Benefits of Organic Agriculture as a Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy in Developing Countries

Organic Agriculture (OA) as an adaptation strategy (AS) to Climate Change (CC) is a concrete and promising option for adaptation in rural communities. OA has additional potential as a mitigation strategy (MS). This text is a short review note on this topic. Adaptation and mitigation based on OA can build on well-established practice as OA is a sustainable livelihood strategy with decades of experience in several climate zones and under a wide range of specific local conditions. Given the large fraction of rural population living on farming, the potential of this strategy to adapt to the adverse effects of CC and at the same time contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and to carbon sequestration is huge. The scope of the approach ranges from local to national – depending on the policy context it is embedded in. Finally, the financial requirements of OA as an AS or MS are low