Press releases

Researchers Outline Food Security-Climate Change Road Map in Science

Vanessa — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Existing policies do not sufficiently encourage sustainable approaches to agriculture, or prepare the global agriculture sector for climate change. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT)

Modest advances for agriculture in Durban signal need for scientific input

WASHINGTON (19 JANUARY) — While last month’s climate negotiations in Durban made incremental progress toward helping farmers adapt to climate change and reduce agriculture’s climate footprint, a group of international agriculture experts, writing in the January 20 issue of Science magazine, urges scientists to lay the groundwork for more decisive action on global food security in environmental negotiations in 2012.

“Agriculture worldwide is being impacted by climate change and in less than 15 years global population will rise by one billion people,” said Sir John Beddington, lead author of the article ‘What Next for Agriculture After Durban?’ “Policy makers and scientists need to work together, quickly, to chart a course toward a sustainable global food system.”

“Many agricultural practices show promise for lowering risks to food production and greenhouse gas emissions while protecting forests and other natural resources at the same time,” said Prof Tekalign Mamo of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, who spoke at several official events at the Durban gathering. “But existing policies do not sufficiently encourage these sustainable approaches or prepare the global agriculture sector for climate change.”

Beddington and his co-authors noted that the run-up to the December 2011 meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) featured a strong political push to launch a new work program on agricultural climate change adaptation and mitigation under the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). For example, a group of African Agriculture Ministers presented a call for action on climate-smart agriculture in September, as did scientists from 38 countries through their Wageningen Statement in October.

In Durban, many public figures called for action on agriculture including former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, South African President Jacob Zuma, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, and Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi. Over 500 people joined in the third Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) meeting where Beddington presented key actions for avoiding a future in which weather extremes produce a succession of food crises.

However, integration of agriculture in the climate change negotiating process has moved at a slow pace while climate change and the other forces affecting food security, chiefly rapid population growth, are occurring much faster. “Back in 2009 in Copenhagen, we already had draft negotiating text for agriculture,” explained Dr Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Research Director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, who serves on his country’s delegation to the UNFCCC. “It’s time for us to take up a SBSTA work program so negotiating parties can weigh the risks and benefits of different policy and financing choices.”

Agreements in Durban did open the door to agriculture. Future negotiations will consider “sectoral actions” on climate change, which could include those related to the agriculture sector. Also, a March 5 deadline has been set for submission of evidence to SBSTA which will “exchange views on agriculture.” As a major driver of deforestation, agriculture is likely to be discussed as details of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) are negotiated. Beddington and his colleagues called these a “welcome first step,” however they view it as far short of what is needed. They call on scientists to assume a more prominent role in supporting global and national political processes to ensure talks in 2012 are informed by clear data on how climate change imperils food security and what can be done to avoid catastrophe.

In outlining opportunities for scientists to assist UNFCCC negotiations, the authors point to seven policy recommendations issued in November 2011 by the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change. Many of the authors serve on the Commission which Beddington chairs. “Scientists have a responsibility to show decision makers what we mean by ‘climate-smart agriculture’ and ‘sustainable intensification,’ and how these strategies are crucial to the success of any global climate change adaptation and mitigation effort,” said Dr Adrián Fernández Bremauntz, Advisor on Sustainability at the Metropolitan University in Mexico, and a member of the Commission.

“There are clearly major opportunities this year for scientists to provide the evidence required to rapidly generate new investments and policies that will ensure agriculture can adapt to the impact of climate change—and in ways that mitigate production of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Prof Bob Scholes of South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, who delivered a keynote address at Forest Day in Durban where links between forestry and agriculture were highlighted. "Scientists can build on the Durban agreements for REDD+ to clearly describe adaptation and mitigation strategies that span agriculture and forestry and improve food security and livelihoods."

“The window of opportunity to avert a humanitarian, environmental and climate crisis is rapidly closing and we need better information and tools for managing tradeoffs in how we grow our food and use our resources,” said Prof Molly Jahn of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Urgent action is needed, within and outside of the UNFCCC, to address the threat of climate change to agriculture and food security.” Jahn will share this analysis at a symposium on climate change and food security at the National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment in Washington today. Earlier this week, she also headlined at the launch of two new global research initiatives for improved production of maize and wheat led by the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers.

Jahn and other authors of the Science article see a need for more “integrated research” focused on sustainable agricultural practices that are appropriate for “different regions, farming systems, and landscapes,” particularly in low income countries where climate change is expected to pose the greatest challenge. The goal, the authors said, is to achieve a “safe operating space” where farmers can produce enough food to meet global needs while adapting to various climatic stresses and also minimizing the environmental impact of food production.

