduce emissions.
Techniques include:
– Agroforestry;
– Efficient water management;
– Cover cropping and soil regeneration;
– Efficient fertiliser use;
– Early warning and disaster preparedness systems
While CSA offers powerful tools, climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) goes a step further. It focuses not only on practices, but on transforming agricultural systems to be more inclusive, equitable, and adaptive.
CRA emphasises:
– Local realities: Tailoring solutions to specific cultural, environmental, and economic contexts;
– Social equity: Addressing unequal access to land, credit, and knowledge;
– Transformative change: Tackling the root causes of vulnerability, including insecure land tenure and gender inequality
The missing piece: where’s the finance?
Despite agriculture’s potential to lead climate action, it remains dramatically underfunded. According to the World Bank (2024), the agrifood system receives only 4.3% of total global climate finance, and agriculture alone receives just 2.4%, combining both mitigation and adaptation.
This mismatch threatens our ability to build resilient food systems. As my colleague Patricia, also highlighted, closing the gap will require:
– Increased public and private investment in climate-resilient practices;
– Blended finance mechanisms and green bonds;
– Better access to credit, insurance, and savings for farmers;
– Policies that reward risk reduction and ecosystem stewardship
E Co’s role
At E Co., we help close this finance gap by designing high-impact climate projects that are:
– Grounded in local needs and realities;
– Aligned with funder priorities;
– Built for long-term resilience and community empowerment
We support clients to access resources from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Adaptation Fund, ensuring their ideas both fundable and transformative.
Agriculture can be a hero of our climate story
We have the knowledge. We have the tools. What we need now is innovative ideas to increase scale, speed, and inclusive partnerships. With the right support, agriculture can provide a key solution to the climate crisis.
