Land-use planning and financial innovation to increase Mexico’s resilience to climate change

The impacts of climate change threaten the livelihoods of Mexican small farmers. Therefore the project promotes adaptation, restoration and conservation of rural landscapes to increase their resilience and to ensure food security and local income. It helps small farmers in the states of Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Jalisco, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Puebla, Hidalgo and Tlaxcala to adapt and to increase their production. Ecosystem-based adaptation strategies include sustainable production and integrated land use planning approaches that equally take into account food, forest, biodiversity and climate change. Innovative finance mechanisms support this process. The project also promotes land use management policies at national and sub-national level to help Mexico to achieve its goals in the areas of SDGs, NDCs and biodiversity.

Project data

Countries: Mexico
IKI funding: 21,457,627.03 €
Included preparation phase: 21,457,627.03 €
Duration: 10/2022 till 09/2028
Status: open
Implementing organisation: World Resources Institute (WRI)
Political Partner: Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) - Mexico

National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) - Mexico

National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) - Mexico

Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT)- Mexico
Implementing Partner: GAIA (Grupo Autonomo para Investigacion Ambiental)

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB / IDB / BID)

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) – Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (ORMACC)

Natura y Ecosistemas Mexicanos (Natura)

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA)

World Resources Institute (WRI) - Mexico
Online: https://wrimexico.org/our-work/projects/saberes

https://saberesmx.org/

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State of implementation/results

WRI is working with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Rural Development of the Government of Jalisco to implement an initial pilot project on adaptation in agriculture and livestock. The project focuses on improving producers' resilience and the recovery of aquifers. This pilot is expected to generate information and experience to help design a state-level financing mechanism to scale up these activities throughout Jalisco.
The consortium has hosted at least 1,190 capacity building events across seven states, helping 2,738 producers, of whom 35% are women and 46% belong to Indigenous peoples, gain a better understanding of how to implement sustainable land use practices.
More than 1,300 producers have implemented new Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) measures across 24,000 hectares. These measures include silvopastoral management; forage diversification and conservation; integrated pastureland management; agroecological fertilization; livestock health using ecological methods; diversification and association of agroforestry systems (AFS); agroecological pest and disease management; improved harvest and post-harvest practices; soil and water conservation works; parcel and landscape level reforestation; and local genetic improvement.
The project team has held five sessions of the National Learning Network to exchange experiences on community governance, organic beekeeping in the context of climate change, and cocoa improvement.
The project team has installed new monitoring sites for cacao and silvopastoral livestock systems in Chiapas and Tabasco, increasing transparency and data flows in these value chains.
In Jalisco, the Climate Resilience Simulator, led by the German Sparkassenstiftung, was implemented, enabling farmer groups to analyze different combinations of variables—such as climate, production, and internal organization—to understand the impacts of climate change and make informed decisions for action. – The Partner Natura facilitated participatory workshops to develop Climate Change Adaptation Plans (PACC) for 11 producer organizations. As a result, all 15 organizations currently involved in the project now have their own PACC. Natura Mexicana began implementing these plans in September through courses in regenerative agriculture and later expanded into silvopastoral systems and beekeeping. Between October and December, two regenerative agriculture demonstration plots, three silvopastoral plots, and three beekeeping modules were established.
A meeting of rural women for EbA featured presentations from various rural and Indigenous women's groups working on climate change adaptation, including collectives that produce traditional handicrafts and cooperatives that develop environmental restoration projects. Participants discussed the challenges rural women face, such as lack of visibility, limited access to resources, and limited participation in community decision-making, as well as strategies for supporting and empowering these communities.

Latest Update:
06/2026