(NAFB) – The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance strongly commends USDA for advancing a voluntary, incentive-based approach to deploy climate-smart practices on working lands through its Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities.

Announced Monday, members of the Alliance welcome USDA’s plan to partner with farmers, ranchers, forest owners and nongovernmental organizations through pilot projects. The alliance stressed in previous comments submitted to USDA the importance of building flexibility into the initiative to acknowledge that agriculture and forestry look very different in different regions, and USDA’s plan appears to welcome a diversity of practices and approaches. The plan also includes other priorities of the alliance, including an effort for engaging and enrolling Black, Indigenous, People of Color and small farmers, ranchers, and forest owners in the project.

The alliance says in a news release, “We share Secretary Tom Vilsack’s optimism that this approach will support climate-smart commodities while unlocking new market opportunities.”

The Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance is comprised of more than 80 member organizations.