Finland leads UN food body helping farmers fight climate change

The programme will also for the first time "create a global database on current and projected greenhouse gas emissions in land and agriculture for the most important agricultural commodities, countries and regions."

The Food and Agriculture Organisation is to promote the potential for agriculture in the developing world to lower greenhouse gas emissions, the UN body said on Tuesday.

"Finland is the first country to contribute to a 60 million dollar FAO programme to support climate change mitigation in agriculture in developing countries," the Rome-based body said in a statement.

"The multi-donor programme aims to promote sustainable low-emission agriculture in developing countries over the coming five years, in partnership with countries and other relevant organisations," the FAO said.

Agriculture accounts for 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and is in a position to make a significant contribution to reducing emissions, particularly in developing nations, the FAO said.

"Many suitable technologies and farming practices to sequester carbon in smallholder agriculture already exist," said FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Mueller.

"These include practices used in conservation and organic agriculture, based on no/low tillage, utilising residues for composting or mulching, use of perennial crops to cover soil, re-seeding or improving grazing management on grasslands and agroforestry, which combines crops and trees."

The programme will also for the first time "create a global database on current and projected greenhouse gas emissions in land and agriculture for the most important agricultural commodities, countries and regions."

The FAO said last week that while farming could offer a cost-effective way of cutting greenhouse emissions, it had been "largely excluded" from the current UN climate summit in Copenhagen.