Integrated Climate Approach of

RIO RURAL Programme to Family-based Agriculture

in the State of Rio de Janeiro

Preliminary Version (2016-02-18)

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Summary The Rio Rural Program ...................................................................................................... 3

Rio Rural and the UN Sustainable Development Goals .................................................. 4

Institutional Alignment ...................................................................................................... 6

Family-based Agriculture and Climate Change .............................................................. 6

Integrated Climate approach towards climate change ................................................... 7

Projected Structure............................................................................................................ 8

Ex-Act ex ante carbon balance tool ................................................................................. 9

Adaptation .......................................................................................................................... 9

Mitigation ............................................................................................................................ 9

Adaptation & Mitigation ................................................................................................... 10

Measurement, Report and Verification (MRV) ............................................................... 10

Ongoing Projects .......................................................................................................................... 11

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The Rio Rural Program1

The Rio Rural Programme promotes social and economic inclusion of the rural population, encouraging adoption of sustainable farming systems, integrating income generation and environmental conservation. Present in 72 municipalities in all regions of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the programme strengthens organisation and community mobilisation in 366 watersheds, developing skills and encouraging the adoption of best practices. By 2018, the program will benefit 48,000 farmers, rural women and young people, encouraging them to become key players in developing their watersheds. More than food producer, the farmer is the main ally in the sustainable management of natural resources indispensable to the survival and well-being of the entire population. Rio Rural develops its actions in watersheds, geographic spaces surrounded by water supply (springs, streams, rivers, aquifers etc.), in the vicinity of where they live and work rural families. The communities are the main beneficiaries and participate in the development process, from planning to monitoring and evaluation of results. Implemented by the Sustainable Development Superintendence of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Seapec), Rio Rural is funded by the World Bank and support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The activities involve a broad network of partners, including governmental and non-governmental organisations, businesses, municipalities and hundreds of rural associations. The programme's strategy also involves financial incentives, research and technical assistance. By 2018, US$ 233 million from the World Bank and the Government of Rio de Janeiro will have been invested.

1 http://www.microbacias.rj.gov.br/en/rio-rural#sthash.iAuDWo0K.dpufIntrodução.

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Rio Rural and the UN Sustainable Development Goals The Rio Rural Programme develops its activities directly with rural communities, integrating resources in a comprehensive strategy for sustainable development, in partnership with the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Through local actions focused on improving living conditions, income generation and environmental protection, the programme shares a global agenda, with positive impacts on rural and urban areas. Rio Rural contributes to the following UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): Goal No. 1 (eradication of poverty in all its forms everywhere) through the economic inclusion of the rural population strategy, by investing in infrastructure for production and access to more efficient and sustainable technologies, aiming at income generation and market inclusion. Goal No. 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture), by encouraging sustainable food production practices and through projects that ensure food security of populations living in micro-watersheds, also generating alternatives for productive diversification, agroecological transition and livelihoods of families in small production units. Goal No. 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) by encouraging more quality in production and healthier foods, with emphasis on agroecology and organic farming, providing the reduction of pesticides in agriculture, rural sanitation and therefore the quality of life of rural families. Goal No. 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls), to promote participatory and inclusive rural development, encouraging formation of local entrepreneurships, generating income and decision-making on an equal footing with the other actors within the watersheds. Goal No. 6 (Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all), through water conservation activities in the micro-watersheds, encouraging sustainable water management projects focused on storage, rational and low-volume irrigation and other sustainable agricultural activities, preservation of springs, water recharge areas and riparian forests as well as deployment of 18,000 units of rural sanitation. All these actions are developed in partnership with farmers, who are also involved in participatory water monitoring. Goal No. 8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all), by increasing productivity and adding value to agricultural production in its different value chains, through diversification, modernization and technological innovation, providing training and technical assistance to promote transition to sustainable production systems. Goal No. 9 (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation), by investing in the acquisition of machinery and equipment, promoting strengthening rural associations and cooperatives, also improving marketing conditions of agricultural production through recovery and maintenance of roads. In addition, the project supports training and empowerment of farming families in the watershed, based on the existing social capital in their communities.

