Sustainable Agriculture
Global population growth and improved economic conditions create increasing demand for food and agricultural raw materials. At the same time, agricultural activities are one of the most significant sources of carbon emissions and water use, and climate change is set to have severe impacts on food production and nutrition across the globe.
CPI research identifies pathways to implement more productive and climate-resilient agricultural practices that incorporate low emission standards and sustainable techniques. The research, analysis and business models we develop support the scaling of sustainable agricultural practices worldwide. We promote partnerships with public and private entities to develop financial mechanisms to fund the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices as well as work directly with policymakers in the design of more effective policies to spur sustainable growth in the agricultural sector.
Featured work
Publication
Examining the Climate Finance Gap for Small-Scale Agriculture
Less than 2% of total climate finance goes to small-scale farmers in developing nations. This report proposes a methodology to measure climate finance flows to small-scale agriculture in developing countries and provides a snapshot of climate finance to small-scale agriculture in 2017/18.
Publication
The Economics of Cattle Ranching in the Amazon: Land Grabbing or Pushing the Agricultural Frontier?
In this report, researchers from CPI/PUC-Rio dig deeper into the link between cattle ranching and deforestation in the Amazon to investigate the economic dynamics behind it.
Publication
Governance, Area of Influence, and Environmental Risks of Transport Infrastructure Investments: Case Studies in the State of Pará
This study compiles a detailed overview of the four key federal infrastructure projects – either planned or being upgraded – in the state of Pará: Ferrogrão and BR-155/158, not yet started, and BR-163/230/MT/PA and BR-230, which are currently in the process of improvement.
Latest work
Publication
Leveraging Policy Tools to Improve Impact of Financial Instruments in Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)
This brief seeks to inform the development of new sustainable AFOLU financial instruments, as well as replication of existing ones in new geographies.
Publication
Cooling as a Service (CAAS) with Virtual Cold Chain Assistant (VCCA)
To better address food waste at the farm level, farmers—especially smallholder farmers—need access to efficient and clean cold storage solutions at affordable pricing. CaaS with VCCA helps smallholder farmers make decisions on lifecycle benefits, rather than upfront costs.
Publication
The Smallholder Resilience Fund
The Smallholder Resilience Fund (SRF) is a blended investment fund and supporting venture studio that deploys synchronized investments and technical assistance across entire agricultural value chains of high-value, climate-smart crops to support smallholder farmers
Blog
Climate Finance Can Transform Food Systems
Climate finance can provide the means to accelerate the sustainable food systems transformation.
Publication
Increasing Cattle Productivity in the Amazon Requires New Technologies
This brief summarizes the findings from CPI/PUC-Rio that calculates the potential for increasing pasture productivity in the Legal Amazon by disseminating technologies that are widely used in just some parts of the region to all parts of the region.
Blog
Innovative approach to mapping climate finance for Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use in Brazil
Climate Policy Initiative/Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (CPI/PUC-Rio) is leading an effort to track kind of investments, policies and financial mechanisms are currently being used in Brazil and how can they be improved to boost the country’s green economic growth.
