Uruguayan Farmers Tackles Climate Change

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The World Bank approved a US$49 million loan to support Uruguayan farmers tackle climate change. In their efforts, farmers are adopting environmentally sustainable practices to improve the resilience of their production systems in response to the effects of climate variability.

The program is called the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Climate Change. This will benefit 16,000 Uruguayan farmers through co-financing of land projects to improve their production systems, the creation of a National Agricultural Information System and institutional strengthening and training.

The loan supports three main lines of action. First, it will establish an agricultural information and decision support system. A geo-referenced information system will be created to integrate and generate data such as forecasts and early weather warnings and monitoring and evaluation of vegetation, soil, water and other relevant variables for agriculture. This system can serve to develop programs to simulate the impact of new technologies.

Second, the loan is to help co-finance farm investments. This will allow farmers o strengthen their productivity, integrate natural resource management practices, reduce vulnerability to extreme climatic events and reduce GHG emissions from the agricultural sector. The third component is training of small-, medium- and large-scale farmers and of technical staff from the institutions responsible for providing technical assistance in these areas. The component also includes technical assistance and support to staff of the Natural Renewable Resources Directorate (RENARE).

Source: Microfinance Focus (link opens in a new window)

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