The New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture Initiative

The New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture Initiative (2020-2026) is a NZ$25 million international development Initiative addressing barriers to adopting climate smart agricultural practices.

It provides practical support to developing countries in Africa, ASEAN, Latin America and the Caribbean with a strong focus on capability, capacity, and the infrastructure needed to effectively account for agricultural emissions. 

This Initiative was developed and is being delivered by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC). It is part of New Zealand’s actions in support of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA).

These activities are paving the way for several key Impacts.

    1. Establish improved national agriculture GHG inventory systems (IPCC Tier 2 level)

    2. Boost participation of countries in global science, innovation and technology partnerships.

    3. Discover the best low-emission high-productivity systems, technologies and practices.

    4. Increase investment in CSA policies and programmes by partner countries and major international investors.

    1. Establish robust monitoring, reporting and verification of national agricultural GHG emissions. 

    2. Remove barriers to the adoption of low-emission agriculture systems, technologies and practices.

    3. Implement new CSA policies and plans that build on improved inventory data and pilot studies.

    1. Improve agricultural NDC and implementation of mitigation activities.

    2. Reduce GHG emission intensity of agriculture.

    3. Increase economic return and food security from climate-smart agriculture. 

    4. Improve efficiency and productivity of agriculture.  

FAQs

  • The Initiative supports countries to meet their international climate commitments, contribute to international leadership for climate action and effectively focus on mitigation efforts. By building understanding of their agricultural emissions, countries can be supported to explore and quantify efforts to reduce them. Our initiative includes action supporting farmers to implement climate-smart agricultural practices that reduce emissions while enhancing productivity, resilience, and food security.

    In 2023, an independent midterm evaluation of the Initiative described it as ambitious and strategically aligned with other major programmes. It praised the effective and well received training; local data availability provided by regional measurement hubs; and the regional collaboration. Partner countries in Africa and ASEAN benefit from the programme through increased national ambition and improved targeting of livestock emissions mitigation.

  • “Climate smart agriculture” refers to the practices and approaches that enhance and protect food security while mitigating the climate impacts of production. It aims to create a more resilient, low-emissions future while improving the productive efficiency of agriculture.

    Most developing countries experience barriers to the adoption of climate smart agricultural practice caused through issues around access to robust local data, identification of locally appropriate mitigation measures, and the ability to record them in national estimates.

  • The GRA is a consortium of 68 member countries and 30 multilateral and regional partners. It was set up by New Zealand and others in 2009 to bring together the world’s best in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions research. The GRA aims to expand knowledge and accelerate the development of mitigation technologies and practices.

    New Zealand’s efforts in building global collaboration through the GRA by sponsoring and hosting the GRA secretariat and supporting developing countries’ participation is well-recognised. The New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture Initiative gains efficiency by being delivered as part of New Zealand’s contribution to the GRA, working with existing programmes and regional partners and building on established relationships.

  • Greenhouse gas inventories are an estimate of a country’s human-made emissions. Inventories help governments to track the impacts of climate policies and programmes to reduce emissions. They are critical to meeting international reporting obligations and accessing climate finance. Without a detailed and accurate inventory, the only way to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas is by reducing agriculture (e.g. reducing the number of animals).

    This threatens food security for many developing countries. Tier 2 inventories aid local climate action. They rely on local emissions measurement expertise, research capabilities, strong relationships between institutions, and on accurate data.