Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers

A new platform that aims to help farmers navigate their way through dozens of initiatives and programs working to support climate-resilient agrifood systems transformation was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Azerbaijan COP29 Presidency at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan in November 2024.

The Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers aims to serve as an aggregator, bringing together disparate initiatives, coalitions, networks and partnerships to empower farmers, villages and rural communities. There are currently more than 90 global or regional initiatives, networks and partnerships, creating a clear need for coherence, alignment and sharing of lessons learned to deliver greater impact.

Increasing emphasis on agriculture

The initiative will be hosted by FAO as part of the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) Partnership, a multi-stakeholder platform established at COP27 in 2022 that works to strengthen the quantity and quality of climate finance in agrifood systems for the most vulnerable.

Over successive COPs, there has been an increasing emphasis on agriculture, with COP27 holding the first ever day dedicated to agriculture and COP28 witnessing a historic milestone with a declaration on agriculture and food systems endorsed by 160 countries.

The Harmoniya Initiative will be closely connected to the work of the FAST Partnership, which counts Azerbaijan, Brazil and Egypt as co-chairs, further strengthening COP-to-COP collaboration on agrifood systems. The Initiative will work towards showcasing progress at COP30 under the Presidency of Brazil. Under the initiative, there will be a portal to clarify the landscape of programmes, share experiences, identify synergies and gaps, and foster collaborative efforts concentrated on the agriculture, food and water nexus.

Realising diverse co-benefits from climate actions 

It will also catalyse investments in agrifood system transformation from both private and public sectors, building on strong collaborations with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Agricultural Public Development Banks (PDBs). The initiative is to empower farmers, in particular women and youth and support the development of climate-resilient villages and rural communities for adaptation action in the food, agriculture and water sectors.

The focus will be on evidence-based knowledge and align with scientific best-practices, with a particular emphasis on technologies contributing to resilient and sustainable agriculture. One key aim is to enhance climate policies, creating an enabling environment for implementation, considering the diversity and complexity of agricultural systems.

The Harmoniya Initiative will look for opportunities to realise diverse co-benefits from climate actions in agriculture and food systems. These include increasing farmers’ resilience and reducing the risk of loss and damage, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing GHG sinks when possible, reducing food losses and waste, conserving biodiversity and soil health, and applying innovative approaches while considering national circumstances and knowledge.

The initiative will also contribute with activities to build evidence and success stories for the 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.

(FAO/ile)

Read more on the FAO website