A regional outlook on conflicts, mitigation, and adaptation

The agricultural practices of smallholding farmers are often more environmentally sustainable than those of their large-scale counterparts. There is even evidence that smallholders can help mitigate climate change – for example, through carbon sequestration – if properly supported and compensated. Yet smallholders worldwide continue to suffer most from the effects of climate change as well as the global policy responses designed to mitigate it. While considerable knowledge exists on smallholders’ potential to better cope with and adapt to climate change, much of it has gone unapplied due to remaining practical and political hurdles as well as a failure to mainstream the relevant findings. In this project, NCCR North-South researchers pool the results of numerous case studies involving smallholders – in South America, Horn of Africa, West Africa, South and Central Asia, and elsewhere – to identify ways of maximising smallholders’ benefits, minimising their risks, and supporting and compensating their participation in global efforts to mitigate climate change.
 

 
Research Project Co-leaders

 

Henri Rueff
Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
University of Bern, Switzerland

Inam Ur-Rahim
University of Central Asia
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan