The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (JMAFF), has launched a project to mitigate climate change in the agriculture sector, while addressing issues surrounding agriculture and food systems in the Asia and Pacific region. This ADB-JMAFF collaborative project aims to balance farmers’ incomes and mitigate climate change by introducing climate-smart technologies and utilizing bilateral credit scheme in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

Under this project, ADB and JMAFF established an Expert Committee (EC), consisting of well-established research institutes such as JIRCAS (Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences), NARO (National Agriculture and Food Research Organization), and IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) as well as the Ministry of Environment of Japan and ASEAN participating countries such as the Philippines and Viet Nam.

During the discussions of the EC, it was concluded that adopting Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) in paddy fields to reduce methane emissions is one of the applicable and practical solutions to mitigate climate change in the ASEAN region. The EC also suggested that the project should use bilateral credit schemes such as Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) to leverage the dissemination of AWD in the region, which will contribute to the adoption of climate-smart technologies in agriculture, while bridging the cost gap faced by developing countries. The project identified the development of the JCM methodology for AWD as a first step and has been convening the EC meetings for developing the methodology since January 2024.