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The nonprofit is working with smallholder farmers to lower livestock methane emissions
RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE, N.C. – Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) selects RTI International as an Innovation Sprint partner, for its work focused on reducing livestock methane emissions and creating an additional income stream for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia by compensating farmers for their reduced methane emissions. This announcement comes as the 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) is underway in Dubai.
“Methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas and reducing methane emissions today can have close to immediate climate benefits,” said Paul Weisenfeld, RTI’s executive vice president of international development. “AIM for Climate helps bring public and private organizations together so we can develop smart, sustainable solutions and work towards lowering those emissions.”
The single largest source of global methane emissions is livestock, and animals in lower-income countries account for 75 percent of livestock methane emissions. For its innovation sprint, RTI is working in Ethiopia which has the most livestock out of all African countries.
RTI is collaborating with public and private partners to provide improved feed and veterinary services to smallholder farmers in a proven way that reduces the methane-intensity of their milk production.
“In lower-income countries, there’s not much work being done to curb methane emissions from agriculture. This is primarily because of the challenges and costs associated with working with large numbers of smallholder farmers,” said Tracy Mitchell, director of resilience and climate adaptation at RTI. “We see this challenge as an opportunity to develop a scalable model that incentivizes farmers to adopt climate-smart practices through voluntary carbon markets.”
This model can be replicated to benefit smallholder farmers across low-income countries, opening new income opportunities that are environmentally sustainable for farmers who are already grappling with the impacts of climate change.
The U.S. and the United Arab Emirates launched AIM for Climate in 2021. The joint initiative seeks to address climate change and global hunger by promoting increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food system innovation over five years (2021-2025).
To keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and to meet net-zero goals, the global community urgently needs to reduce methane emissions. RTI is inspired by this recognition and honored to be an AIM for Climate Innovation Sprint Partner.