The Science article points to several other opportunities for the research community to provide insights that could direct more attention and resources to the critical link between climate change and food production. For example, scientists can help with identifying robust opportunities for investing in agricultural adaptation and mitigation with financing now available through the Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol, the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism and the Green Climate Fund, which has earmarked US$100 billion for developing countries. They can also assist with inclusion of agriculture in national action plans for climate change adaptation and mitigation that are being developed under the auspices of the UNFCCC.

Overall, the authors believe scientists must help improve the overall “understanding of agricultural practices that will deliver multiple benefits” in areas of climate change adaptation and mitigation, global food security, and REDD.

J. Beddington et al. 2012. What Next for Agriculture After Durban? Science VOL 335, 20 January 2012. DOI: 10.1126/science.1217941 (subscription required)

Press release in other languages:

Victories for food and farming in Durban climate deals

Vanessa — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:47:30 +0000

Despite slow progress, some outcomes from Durban climate talks may help poor farmers deal with climate change. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT).

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (13 December 2011) - After a grueling two weeks of negotiations, where it looked at times like climate talks might be deadlocked, world leaders on Sunday agreed to a number of decisions including the Durban Platform, which contain some provisions for adaptation, progress on a green climate fund, and a deadline for governments to adopt a new universal legal agreement on climate change by 2015.

Regrettably, the outcomes from Durban do not go far enough to hold global temperatures at a two-degree warmer world, nor is there sufficient finance or appropriate mechanisms in place to tackle the major adaptation challenges faced by least developed countries. But at least there were some outcomes that may eventually help poor farmers deal with climate change, which threatens food security among the most vulnerable.

Agriculture gets a foot in the door

For agriculture there were some positive steps. “This outcome is historic, as this is the first time that UNFCCC adopts a decision on agriculture,” said Patrick Verkooijen, the World Bank’s coordinator for climate-smart agriculture. Not only is it the first time agriculture is included in an outcome from the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC, it’s also the first time that the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) has agriculture officially on its agenda.

Although many agricultural organisations had pushed for a separate work programme on agriculture to be set up, this was not achieved. Instead, the COP’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA) concluded that a decision on agriculture will be made at COP18 which takes place November 2012 in Qatar.

In some ways it is unfortunate that this text is under the mitigation section of the document. However, by moving the discussion to SBSTA it is expected that both adaptation and mitigation will be included in the deliberations. It is very clear that developing countries will only move the agenda forward if adaptation is also covered, given adaptation and mitigation are intricately linked in the agriculture sector and given that the priority for agriculture in most developing countries is adaptation.

Meanwhile, negotiations on REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) made significant progress on technical issues, although a decision on financing was deferred to the Qatar meeting. Agriculture is an important part of the REDD+ discussions in the UNFCCC negotiations - as one of the major causes of deforestation. “There is growing awareness among both negotiators and development agencies implementing REDD projects that achievement of emissions reductions cannot be done without addressing agricultural productivity,” said Louis Verchot, a lead climate change scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Consideration of agriculture in the context of REDD+ will continue during 2012 in the SBSTA work programme.*

On the negative side, the incredibly drawn out decision-making process has no clear path beyond COP18, and agriculture could get sidelined should the negotiations in Qatar fail.

Early action needed on climate-smart agriculture

According to Wendy Mann, working with the Economics & Policy Innovations for Climate Smart Agriculture team at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), slow progress on agriculture in the negotiations reinforces the need for action on the ground. “It’s important to strengthen the confidence and capacity of nationally and community-led efforts to address food security, development, natural resource management and climate change together, as interlinked issues,” she said. “Such confidence and capacity building could be of direct use to countries but may also pave the way for more fruitful discussion and outcomes at the international level.”

“We need the creativity, leadership, resources, expertise and solidarity of every organization and individual if we are to find solutions to [the] common challenge [of food security in the context of climate change]," said Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). “We all have a part to play as well in ensuring our leaders do not shy away from the hard decisions necessary to ensure the world we pass on to future generations is a stable, secure, and healthy one.” In Durban, Annan spoke in support of an early action initiative on food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation, led by the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

A win on land use emissions measurement

While agriculture’s progress in COP has been slow, some significant advances were made under the Kyoto protocol, notably agreement on rules for accounting for emissions and removals from the land use sector for Annex 1 parties under the Kyoto protocol. “This is a significant achievement,” said Peter Aarup Iversen, Denmark, co-facilitator for the LULUCF (land use, land-use change and forestry) negotiations in Durban.

“It’s the culmination of almost four years of negotiations and it includes a number of new elements compared to the current rules for the first commitment period under the Kyoto protocol” he said.

While this applies only to Annex I (i.e. developed) countries, the methods and approaches developed will be useful in years to come should further progress be made on agriculture under COP. Also under the Kyoto protocol, a work programme will be initiated to see how to expand the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to cover additional land-based activities, including further agricultural activities. This opens up some opportunities for agriculture in developing countries.

