Who enjoys smallholder - generated carbon benefits?

Climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices that contribute to mitigation and provide adaptation measures to climate change are often mainstreamed into the agricultural development agenda. This happens regardless of incentives, since CSA practices are meant to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of smallholder agriculture. Revenue from selling environmental services such as reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon sequestration (in short: carbon) can diversify incomes and contribute to the resilience of smallholder livelihoods. Crucial to this happening is the development of the carbon market and the future demand and price of these credits.

Designing payment for environmental services (PES) schemes that work sustainably in smallholder systems requires links between local action among farmer and community groups and other stakeholders at national and regional level. The farmers are the sellers who generate carbon; small farms are aggregated to cover generate quantities large enough to sell to the market. The national-and regional-level stakeholders are governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who pay for carbon credit or regulate carbon trade.