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Goal No. 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns), promoting good agricultural practices and management of waste from agriculture, reducing dependence on pesticides and chemical inputs, reducing the risk of contamination by waste and organic matter, that could cause damage to the environment and human health. The project also contributes to strengthen marketing channels, to establish fair trade relations and promote education for more conscious buyers and consumers. Goal No. 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts), while encouraging farmers to adapt to climate change through environmental conservation activities integrated with production systems, including ecological soil management and reforestation practices that allow carbon immobilization and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. In addition to the adaptation of production systems, the project also encourages small farmers to adopt preventive measures for coping with the increasing climate changes, reducing their vulnerability. Goal No. 15 (Protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss), through actions that foster a healthy rural environment, ensuring the sustainable use of goods and services provided by the Atlantic Forest biome, promoting reforestation and the connection between forest fragments, and also recovery of degraded areas. Goal No. 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development), through establishing partnerships with private and public sectors for co-financing projects and ensuring economic sustainability of agricultural activities, also seeking to benefit small farmers with arising opportunities, investments, promotion of sustainable products and marketing. The participatory development methodology in micro-watersheds, based on community organization and ongoing training, enables not only to involve all the local actors, but also to stimulate interactions between the communities and multisectoral organizations, in order to find long-term solutions to problems and to promote local governance. With the support from FAO, the project is also leading exchanging processes with developing countries, supporting replication of well succeeded experiences, as well as promoting transfer of technologies and research.

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Institutional Alignment It is of utter importance to align the Rio Rural climate change approach with other actions supported by the Federal and State levels. In this context, the main guiding documents for the development of integrated climate approach to Rio Rural program are, among others:

• National Plan on Climate Change (PNMC);

• National Policy on Climate Change;

• Sector Plan for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change for the consolidation of a Low-Carbon Economy in Agriculture (ABC Plan);

• Rio de Janeiro’s State Plan on Climate Change-RJ (PEMC);

Family-based Agriculture and Climate Change The agricultural sector is highly dependent on climatic factors such as rainfall activity, temperature and the concentration of CO2. The models provided by the IPCC, although it has little detailed data for the scenarios in Brazil, suggests a trend of temperature increase for the whole of South America, as well as changes in precipitation, which can generate significative impacts on agriculture and livestock sector. According to several studies, the most poor are the most vulnerable to climate change. This group fit family-based agriculture and small farmers. According to the study "Enduring Farms: Climate Change, Smallholders and Traditional Farming Communities”2:

“Apart from the landless and urban poor, small farmers are among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in the developing world.”

In addition, climate models predict substantial impacts on agriculture in Brazil and in the hole world, reaching in a particularly damaging way small farmers.

“Most climate change models predict that damage will be disproportionately borne by small farmers”

2 http://www.fao.org/nr/water/docs/enduring_farms.pdf

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Integrated Climate approach towards climate change In line with the Brazilian National Policy on Climate Change (Política Nacional sobre Mudanças do Clima, PNMC), article 5, section II: "climate change mitigation actions should, in line with sustainable development, whenever possible be measurable for proper quantification and verification"3, the proposal for a systemic approach to climate change must necessarily include initiatives that combine social, environmental and economic aspects simultaneously.

The main objective of the construction of this approach is to ensure the development of adaptation and mitigation of climate change related to sustainable rural development in family farming in the State of Rio de Janeiro, in order to generate social benefits, protection and/or environmental restoration and economic resources for farmers in general and family farmers in particular. In addition, the actions will be ex ante measured and quantified through the use of the Ex-Act tool, developed by FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation).

3 LEI Nº 12.187, DE 29 DE DEZEMBRO DE 2009.

Project

Social

Environmental Economic

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Projected Structure

Adaptation Mitigation

Mitigation

Actions

Adaptation &

Mitigation

Actions

Adaptation

Actions

Data input (Ex-

Act)

Data input (Ex-

Act)

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Ex-Act ex ante carbon balance tool The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (ExAct) is a tool developed by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) to estimate GHG emissions and carbon balance effects from projects, programs and policies in the agricultural sector4. This tool will be used in order to select and demonstrate that the adoption of the actions proposed by the Rio Rural program enable GHG mitigation and adaptation of the production model towards a climate-smart agriculture. Based on the previous use of the Former Act Rural Rio in 20105, a verification and update of data will be made in order to guide future actions of the program, as well as to verify the possibility of carbon credits generation for smallholders or for clusters of smallholders located in the same watershed.

Adaptation In view of the greater vulnerability of family-based farming and its comparative lower contribution to the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the state of Rio de Janeiro, adaptation is one of the main themes to be developed, aiming to pursue synergies between these and mitigation actions. To do so, current adaptation practices and the possibility of optimising practices in this regard will be identified. The creation of initiatives aimed at adaptation having impacts on the social (family), environmental (waste treatment, replacement of nitrogen fertilisers, etc.) and economic aspects (increased productivity, cost reduction, etc.) will be advocated.

Mitigation The global agricultural sector has a high potential for mitigation of greenhouse gases through adoption of a number of techniques for crop management that seek to improve production systems, as well as improving animal production through recovery of manure. Additionally, carbon may be sequestrated by adoption of conservation agriculture practices such as agroforestry, sustainable pasture management and restoration of degraded areas, which, at the same time, generates benefits such as conservation of biodiversity, soil and water and, when associated with natural resource conservation practices, resulting in net avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions. This additional service to the society adds value to the products from sustainable agriculture, which enhances their integration in alternative markets, and brings farmers closer to compensatory mechanisms, which can generate resources needed to maintain a more sustainable family-based farming.

