We provide people with access to the tools and knowledge to adapt and respond to adverse climatic impacts and adopt sustainable practices.
Our integrated approach to addressing climate change impacts is using locally led adaptation and mitigation measures through BRAC International’s social development programme initiatives. Our work protects resources, improves quality of life, and builds awareness about the environment in rural and urban communities. We provide people with access to the tools and knowledge to adapt and respond to adverse climatic impacts and adopt sustainable practices.
BRAC strives to improve resilience by increasing farmers’ ability to adapt to climate change while lowering their vulnerability to short-term threats. Our initiatives to increase productivity are closely linked to a focus on sustainable intensification. BRAC enables farmers to yield more from the land they already have with climate resilient seed varieties and innovative technology and techniques. This contributes to the reduction in aggregate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kilogram of food produced and prevents production areas from expanding into forest regions, further lowering GHG emissions.
BRAC’s Agriculture and Food Security programme aims to improve food security and livelihoods, reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty through increased income and environmentally sustainable agriculture production. By adopting climate resilient inputs, such as drought-tolerant and disease-resistant seed varieties, and innovative technology and techniques, such as use of short duration crop varieties, micro irrigation, multi use of water and balanced fertiliser application, smallholder farmers increase their capacity to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.
Our Agriculture and Food Security programme is also implementing a Livestock value chain project (funded by EU) for improving food security and increasing income for smallholder farmers (mostly youth & women), which is targeting 4,632 smallholder farmers, 50 market actors, 100 community livestock and poultry promoter and 30 Community animal health promoters in Sierra Leone. A total of 61,363 people will benefit from the project on climate smart agriculture. This will be achieved through increased diversification of sustainable livestock production and consumption, economically viable agri-businesses and ensured an enabling environment for livestock value chain development.
Our previously implemented projects under the Agriculture and Food Security programme has rehabilitated the Inland Valley Swamp (IVS), promotion of nutrition rich crops like orange-fleshed sweet potato, yellow cassava, improved livestock variety etc., post-harvest technology by following the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technology which has helped to improve the climate.
We strive to promote cost effective strategies so that smallholder farmers are able to adapt to changing climate conditions. By adopting climate resilient inputs, such as drought-tolerant and disease-resistant seed varieties, and innovative technology and techniques, such as use of short duration crop varieties and balanced fertiliser application, smallholder farmers increase their capacity to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.
We work to increase knowledge and adoption of water management technologies practices, including on-farm water management, rainwater harvesting, water-saving irrigation practice [Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD)] and drip irrigation with mulch in the orchard/crop field), use of covered drain/underground pipeline, cultivation of cover crops to reduce water loss, and farming less water loving crops. In addition, we motivate farmers to adopt innovative farming practices, such as shifting planting time (early/late planting), crop pattern management, rain-fed short duration crop cultivation, crop diversification, introducing alternative crops, and cultivating less water-intensive crops, e.g. mungbean, maize, groundnut, and sesame.
Establish and maintain partnerships between public, private and civil society actors to address the extreme climatic situation through joint initiatives. Engage government agencies, public financial institutions, private sector investors and business people, and development institutions serving poor smallholder farmers through innovative financing and investment in the agriculture sector.
The WESolVE [Women Entrepreneurship through the Solar Value chain for Economic development in Tanzania] project aims to reduce unemployment and create economic opportunities for women, and to provide access to clean energy, especially for rural Tanzanians. BRAC Tanzania is working in partnership with Solar Sister, a non-profit organisation that trains and supports women to deliver clean energy to rural communities together with Signify.