IFAD Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) was launched by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2012 as a new window of cofinancing to scale up and integrate climate change adaptation across IFAD's regular work programme. ASAP provides earmarked funding for smallholder farmers in developing countries to improve their capacity to respond to the challenges posed by climate change. ASAP funds will be used e.g. to improve land management, promote climate-resilient agricultural practices and technologies, increase availability and efficient use of water resources, improve climate resilience of rural infrastructure and enhance climate risk management. As ASAP projects are joined up with iFAD's regular investment processes, they make use of the same quality control and supervison systems. The world's over 500 million smallholders provide around 80 per cent of food in the sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia and make up the largest share of the developing countries' undernourished people. The speed and intensity of climate change is transforming the context of smallholder farming, exposing it unpredictable and more extreme weather events, which undermines vulnerable rural livelihoods.