New opportunities for farmers in the developing world to benefit from carbon payments for improved agricultural practices and planting trees on their farms now exist. However, engaging farmers in such carbon finance schemes is challenging, due to the need to establish ways of measuring, monitoring and verifying how much carbon is being sequestered, uncertainties surrounding the carbon market, barriers related to language and media access and participation in information flows, and unclear risks and unrealistic expectations about benefits of carbon schemes to farmers. This brief is intended as a guide for practitioners, to help them communicate carbon project messages to different audiences.