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Agriculture is one of the sectors most exposed to the effects of climate change. At the same time, agricultural supply chains, especially the agricultural production of commodities, are a major cause of climate change. Unsustainable farming practices and the current structures of our global supply chains play a central role. The most important factors are deforestation and loss of biodiversity. About a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions result from food systems and agriculture.

Hence, the GIZ Global Programme ‘Sustainability and Value Added in Agricultural Supply Chains’ on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) launched the Call for Proposals Initiative for Climate Smart Supply Chains (I4C) in summer 2022. Companies and organisation that want to make their supply chains from shelf to field more resilient and climate-friendly have been called to submit joint project proposal.

In September, four outstanding concepts from the cocoa, coffee and spice supply chains were selected by a committee of climate experts. The consortia with private sector participation are responsible for implementation. The projects are financially supported with up to 50% of the total project budget. The total budget with the contribution of the consortia amounts to almost 11.5 million euros with a project duration of 3 years starting in December 2022.

aGROWforests, one of the winning projects, advocates for a sustainable, biodiversity-friendly, climate-resilient, and responsible spices sector in Indonesia. Climate change will severely affect the productivity of pepper cultivation in Indonesia, resulting in increased income variability for pepper farmers and their families. The project partners – the Dutch company Verstegen Spices & Sauces, the local partner PT Can, and the NGO Fairfood – are aiming to increase productivity, income, and resilience of 2,300 Indonesian pepper farmers through climate-smart agriculture and agroforestry approaches. Digital solutions like the cool farm tool or the SpiceUp App will be used to track greenhouse gas emissions or for knowledge transfer and management respectively.

The three other winning projects of the I4C Initiative are being implemented in Ecuador, Colombia & Brazil, and Ethiopia.

Are you interested to learn more about the progress of I4C? Take a look at the website of the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains to stay informed about the further progress of Feminist & Fair or get in touch with our project coordinator Bente Krützfeldt (bente.kruetzfeldt@giz.de).

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Contact
Bente Krützfeldt — Advisor

Key buzzwords
Climate change, agricultural supply chains, from shelf to field, resilience, competition, business