What’s next?

Parties and accredited observers to the COP have been invited to submit their views on issues related to agriculture to the UNFCCC secretariat by 5 March 2012. These will be considered by the SBSTA in Bonn in June 2012, with the aim of producing a COP decision on agriculture in Qatar.

“There is also a lot of work to be done to raise political awareness,” said Lindiwe Sibanda of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network, a Southern African organization that has championed a “No Agriculture, No Deal!” campaign. “We want negotiators to know about the many opportunities for the agriculture sector to achieve climate adaptation and mitigation goals,” she said.

A major opportunity for raising awareness is in the lead-up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June next year, where world leaders will assess action on sustainable development to date, and hopefully renew political commitment for further actions. With climate change a key issue (the UNFCCC is one of the three Rio Conventions), a decision has been made to host Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2012 in Rio.

“We want agriculture to have a voice, and we want leadership and investment in the innovations and policies that can help poor farmers adapt to climate change and achieve food security, while contributing to mitigation and healthy ecosystems,” said Bruce Campbell of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Bringing this message to the sustainable development conference may inspire action where the UNFCCC has been slow.

This year’s Agriculture Day in South Africa brought together diverse perspectives – researcher, policy-maker, farmer, private sector, and donor – to share successful examples of climate-smart agriculture and push for pro-active policies at the international and national level. This work will continue in 2012, with exciting projects on the ground, and also sights set on a firm agriculture deal in Qatar.

by v [dot] meadu [at] cgiar [dot] org (Vanessa Meadu), CCAFS Communications.

* the preceding two paragraphs were included after initial publication.

Finding tomorrow's agriculture, today

Vanessa — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:00:00 +0000

In 2030, the maize-growing conditions in Durban, South Africa, will mirror the current conditions in parts of Argentina. What can South African growers learn from the Argentinian farmers? Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT)

Scientists Reveal Where Growing Conditions Today Mirror Future Climates, as World Becomes Living Lab for Adaptation
Maize farmers in South Africa and soybean growers in China can see “climate analogues” for 2030 in present-day South America and other places

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA (8 December 2011) — With climate change posing a threat to food production around the world, scientists are developing a form of virtual time travel that can offer farmers in many countries a glimpse of their future by identifying regions where growing conditions today match those that will exist 20 years from now, according to a new report from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

“Climate Analogues: Finding Tomorrow’s Agriculture Today” (PDF) is an effort by CCAFS to make climate change adaptation a more tangible endeavor by encouraging the exchange of knowledge between communities around the world regarding current agriculture practices that can help farmers maintain productivity in the future, despite potentially dramatic shifts in growing conditions.

“Climate change will significantly alter growing conditions, but in most places the new farming environment will not be novel in the global context,” said Julian Ramirez, a scientist based at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia and a lead author of the study. “Rather, the situation in the future will closely resemble conditions that already exist in other parts of the world. Making these links might offer clues about practical, proven approaches that could enable poor people dependent on agriculture to adapt their farming to changes in temperature and precipitation.”

For example, according to CCAFS analysis, by 2030, maize producers around Durban, South Africa—which is hosting the current round of international climate change negotiations—could face a one degree increase in temperature during the maize growing season. Studies by Stanford University and others indicate that such an increase would reduce yields by about 20% in the absence of adaptive measures. But maize farmers in Argentina and Uruguay are growing maize successfully today under average temperatures that are three degrees higher.

Similarly, soybean farmers in Argentina as well as in the central and southern United States are already managing conditions similar to the ones that soybean growers around Shanghai, China, will experience within about 20 years.

“If Chinese farmers want to continue growing soybean, they need to look at the kinds of farming practices and crop varieties that farmers in northern Argentina and other analogue regions are growing,” said Andy Jarvis, who is leading the project at CIAT and is also a research theme leader for the CCAFS.

CCAFS researchers note that the climate analogues tool currently compares locations based on similarities in precipitation and temperature. It is also designed to identify analogues based on other features-data on soil type and even social and economic conditions are incorporated into the tool.

The tool can also be used in the reverse—looking at one particular location to identify where similar climates might be in 2030. To illustrate the concept, an analogue of present-day Los Angeles, California shows that the southern parts of United States’ eastern seaboard and France, northern Germany, and the Netherlands might experience Hollywood’s traditionally mild winter months (December to February) by 2030.

In 2012, the research team will pilot a series of farmer exchanges between sites in East and West Africa and South Asia to help farmers see for themselves the changes in store and learn about adaptation strategies that could be applied back home. The farmer-to-farmer exchanges will also help researchers understand whether successful adaptation options in one place are indeed transferable to another.

