COP30 highlighted agriculture like never before, yet progress for farmers still lags behind. Explore WFO’s key contributions, remaining gaps, and why farmers must drive implementation on the ground.

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, closed after more than twelve days of intense discussions and negotiations, where agriculture and food systems received unprecedented visibility across the agenda.

Throughout the conference, the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), together with the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency, which it coordinates, worked to keep farmers’ voices and agricultural priorities at the centre of the debate, while closely monitoring how far this visibility would translate into concrete outcomes on the ground for farmers.

The WFO delegation, led by Secretary General Andrea Porro, brought together a diverse group of representatives from across WFO Member Organisations — including the Botswana Farmers’ Association (BOFA), the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), the Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA Brasil), the Danish Agriculture and Food Council (DAFC), the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA), the Kenya National Farmers’ Federation (KENAFF), the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK – Finland), the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM), the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales (NFU UK), and the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU) — together with staff from the WFO International Secretariat.

Driving Global Dialogue Through WFO-led Key Events

WFO played a central role in convening key discussions at COP30, most notably through the official side event “Restoring Land, Rebuilding Value: Farmer-Led Solutions for Climate, Soil, and Food Security,” co-organised with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), the Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA Brasil), CropLife International, the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS), the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC).

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Responding to the priorities of the COP30 Action Agenda under the thematic axis “Transforming Agriculture and Food Systems,” and aligning with the RAIZ flagship initiative on land restoration and sustainable agriculture, the event explored how farmer-led restoration efforts can be scaled through inclusive collaboration, strong farmers’ organisations, innovative partnerships, and enabling policies and climate finance. The discussion centred on delivering tangible benefits for rural economies while creating long-term value for people and the planet.

Moderated by Ceris Jones, Focal Point of the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency, the panel gathered contributions from Andrea Porro (WFO), Bruno dos Santos Alves Figueiredo Brasil (Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil), Renato Roscoe (Instituto Taquari Vivo), Tamar Toria (Georgian Farmers’ Association), Paul Zakariya (Zimbabwe Farmers Union), Marcela Quintero (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT), Laurie Goodwin (CropLife International), Martial Bernoux (FAO), and Nick Oakes (Impact Earth Fund).

Opening the dialogue, WFO Secretary General Andrea Porro underlined that restoring degraded land and transforming food systems relies on cross-sector collaboration, with farmers recognised as decision-makers and essential partners in delivering solutions that are effective, scalable, and adapted to local realities. Contributions from Tamar Toria and Paul Zakariya brought this message to life through concrete experiences from Georgia and Zimbabwe, showing that progress starts on the ground and that strong farmers’ organisations play a pivotal role in driving it.

WFO Delegation’s Key Contributions at COP30

Throughout COP30, WFO delegates participated in key discussions and delivered strong messages, placing farmers at the centre of climate action. Their contributions aligned around key thematic priorities for a farmer-led approach to climate action: farmers are entrepreneurs and decision-makers, that climate finance must be accessible and predictable, that innovation and science must be grounded in farmers’ realities, and that a resilient and sustainable agriculture sector depends on strong farmer organisations and meaningful collaboration.

Among the key contributions:

WFO Secretary General Andrea Porro stressed at Nestlé‘s event “Advancing more resilient, adaptive and sustainable food systems” that a just agrifood transition must be farmer-centred, built on accessible and predictable finance and fair remuneration for the value farmers create. During the Gates Foundation High-Level Leadership Event “Agriculture Innovation Showcase”, he reiterated that transformation will only be sustainable if farmers can continue making viable business decisions. Across multiple sessions — including IUCN‘s “Scaling Restoration for Sustainable Agriculture” and the FOLU / Ministry of Agriculture of Brazil dialogue on the RAIZ initiative —he underlined that land restoration and sustainable transitions require tailored, locally adapted solutions, strong institutions, adequate services and infrastructure, fair value chains, and full inclusion of farmers in policy and finance frameworks. He consistently recalled that farmers are ready to lead climate adaptation and mitigation – provided they receive the proper support from the outset.

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Tamar Toria (Georgian Farmers’ Association) highlighted at the IICA event “Agriculture as Part of the Solution: Sector Contributions to Climate Change Challenges” how strong farmer organisations and network-based models drive resilience for small and medium-scale farmers despite systemic constraints.

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Paul Zakariya (Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union) delivered a compelling intervention at the World Climate Summit, outlining how droughts, rising production costs, and unpredictable seasons are reshaping farmers’ decisions. He underlined that when farmer-led action, scientific solutions and accessible finance come together, sustainable food production becomes possible even under mounting climate pressure.

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Diane Sibanda (Botswana Farmers’ Association), speaking at the FAO / WFP / OCHA / UNDP event “From Pledges to Practice: Delivering Climate Finance in Vulnerable Situations”, stressed that climate finance must be accessible and responsive to farmers’ real needs and realities, reaching the local level and supporting solutions already working on the ground.

