New Research: Two Trillion a Year Turns Global Smallholders into Climate Change’s Unsung Heroes

Torrential rain, flooding, typhoons, droughts… Under the threat of climate change, farmers are invariably the first to bear the brunt of the damage. Yet what is often overlooked is that, in seeking to avert these losses, they are also the most proactive in taking adaptive measures.

Last year, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Farmers’ Seed Network, and Foodthink jointly launched a survey. Drawing on data from over 200 surveyed farming households and farms, we found that each household spends an average of 20–40% of its annual income each year testing and putting into practice a range of agricultural measures to adapt to climate change. For those in remote regions, or in areas highly vulnerable to climate impacts, these costs can account for 60–80% of their yearly income. This makes it clear that, rather than relying on external investment, it is the farmers themselves who are the driving force behind climate adaptation.

This year, the Forest and Farm Facility and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) expanded their research scope to cover smallholder farmers worldwide. According to their recently published report, *The Unsung Giant of Climate and Nature Investment*, smallholders globally invest $36.8bn (approximately 2.64 trillion yuan) each year out of their own pockets to adapt to climate change. Based on surveys of more than 1,800 farmers across 13 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the study found that each farming household invests an average of $838 (5,866 yuan) annually. Today, there are 439 million smallholders worldwide managing plots of under 10 hectares (150 mu).

Compared to the capital farmers invest themselves, international funding falls drastically short. At last year’s COP27 climate negotiations, governments pledged a mere $230m to the Adaptation Fund to help vulnerable communities build resilience against climate disasters. A separate survey by a farmers’ network representing over 35 million smallholders across Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region underscores the gap: despite smallholders producing a third of the world’s food, only around 0.3 per cent ($2bn) of international climate finance in 2021 was directed towards helping them adapt. The United Nations’ recent Adaptation Gap Report warns that this level of expenditure needs to rise ten- to eighteenfold to adequately support the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Researchers behind the report note that every single respondent observed climate change affecting their farming to some degree. Reported impacts included flooding, drought, increased pest and disease pressure, and shifting seasonal and rainfall patterns. To adapt, surveyed farmers allocated an average of 20 to 40 per cent of their annual income towards trialling and implementing agroecological practices. Of the 176 Chinese smallholders who took part in the survey, the majority mirrored this global average. Yet a small minority found themselves in far more precarious circumstances, dedicating over 80 per cent of their yearly earnings to climate adaptation.

Furthermore, the 13 countries surveyed in the report differ significantly in their national contexts, resulting in marked variations in the amount smallholder farmers allocate to climate adaptation. Annual average expenditure per household ranges from as little as $159 (1,113 yuan) in Tanzania to as much as $2,470 (17,290 yuan) in China.

Most adaptation strategies employed by farmers benefit the natural environment, helping to safeguard biodiversity and, in turn, bolster climate resilience. The most common measures include shifting planting times or adjusting sowing and harvest schedules, using ecosystem-based approaches to manage pests, erosion and moisture loss to improve soil quality, conserving natural habitats, and increasing the diversity of crops, trees and livestock on their land, alongside attending training courses on climate adaptation.

The report suggests that the calculated figure of $368 billion may still significantly underestimate these farmers’ contributions, as it fails to account for the time spent implementing these measures—labour that typically goes uncompensated. Survey findings indicate that each smallholder farmer dedicates an average of 107 days a year to adaptation measures, with 41% of respondents devoting more than 40% of their overall farming time to these efforts.

Hou Xiaoting, a senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development, said: “In the fight to adapt to the climate and nature crises, smallholder farmers across the globe are unsung heroes. Climate change has already had a profound impact on their ways of life. They are investing substantial amounts of time and money to adapt, doing so in ways that foster the co-prosperity of people and nature, and their contributions far outstrip those of wealthy governments.”

More than a third of respondents reported receiving external support to adapt to climate change, primarily from non-governmental organisations and farmers’ cooperatives or associations. Yet many farming households feel they still require assistance, including financial backing and various technical training programmes.

Damian Sulumo, a project officer with MVIWAARUSHA, a Tanzanian farmers’ association that took part in the survey, stated: “Public and private investors have pledged billions of dollars to projects designed to help society adapt to climate change and address nature loss. However, we know that for farmers whose livelihoods and lives are threatened by global warming, the funding they actually receive falls far short.”

He added: “The international community must recognise the evidence showing that directing funds straight to producer organisations, such as cooperatives, associations, and local bodies, can effectively support and empower small-scale producers to take action. By working collectively, we can achieve the scale needed to influence policy and markets. This would not only benefit our own prospects as farmers, but also advance the global effort to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.”

The COP28 UN Climate Change Conference is set to open in Dubai on 30 November this year. The host nation, the United Arab Emirates, has indicated that agriculture and food production will be central to the discussions. Farmers not only grow our food but also make some of the most significant contributions to combating climate change. This time, will their voices finally be heard by the international community?