It has been estimated that agriculture contributes around 20-25% of global GHG emissions. In developed markets like the US and Australia, carbon markets are being deployed to incentivize farmers to employ regenerative practices that rebuild soil organic matter, thereby storing more carbon from the atmosphere in their soils. Companies wanting to offset emissions can pay farmers to sequester carbon on their land. Some of the challenges facing farmers in developed markets include the high cost of converting to regenerative practices and the difficulties in measuring and reporting the changing carbon content of their soils.

 

The promise of ‘carbon farming’ is potentially even more compelling for smallholder farmers in regions like Southeast Asia, which faces significant climate change risks. Smallholder farmers globally are on the frontlines of climate change and are less likely to have the resources to manage and adapt to it. Smallholder farmers also stand to benefit from the additional income, benefits of diversifying their income, and increasing their crops’ productivity through better soil management etc 

 

The challenge ahead is: how can we provide access to carbon markets for the benefit of smallholder farmers? What lessons can be learnt from developed markets and other regions? What tools for monitoring, platforms, or practices have to be developed or scaled to create a conducive enabling environment for smallholder adoption? Through this session, we aim to spark a discussion on the possibilities of including smallholder farmers in climate action through carbon markets in Southeast Asia.

 

Rabobank will provide an overview of the dimensions of the opportunity and market, and showcase their relevant projects. The startups will highlight compelling technologies that can be used and an investor could share their perspective on overall developments in financing of carbon farming and where they see funding is likely to flow.