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Francesco Brusaporco, WFO Senior Policy Officer and Co-Focal Point UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency, intervened on the Standing Committee on Finance work and its 2025 Forum, highlighting the value of a process where farmers were fully engaged from the scoping phase to the selection of speakers — avoiding the usual dynamic of “talking about farmers without farmers”. He stressed three key points: the need for finance that reaches those who need it most, the fact that farmers are already major investors in adaptation, and the importance of recognising farmers as equal partners in the design and implementation of climate projects, as reflected in the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap. Brusaporco also pointed to three gaps requiring attention: the temporal gap between immediate adaptation needs and long-term mitigation goals; the ownership gap between objectives and implementation; and the gap between available finance and finance that reaches farm level.

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Lily Tanui (Kenya National Farmers’ Federation) underlined at the CA4SH session “Finance and Evidence for Soil Health to Advance Climate and Sustainable Development Goals” the urgent need to finance and scale solutions from the ground up to tackle declining yields and the changing conditions faced by farmers in Kenya.

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Amanda Roza (CNA Brasil) showcased at the ILRI / CGIAR/Heifer International/Global Dairy Platform event “Livestock Balancing Act: Climate, Nutrition & Livelihoods” how integrated crop–livestock–forestry systems in Brazil are delivering both mitigation and adaptation benefits. She highlighted that scaling these systems requires accessible finance, timely information, and robust technical support.

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Isadora Souza (CNA Brasil), at the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT / CGIAR event “Scaling up agrobiodiversity for climate resilience and agrifood transformation”, outlined three essential enablers for farming systems diversification: technical predictability, access to finance, and regulatory coherence.

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Ceris Jones, focal point of the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency, reminded the IPCC/FAO/WMO event “Transforming Agrifood Systems through Climate Science” that climate science must better reflect the pressures farmers face on short timescales and translate impacts into projections meaningful at the local level. She called for fair and accessible data sharing, paired with farmers’ knowledge, to be essential for effective climate action.

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Keith Currie (Canadian Federation of Agriculture) highlighted at CNA Brasil’s session “Farmers as agents of climate action” how his organisation ensures that farmers’ voices effectively reach governments, making clear the value of agriculture and the importance of farmer-driven solutions in addressing climate change. His intervention reinforced a central message carried throughout COP30: climate policies are most effective when they reflect farmers’ experience, leadership and capacity to drive practical solutions.

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Luisa Volpe, WFO Advocacy, Policy and Partnership Lead, speaking at CNA Brasil’s “Legacy of the COP” session, explained why farmers and agricultural organisations must be fully engaged in global decision-making processes such as COP30, outlining the role of the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency and WFO’s work in strengthening farmer representation.

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Macaulay Jones, Liaison Officer of the WFO Scientific Council, speaking at a session organised by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, highlighted the three core principles that guide the WFO’s work across all global processes: a farmer-driven, science-based, and solution-oriented approach to advancing climate action and supporting farmers worldwide.

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Advocating for Farmers in the UNFCCC Negotiations

As coordinator of the UNFCCC Farmers’ Constituency, the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) remained actively engaged in the negotiation rooms throughout COP30, advocating for the priorities set out in the Farmers’ Constituency Joint Statement for COP30 and ensuring that farmers’ perspectives were fully represented across the process.

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A significant milestone was the release of the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap —a blueprint to mobilise at least US$1.3 trillion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035 — which for the first time recognises that climate finance solutions must adopt an inclusive, farmer-centred approach. Presented by the COP29 and COP30 Presidencies ahead of this year’s negotiations, the roadmap explicitly acknowledges farmers and their organisations — including cooperatives — as equal partners in the design and implementation of programmes and projects, highlighting the importance of connecting global financing with local realities and knowledge.

This breakthrough reflects two years of coordinated advocacy by the Farmers’ Constituency, facilitated by the WFO.

Looking Ahead: Ensuring Farmers Are Not Left Behind

As COP30 concluded, the WFO acknowledges the efforts of the Presidency and the UNFCCC Secretariat in elevating the visibility of agriculture and food systems throughout the conference. Yet greater visibility did not translate into the level of ambition required: the final outcomes fell short of recognising the essential role farmers play and of addressing the practical barriers they face every day.

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Farmers continue to confront existential threats from droughts, floods, and extreme weather, making adaptation an urgent and immediate priority. Whatever form the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) indicators have taken, implementation will only be effective if supported by targeted, accessible and predictable adaptation finance that reaches farmers directly — including women, youth, and family farmers — through grants, concessional mechanisms, and other non-debt-creating instruments.

Strengthening agricultural resilience must build on the constructive engagement seen in the 2025 Standing Committee on Finance Forum and the momentum generated by the Baku-to-Belém Roadmap. Delivering real impact on the ground depends on diversified financial tools, fair public–private–producers’ partnerships, and the central role of farmer organisations and cooperatives as trusted intermediaries and implementation partners.

Going forward, WFO will continue reminding the international community that farmers stand on the frontlines of climate change, reaffirming its commitment to multilateralism and coordinated climate action. Yet moving from negotiation to implementation requires sharing decision-making with those expected to implement these decisions: farmers and their representatives. Ensuring that no farmer is left behind starts with guaranteeing an inclusive, participatory process across all climate-related decisions.

Cover photo: Aline Massuca/COP30