New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture Program

New Zealand Climate Smart Agriculture Program

FONTAGRO is seeking applications to improve the sustainability and resilience of production systems in the face of the impact of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean without increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

The ALC program focuses on the interconnected themes of climate change mitigation (reducing, measuring, monitoring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions) and adaptation (building resilience to the effects of climate change and increasing food safety). This includes investing in climate change mitigation initiatives that can demonstrate co-benefits for adaptation, such as increased crop and livestock yields, improved soil quality and fertility, and lower production costs. The LAC program will also invest in initiatives that support the well-established networks of the Global Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Alliance (GRA).

Objectives

• The objective of the call is to identify those regional project proposals that demonstrate concrete evidence of how to promote interconnected, efficient, sustainable and resilient productive systems, through knowledge, science, technology and innovation that result in a reduction in emissions. of GHG.
• This call points to strategy I of the PMP 2020-2025, which aims to increase the number of technologies and innovations with high potential for adoption and impact on the resilience and sustainability of agricultural systems and agroecosystems. Initiatives must be based on prior scientific knowledge, and must promote new innovations or validate existing, promising or successful ones, to meet the objective of the call. Considering what was stated in the previous paragraphs and the interests of the member countries of FONTAGRO, the GRA and potential co-financing agencies, some examples of consistent initiatives are presented. With this call, which present complementarity or combination of technological, organizational and institutional innovations:
  • Emissions reduction: Climate change mitigation: innovations, technologies and/or management and agricultural practices that provide realistic options for reducing emissions in production systems that result in improvements in productivity or cost savings, or both.
  • Carbon sequestration: Initiatives that improve their understanding of soil processes associated with carbon sequestration: investigate, test and demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of practices that result in increasing or maintaining soil organic carbon stock (SOC) or reducing the rate of SOC loss in agricultural holdings.
  • Quantification of GHG emissions/removals: research projects that generate evidence, data and methodologies that help national governments improve the capabilities of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of GHG emissions and removals and the mitigation commitments assumed in the NDCs before the Paris Agreement.
  • Mitigation and adaptation synergies: projects investigating the role of climate change mitigation for agriculture, particularly in the Caribbean, where on-farm mitigation activities are more likely to generate benefits for producers as they adapt to change and help national governments assess the role of mitigation in policy development, planning and adaptation actions.
  • Sustainable intensification of productive systems, agroecosystems and management of local natural resources: innovations that increase productivity in a sustainable manner, promoting the improvement of income and quality of life of producers, integrated management of network farms, strategic diversification of production, new models of mixed and complementary production, the implementation of agroecological practices, the intelligent management of fertility, the use of water and soil, the sustainable management of the ecosystem and biodiversity, and that demonstrate greater and better resilience of productive systems.
  • Sustainable territories: innovations that demonstrate better sustainability and resilience of agroecosystems, the restoration of forests, landscapes and the maintenance of natural capital, that increase the efficiency of the use and conservation of water resources, improve the conservation of biodiversity while allow exploring opportunities for the development of new markets, increase value addition, generate inclusive agribusiness and business management models, traceability, blockchain, bioeconomy and circular economy strategies, disaster risk management and comprehensively promote development and ordering territorial.
  • Extension and traditional knowledge: In addition to research funding, resources may include shared expertise on practices including extension, the use of traditional knowledge and methods of learning and leadership, including leadership capacity development and equal opportunities for the women.

About the GRA

• The activities of the GRA are increasingly relevant both in the context global and national as greater importance is placed on reducing agricultural emissions, increasing the resilience and productivity of agricultural systems. The GRA is a collaboration agreement for that member countries contribute jointly to carry out work that addresses common priorities, generate results that apply to all taxpayers, create synergies in research and development efforts and maximize the efficiency of research investments of all taxpayers. The GRA provides its member countries with a forum for the exchange of ideas between scientists, technicians and decision makers and a means to synthesize information and make interpretations on agricultural emissions presented in the literature.
• Improving the quantification of agricultural GHG emissions in different management scenarios is key to understanding best practices. Many countries already have research underway to better understand, measure and manage agricultural GHG emissions. By linking these efforts through the GRA, they can move faster toward the solutions needed to improve agricultural productivity and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Funding Information

• This call will be carried out with resources own of FONTAGRO and the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) of the Government of New Zealand. The total amount of the call amounts to USD 2,000,000
• FONTAGRO will co-finance up to four proposals for a maximum amount of USD 200,000 each and MPI/GRA will co-finance up to four proposals for a maximum amount of USD300,000 each.

Criteria

• Regional Innovation Platform (PRI). Existing or new Regional Innovation Platforms (PRI) will be co-financed, which are made up of public agents or public-private alliances that meet to design and implement a regional technical cooperation project under compliance with the terms of reference of this call.
• Technical role of the participants. PRI participants must be multi- and interdisciplinary and demonstrate a multidimensional approach (productive-agronomic, social, economic, technological, environmental, value-added, among others) consistent with the technology or innovation that is proposed to be validated. From the point of view of the complementarity of technical functions, the participants can be public or private institutions, at the national, regional and/or international level.
• General Aspects of Regionality. This call prioritizes the constitution of platforms made up of partners from different regions and with diverse capabilities and strengths in technical disciplines to complement each other. The following regions are recognized: (1) Southern Cone, (2) Andean Region, (3) Central America, (4) Caribbean Region, and (5) extra-LAC region. It is noted that FONTAGRO may only support platforms established by member countries, while other donors may choose to support initiatives composed of countries that are members or not of FONTAGRO, but always members of the IDB.
• Particular Aspects of Regionality. FONTAGRO will co-finance proposals executed by public institutions or public-private alliances from at least two FONTAGRO member countries. This means that the activities to be carried out in the proposal must be implemented at least in those two member countries. Once this requirement is met, other institutions from countries that are not members of FONTAGRO, but always members of the IDB, and regional and international organizations; They may participate as associated organizations with a facilitating or complementary role and with their own resources.
• Other Aspects of Global Regionality. Institutions from non-IDB member countries may participate by contributing their own funds to the PRI, either by entering into an agreement with the IDB, legal representative of FONTAGRO, or directly with the platform institutions and in agreement with the IDB/FONTAGRO in accordance the policies and regulations of these institutions.