United We Stand for Locally-led Change

By Marie Lichtenberg, Global Partnerships Director, Planet Aid

On behalf of the 29 local members of the Humana People to People Movement, we are happy for the invitation to participate in UN Summit of the Future. Let me share some thoughts while we meet as civil society and world leaders gather to discuss #OurCommonFuture.

I want to focus on the challenges of #ClimateChange and local solutions financed by global donors and financial institutions. Extreme weather events are costing millions of lives and billions of dollars to the world’s economies, with no country spared. Nonetheless, the poorest nations suffer the hardest consequences.

In Mozambique alone, Cyclone Freddy severely affected over 1.3 million people during 2023, leading to the destruction of infrastructure, crops, and the loss of human lives. Let me make 2 key points:

1. Let Communities Lead!
2. Speed up and increase financing to meet the scale of challenges caused by climate change.

Globally, 570 million smallholder farmers own less than two hectares of land. Their potential for positive impact is unlimited.

• We know that smallholder farmers are far more likely to save, protect, and regenerate biodiversity compared to large, mono-crop agriculture.
• We know that scaling up climate-friendly food production under local control can have a significant impact. However, this won’t happen without a major shift in mindset, policy, and funding priorities.

Local communities hardest hit by climate change are the most motivated to drive positive change. We have the technology and the best practices are well documented. We know what works.

Locally-led, climate-friendly food production is already changing lives and building resilience across communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Increased knowledge and skills adapted to local conditions through farmer networks are working with nature and not against it. However, scaling up what works requires access to capital and credit, and more responsive and agile financial systems to meet the challenges of today for people and planet.

This means prioritizing the development of community-based adaptation planning with access to plentiful funding for implementation.

This means emphasizing local partnerships and eliminating wasted resources from costly grants and contracts that lose over 50% in fees and overhead rates.

This means trusting local partners working shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s smallholder farmers. Their potential for positive impact is unlimited.