4 www.fao.org/tc/exact/ex-act-home/en/?pg=..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2F..%2Fproc%2Fself%2Fenviron%5C%5C0 5 www.fao.org/docrep/012/k7846e/k7846e.pdf

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The State Department of Agriculture, through the Sustainable Rural Development Program in watersheds of the State of Rio de Janeiro - Rio Rural, has since 2006 developed actions to meet the challenges of the agricultural sector, using the methodology of watershed planning for promotion of sustainable rural development.

Adaptation & Mitigation Whenever possible, initiatives that combine adaptation and mitigation simultaneously, should be prioritised, as they maximise benefits for the environment as well as for the producer. Many institutions, such as the IPCC and FAO6, highlight the necessity to explore and promote synergy between adaptation and mitigation in the agriculture and forestry sector by creating strategies that can simultaneously increase adaptive capacity and mitigate GHG emissions. An example of this, one action currently studied by the Rural Rio is the deployment of bio-digesters associated with dairy cattle production and horticulture in the state of Rio de Janeiro. With the aim to optimise the production of biogas and bio-fertilisers, Rio Rural has adopted a strategy to organise farmers around productive clusters. In the case of dairy cattle, the strategy is to agglutinate farmers making use of the same cooling tank for temporary storage of milk. The clustering will provide an increase in feedstock to the bio-digester and the biogas will be used for power generation for cooling tanks, generating cost savings and greater energy security. For horticulture producers, the organising strategy revolves around the vegetable processing centres, which allows large accumulation of vegetables waste that serve as input to the bio-digester. This approach promotes the treatment of waste and the generation of bio-fertilisers to be used in the fields, as well as green and low-cost energy for the processing plant.

Measurement, Report and Verification (MRV) For evaluation and verification of GHG-emission sequestration/avoidance benefits, it is critical to develop a measurement, reporting and verification methodology (MRV) in accordance with the decisions 1 / CP.16 and 2 / CP.17 of the UNFCCC7. The Rio Rural program has a team for integrated monitoring, composed by researchers from Embrapa Soils and the Federal Fluminense University (UFF). These partner institutions responsible for carbon calculation and accumulation of biomass8. This process is important to verify the possibilities for the beneficiaries of the program to act, individually or in clusters, in different carbon markets (VCS, ETS or CDM). Although the international carbon mechanism is undergoing structural changes in the aftermath of the Agreement of COP 21 in Paris 2015, as described in Article 6, paragraph

6 ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/013/ai782e.pdf 7 https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf 8 http://www.rj.gov.br/web/imprensa/exibeconteudo?article-id=351680

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49, it is important that small farmers are prepared to act in this segment, as it can generate income and encourage the adoption of new mitigation projects that promote sustainable rural development.

Ongoing Projects Below is a list of mitigation and adaptation projects already underway under the Rural River Program and PEMC (State Plan on Climate Change)10: 1. Protection of springs and other areas for permanent protection

The greatest potential for mitigation within the Rural Rio Project relates to the implementation of protection of springs and streams, and the establishment of legal reserves (by more than 60%). Additionally, it is estimated that over 50 ha of degraded areas will be converted into planted native forests. The project also supports the creation of legal reserves through several actions that result in forest regeneration and replanting with native species.

The total area protected by the activities of the RURAL RIO was estimated to 460 ha, including 60 ha of degraded areas recovered by replanting native vegetation. It was assumed that of the remaining 400 ha, 80% would be covered by forest and 20% by degraded pasture, which gradually would be converted to native forests through natural regeneration processes and replanting.

2. Implementation of agroforestry

The program promotes the planting of native forests on 1100 ha of degraded areas using a variety of tree species, usually composed by two-thirds of native species (over 20 different types) and one third of commercial exotic species.

3. Sustainable management of pastures

The program will promote the conversion of moderately degraded pasture to improved pasture, through the adoption of the practice of rotational grazing and use of forage cane as feed. In all, this activity involves 691 ha. Thanks to the project, all of these will be converted thanks to the high degree of acceptance of this practice amongst the farmers, while only 106 ha would be converted, had it not been for the RIO RURAL program.

4. Sustainable agricultural management

The project promotes the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices resulting in

9 https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf 10 http://download.rj.gov.br/documentos/10112/1312221/DLFE-56319.pdf/planoEstadualmudclima.pdf

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increased productivity through proper waste management, reflected mitigation effects due to the increased carbon stock in biomass and soil. 5. Improved feeding practices of dairy cattle This line of action refers to the effect of mitigation (GHG reduction) resulting from the implementation of improved feeding practices.