About half of developing countries express ambition to use agroforestry—the integration of trees with crops, livestock and other non-forest timber products—for adaptation and mitigation of climate change. In order for agroforestry contributions to be recognized and rewarded, however, countries need reliable systems for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV). This report reviews, through key informant interviews and examination of official documents, how agroforestry is addressed in national MRV under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The review highlights significant gaps between national ambition and national action and capabilities. These gaps are smaller in some countries than in others, but not even one country systematically includes agroforestry in all of its relevant MRV systems. Barriers to the inclusion and explicit representation of agroforestry in MRV systems include: (1) technical barriers, such as exclusion of agroforestry from definitions of land use and lack of access to high-resolution satellite imagery; (2) institutional barriers, such as overlapping or contradictory institutional mandates and lack of human capacity to use available tools; and (3) financial barriers that prevent consistent measurement and inclusive processes. The fact that agroforestry often is not counted in UNFCCC MRV systems has serious implications: If agroforestry trees aren’t counted in MRV systems, then in many ways they don’t count. Only if agroforestry resources are measured, reported and verified will countries gain access to the financial and other support they need to effectively include agroforestry in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Based on emerging lessons, the report recommend six ways to support countries to improve MRV of agroforestry.
CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
2018
Wageningen, The Netherlands
This methodology was developed by Gold Standard for accounting for changes in soil organic carbon (SOC). It is applicable to projects where conservation tillage methods are introduced to project areas previously under conventional management. This includes forms of minimum or reduced impact tillage which causes less soil disturbance than conventional forms of tillage and where residue, mulch, or sod is left on the soil surface to protect soil and conserve moisture.
Gold Standard
2017
The Smallholder Agriculture Monitoring and Baseline Assessment (SHAMBA) tool is a methodology and calculation tool to assess changes in greenhouse gas emissions from land use in tropical areas. The tool has been reviewed and approved by the Plan Vivo Standard and is currently being used in Plan Vivo projects. The Plan Vivo approved methodology is applicable to projects with activities that involve tree planting, agroforestry, or conservation agriculture.
The University of Edinburgh and the CGIAR Research Program for Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security
2015
This methodology was developed by the BioCarbon Fund. It is a guide to quantifying the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the adoption of sustainable land management practices (SALM) aimed at enhancing above- and below-ground and soil-based carbon stocks of grass- and croplands. This methodology is applicable to projects that adopt new SALM practices in agricultural landscapes where soil organic carbon is at risk of decreasing over time or remain constant without changing the current management practices.
Verified Carbon Standard
2011
Verified Carbon Standard approved methodology for quantifying and monitoring changes in soil carbon and emissions from soils as well as from other greenhouse gas sources affected by Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) projects. This methodology was developed by The Earth Partners. It is applicable to agricultural land management projects, such as those including the following management practice changes:
- agricultural practices,
- grassland and rangeland restorations,
- soil carbon protection and accrual benefits from reductions in erosion,
- grassland protection projects and treatments that improve the diversity and productivity of grassland and savanna plant communities.
Verified Carbon Standard
2012
Moving from conventional farming to conservation cropping can increase carbon sequestered in the soil. This protocol specifically quantifies greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from new carbon stored annually in agricultural soil, lower nitrous oxide emissions from soils under no-till management, and associated emission reductions from reduced fossil fuel use from fewer passes per farm field. This protocol is written for project developers and farm operators who wish to implement conservation cropping offset projects in Dry Prairie and Parkland ecozones.
Alberta Environment and Water – Climate Change Secretariat
2012
FAOSTAT is FAO’s corporate data repository. FAOSTAT contains data reported by annual surveys in member countries and dedicated data collection initiatives on areas of particular interest. The FAOSTAT Emissions Database contains country-level tier 1 estimates for the major emission categories in agriculture and land use since 1961. The estimates are based on IPCC 2006 default emission factors and on activity data mostly contained within FAOSTAT and the Global Forest Resources Assessment. Metadata explain the approaches for calculations and their data sources in detail.
FAO
Presents various indicators from a range of sectors (including agriculture) that track different aspects of the adaptation context, process and results to determine if adaptation strategies or investments are meeting their objectives. Provides details on a given indicator’s specific relevance to adaptation (as distinct from general development indicators). Describes the calculation, limitations, and the information needed to use each indicator. Users can conduct tailored searches within the repository to find indicators specific to the agriculture sector.
Anne Hammill, Julie Dekens, Timo Leiter, Julia Olivier, Lena Klockemann, Eva Stock, Anne Gläser
2014
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
NAMA project proposal by Morocco to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), approved for GCF support. The project proposes planting 43,000 hectares of argan tree orchards on degraded land. Section H describes the proposed monitoring and reporting framework to be used by the project.
Agency for Agricultural Development of Morocco (ADA)
2016
SAMPLES is a global research program of CCAFS that provides guidance for measuring GHG emissions and carbon storage in smallholder agricultural systems. The SAMPLES web platform provides a database of GHG emission factors for agriculture, a compilation of tools for estimation of GHG emissions from agriculture, and guidelines for measurement (also published as an open-access book).
CCAFS, CGIAR Research program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security: Wageningen, The Netherlands
