Climate-smart agriculture
Targets
We support projects that aim to generate impact by increasing:
The projects we approved in the period 2019-2021 aim to improve the resilience of 770 000 farming households, with 64 000 already confirmed by the end of 2021 and more to come as implementation of the projects continues. |
Why it matters
Climate change is already affecting the agriculture and food security. Higher temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, water shortages and rising sea levels – all could seriously compromise the ability of agriculture to feed the world’s most vulnerable people, impeding progress toward the eradication of hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Moreover, agriculture itself is a major contributor to climate change.
Declines in food productivity would directly hurt millions of low-income smallholder farmers, especially subsistence farmers in developing countries, by reducing supply and increasing prices. Smallholders bear more of the risks of climate change than other agricultural producers because they have fewer resources to mitigate the stresses it creates. They also lack the resources required to increase carbon sequestration on their land.
For all these reasons, the Swiss Re Foundation is committed to promoting climate-smart agriculture. By the end of 2024, we aim to improve resilience of 700 000 farming households with our projects.
Definition
Climate-smart agriculture focuses on measures to:
- Sustainably increase productivity
- Enhance resilience (adaptation)
- Reduce/remove greenhouse gases where possible (mitigation)
- Advance achievement of food security and development goals
Our target group
We focus on the 270 million smallholder farmers in low-income countries in Asia and Africa as they are highly exposed to climate and weather risks and supply 80% of food in markets where the population is rising fastest.
Areas of support
We focus on the following three areas of engagement:
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