As the world prepares for the COP30 climate summit in Belém do Pará this November, Brazil has set the tone with a bold message: agriculture must be recognized as a climate solution, not just a victim or contributor to the crisis. This message came through clearly at the launch of the Climate Dialogues in Brasília — a series of regional forums led by EMBRAPA, Brazil’s premier agricultural research agency, in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
The Dialogues are not just about Brazil preparing for COP30. They are a template. A signal. A reminder that to make real progress on climate, we must first go to the farm gates — and listen.
In too many climate conversations, farmers — especially smallholders — are seen as passive recipients of policy decisions made in distant boardrooms. The Climate Dialogues challenge that narrative by putting rural producers at the heart of climate strategy. As EMBRAPA President Sílvia Massruhá put it, the role of agriculture in climate change “is an urgent and strategic issue” that demands inclusive, cross-sectoral collaboration.
This is a sentiment that should resonate deeply in Africa, where over 60% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods. Yet, the continent’s farmers are often underrepresented in climate negotiations. What would it look like if we changed that — if Africa’s farmers came to COP30 not just as attendees, but as co-creators of the climate agenda?
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Brazil’s strategy is rooted in the science of sustainable intensification. From low-carbon agriculture to biological nitrogen fixation and no-till farming, the Dialogues are showcasing real-world examples of how agriculture can reduce emissions while increasing yields.
For Africa, which faces many of the same climate pressures as Latin America — erratic rainfall, soil degradation, food insecurity — these solutions offer a valuable reference point. But we must go further. Africa’s future lies not in imitation, but in adaptation: localizing these innovations to suit our diverse ecosystems, cultures, and indigenous knowledge systems.
IICA’s presence at the Dialogues underscored the power of public-private cooperation in driving this transformation. Their initiatives — such as the Living Soils of the Americas project with Ohio State University and the Central American coffee resilience program — are reminders of what’s possible when science, policy, and community intersect
It’s easy to view climate summits as distant events, filled with political speeches and abstract negotiations. But COP30 is different. It will take place in a region of the world that, like Africa, is deeply tied to land, water, and farming — and it is calling for grounded, nature-based solutions.
For African countries, this is a strategic opportunity. Not just to participate, but to influence. Not just to share stories of loss, but to showcase innovation — from regenerative agriculture in Zimbabwe, to youth-led agri-tech platforms in Nigeria, to climate-smart dairy in Kenya.
We must also embrace the broader framing emerging from the Americas: that we are entering a new agricultural era — one shaped by biotechnology, digital tools, circular economies, and climate resilience. But as Muhammad Ibrahim of IICA rightly said, “no one can overcome these challenges alone.” The path forward is collective.
As EMBRAPA convenes regional dialogues across Brazil’s six major biomes, African countries would do well to consider a similar approach. Climate Dialogues could take root in the Sahel, the Rift Valley, the Congo Basin. Spaces where farmers, scientists, policymakers, and entrepreneurs come together — not only to prepare for COP30, but to build national consensus on the role of agriculture in climate action.
Because if we wait for global platforms to validate our role, we’ll always be reacting. But if we lead with knowledge, voice, and collaboration, we position agriculture where it belongs — at the center of the climate solution.
