Global agriculture is facing a major challenge: on one hand, the need to protect forests and their ecosystems, and on the other hand, the need to ensure sustainable food production and livelihoods for smallholder farmers.
The GIZ project SAFE (Sustainable Agriculture for Forest Ecosystems) combines the protection of forest ecosystems with the promotion of deforestation-free, climate-friendly and legal agricultural value chains. By supporting smallholder farmers, indigenous communities and marginalised groups, the transition to sustainable production practices in line with the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will be promoted. The project is active in ten countries in South America, Africa and Southeast Asia, thus contributing to global environmental and climate protection. The project is co-financed by BMZ, the EU and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Without effective forest protection, it is not possible to achieve the goals agreed under the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity. The EUDR is the first piece of legislation in the world to minimise the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradationAt the core of the EUDR are binding due diligence obligations for companies and traders. These also contain regulations on transparency in the supply chain and the traceability of products.
Promoting deforestation-free value chains
SAFE focuses on supporting smallholder farmers and other actors along the value chain. The goals of the project include supporting 11,000 smallholder farmers (40% of whom are women), meeting the requirements for deforestation-free and legal supply chains, strengthening the knowledge of sustainable production and land use rights for 12,000 smallholder farmers, and preserving 121,700 hectares of forest.
Digitization and traceability: creating transparency
EUDR compliance requires end-to-end tracking of agricultural products to ensure that they do not come from deforested areas. SAFE is working with the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the Linux Foundation Europe to develop a digital public infrastructure (DPI). A key component is the use of technologies such as geolocation and forest monitoring to make the origin of agricultural products transparent. These measures make it easier for smallholder farmers and their organisations to meet the requirements for deforestation-free production.
Regional dialogues: strengthening cooperation and sharing knowledge
The EUDR applies to everyone, in and outside Europe. To ensure successful implementation of the EUDR, SAFE promotes exchanges between different actors at local, national and regional level. This is done by building networks and organising dialogues, even beyond the 10 project countries. In Southeast Asia, SAFE cooperates with partners from Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea to promote understanding of EUDR in the supply chains of cocoa, natural rubber and palm oil. In South America, SAFE is working with partners to support dialogue between countries such as Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to support deforestation-free soy and beef supply chains.
Green Financing: Promoting sustainable investments
In addition to technical solutions, SAFE focuses on sustainable financing. Together with the think tank Climate & Company, SAFE identifies opportunities to mobilise finance for smallholder farmers and disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous communities and women. These measures are intended to ensure that financial incentives are also provided for environmentally friendly agricultural practices.
Gender equality and social inclusion
Indigenous communities, women in their diversity and other marginalized groups are often the most affected by environmental change and the climate crisis. The project therefore strives for a gender-equitable and intersectional implementation of regulation. In addition to its activities in the countries, SAFE works together with organizations such as the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR-ICRAF) and Korumo Coaching for Transformation to promote social justice in the value chains. Through various activities such as an idea marathon in each country and a training module, SAFE identifies important gender and social challenges in the value chains. In cooperation with partners, including civil society, measures are being developed to solve these problems in a transformative way and to improve equal opportunities in agriculture.
SAFE is working on how forest ecosystem protection and the promotion of sustainable agriculture can go hand in hand. With a wide range of measures – from digital traceability to green finance and social inclusion – SAFE is working on solutions to address the global challenges of climate change and deforestation.
