Latest Research: At Two Trillion a Year, Smallholder Farmers Worldwide Are the True Unsung Heroes in Addressing Climate Change
Torrential rain, flooding, typhoons, drought… Under the threat of climate change, farmers are always the first to bear the brunt. Yet what is easily overlooked is that, in their efforts to avert these losses, they are also the most proactive in taking adaptation measures.
Last year, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Farmer’s Seed Network and Foodthink jointly launched a research project. Based on information provided by over 200 surveyed farming households and farms, we found that, on average, each household spends 20–40 per cent of its annual income experimenting with and implementing a variety of agricultural practices to adapt to climate change. For farmers in remote areas, or those with higher vulnerability to climate change, this cost can account for 60–80 per cent of annual income. This means that, compared with external funding, farmers themselves are the real driving force behind climate adaptation.
This year, the Forest and Farm Facility and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) expanded the scope of this research to encompass smallholder farmers worldwide. Their recently published report, The Unsung Giant of Climate and Nature Investment, shows that smallholder farmers worldwide spend USD 368 billion (approximately RMB 2.64 trillion) from their own pockets each year on climate change adaptation. The survey, which covered over 1,800 farmers across 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, found that each farming household invests an average of USD 838 (RMB 5,866) per year, while there are currently 439 million smallholder farmers globally with holdings of less than 10 hectares (150 mu).
Compared with farmers’ own investment, international funding is little more than a pittance — during last year’s COP27 climate negotiations, governments pledged a mere USD 230 million in Adaptation Fund resources to help build vulnerable communities’ resilience to climate disasters. A separate survey by a farmer network representing over 35 million smallholders across Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region found that, although smallholder farmers produce one-third of the world’s food, only around 0.3 per cent (USD 2 billion) of international climate finance in 2021 was used to help them adapt to climate change. The UN’s recently published Adaptation Gap Report states that this spending needs to increase ten- to eighteen-fold to help the most vulnerable communities adapt to climate change.
Researchers behind The Unsung Giant of Climate and Nature Investment revealed that every respondent in the survey had noticed climate change affecting their agriculture to some degree, including floods, droughts, increased pests and diseases, and changes in seasons and rainfall patterns. On average, surveyed farmers spend 20–40 per cent of their annual income trialling and implementing agroecological practices to adapt to these changes. 176 Chinese smallholder farmers took part in the survey; on average, their investment was in line with the global figure, at around 20–40 per cent of annual income on climate adaptation, though a very small number of respondents found themselves in an even more vulnerable position, with climate adaptation expenditure exceeding 80 per cent of their annual income.
Moreover, the 13 countries surveyed differ enormously in national circumstances, so smallholder farmers’ climate adaptation expenditure varies considerably. The lowest average annual expenditure per household is in Tanzania at USD 159 (RMB 1,113), while the highest is in China at USD 2,470 (RMB 17,290).
Most of the adaptation methods adopted by farmers are beneficial to nature, helping to protect biodiversity and thereby enhancing climate resilience. The most common measures include changing cultivation timing or planting and harvesting schedules; using ecosystem-based approaches to control pests, erosion and moisture loss while improving soil quality; protecting natural areas and increasing the diversity of crops, trees and animals on farmland; and attending training courses on climate change adaptation.
The report notes that the calculated figure of USD 368 billion may still significantly underestimate these farmers’ investment, as it does not account for the time they spend implementing these measures — invisible labour hours that typically go unremunerated. The survey found that each smallholder farmer spends an average of 107 days per year on adaptation measures, with 41 per cent of respondents devoting more than 40 per cent of their farming activity to these efforts.
Hou Xiaoting, Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), said: ‘In this battle to adapt to the climate and nature crisis, smallholder farmers around the world are the unsung heroes. Climate change has already profoundly affected their way of life. They are investing enormous amounts of time and money to adapt, and doing so in ways that enable both people and nature to thrive together — contributions that far exceed those of wealthy governments.’
More than one-third of respondents reported receiving external support for climate change adaptation, mainly from non-governmental organisations and farmer cooperatives or associations. However, many farming households feel they still need assistance, including financial support and a wide range of technical training.
Damian Sulumo, Programme Officer at MVIWAARUSHA, a Tanzanian farmers’ association that took part in the survey, said: ‘Public and private investors have pledged billions of dollars to projects aimed at helping societies adapt to climate change and address nature loss, but we know that for farmers whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by global warming, the money they receive is far too little.’
He also stressed: ‘The international community needs to recognise the evidence that channelling funds directly to producer organisations such as cooperatives, associations and local organisations can support and encourage small-scale producers to take action. Through collective effort, we can achieve the scale needed to influence policies and markets — not only for the better prospects of us as farmers, but for the global response to climate change and biodiversity loss.’
On 30 November this year, the COP28 climate conference is set to convene in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates, host of this year’s summit, has also stated that agriculture and food production will be at the heart of the discussions. Farmers not only produce our food but also make the most outstanding contribution to the fight against climate change. This time, will their voices finally be heard by the international community?
