FAO and COP29 Presidency launch the ‘Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers’

Baku – To help farmers navigate their way through dozens of initiatives and programs working to support climate-resilient agrifood systems transformation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Azerbaijan COP29 Presidency, today launched a new platform, the Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers.

The Harmoniya Initiative will 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.

Unparalleled opportunity

Kaveh Zahedi, Director of FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, described the initiative as “one of the most exciting being launched at COP29, representing an unparalleled opportunity to collectively drive climate solutions through agrifood systems.” He said: “FAO looks forward to working with the COP29 Azerbaijan Presidency, future Presidencies, as well as stakeholders and partners, to accelerate the transformation towards sustainable and resilient agrifood systems.”

The President of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, opened the launch event. Other panelists included Majnoun Mammadov, Minister of Agriculture, Republic of Azerbaijan; Prosper Dodiko, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Burundi; Fernando Mattos Costa, Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Uruguay; Yoichi Watanabe, Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan; Claudia Müller, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Germany; Paul Gulleik Larsen, Ambassador and Special Envoy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.

Representatives from the Azerbaijan Rural Women’s Association, the Private Sector Mechanism, the Standing Committee on Finance, UN Women, the World Bank and the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) also participated.

The initiative, launched at the opening of COP29’s Food, Agriculture and Water Day, 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 that 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 programs, share experiences, identify synergies and gaps, and foster collaborative efforts concentrated on the agriculture, food and water nexus.

It will also catalyze 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 will 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.

Evidence-based approach

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. A 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 realize 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.

The impacts of climate change on agriculture are threatening food and water security for people around the globe. Climate action in agriculture has the potential to address multiple challenges across adaptation, mitigation, ensuring food security, combating land degradation and water scarcity, as well as supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. Global biodiversity, climate and land degradation neutrality goals are unattainable without agrifood systems solutions.