“The analogues tool is rooted in the basic notion that for centuries farmers have been innovating and adapting in response to shifting conditions, providing a rich source of information on how agricultural systems can adapt to climate change,” said Jarvis. “Our goal is to develop an inventory of local knowledge from around the world while linking regions that face similar challenges. We are in many ways turning the world into a laboratory for climate change adaptation.”

“The climate analogues approach to adaption reinforces the broader message that maintaining food security in a world of dramatic and accelerated climate shifts will require new commitment to global cooperation,” said Jarvis.

“As ministers, heads of state and thousands of delegates gather in Durban to negotiate a future climate deal, agriculture is making its way up the agenda, but it is still not getting the attention it deserves,” said Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Climate Program.

“Food security is the bedrock of global stability and with climate change having such a profound effect on food production, farming must figure prominently in the Durban negotiations,” Campbell said. “The research community is developing some exciting ways to deal with both agricultural adaptation and climate change mitigation, but we need countries to create the right mix of policies and incentives to help move this work forward.”

Leading Agricultural Organisations Issue Joint Appeal to COP17 Climate Negotiators at All-Day Event in Durban

Cecilia — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:51:29 +0000

We call on COP17 climate negotiators to take concrete action to include agriculture in the text of the climate agreement. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT)

Announcement highlights the need for long-term investment and support for improved food security, farmer resilience and climate mitigation efforts in agriculture

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA: A group of 16 of the world’s leading agricultural organisations (including three United Nations agencies, the World Bank, CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), FANRPAN, the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) and the World Farmers’ Organisation) has jointly endorsed a letter calling on COP17 climate negotiators to take concrete action to include agriculture in the text of the climate agreement.

The full text of the letter and list of endorsers can be viewed here.

Together, these organizations are hosting an all-day event called Agriculture and Rural Development Day in parallel with the COP17 negotiations in Durban. At the event, more than 500 agricultural experts – including policymakers and negotiators, journalists, farmers, and scientists – are discussing priorities to boost agricultural production while supporting mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Dr. Bruce Campbell, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) says, “It is astonishing that agriculture remains excluded from a global agreement on climate change. This year’s conference offers a unique opportunity for this omission to be addressed.”

Dr. Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chief Executive of the South Africa-based Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), adds, “With a united voice, African farmers have joined their counterparts around the world to put agriculture on the climate agenda. They are calling on negotiators to unlock the continent’s agricultural potential to increase food productivity while helping them build resilience against the impacts of climate change.”

Specifically, these organizations are calling for a Work Programme on agriculture, which would result in a more coordinated and rigorous plan of action for the sector as a whole. The Work Programme would be overseen by the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), an official body within the broader UNFCCC negotiations framework.

Agriculture possesses huge untapped potential to both mitigate future greenhouse gas emissions while helping those most vulnerable adapt to its impacts and reduce pressure on natural resources. To realize this goal, long-term investment in “climate-smart” agricultural approaches must be supported, such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry, sustainable land and water management, and soil carbon management.

Rachel Kyte, Vice President for Sustainable Development, World Bank & Chair, CGIAR Fund Council, welcomed the efforts made by the organizers of Agriculture and Rural Development Day, noting, “No single government or organisation can meet this challenge alone. The new norm must be strong collaboration between business, government, research, and development organizations and between environmental, food security, and other agricultural specialists.”

Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) adds, “Smallholder farmers currently manage up to 80 percent of farmland in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, as well as providing up to 80 percent of the food in developing countries. We must scale up research and investments in sustainable agriculture approaches that have already succeeded in raising smallholders’ productivity while reducing their carbon emissions.”

High-level speakers at the event include:

Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of South Africa
Dr. Mary Robinson, Chair, The Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice & Former President, Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Prof. Sir John Beddington, Chair, Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change
Caroline Spelman, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom & Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom

Currently, 97 percent of agricultural workers live in developing countries, and agriculture typically accounts for 50 percent of total GDP in the least developing countries. It is estimated that the world will require a 70 percent increase in food production by 2050, with climate change already threatening current yields of staple crops, especially in South Asia.

Global food prices are expected to increase on average by 10-20 percent over the next ten years with higher temperatures and more extreme weather seriously undermining farmers’ ability to feed their families and provide food for national and global markets.

Agriculture: A Call to Action for COP17 Climate Change Negotiators

Vanessa — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:17:42 +0000

Leading agricultural agencies have called for a Work Programme for agriculture under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). Photo: P. Casier, CCAFS.

Today, a coalition of Agricultural research organizations, including the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the UN Food and Agriculture Agency, the UN World Food Programme, and others have called upon climate change negotiators to recognize the essential role of agriculture in the fight against climate change.

The call was issued as political leaders gather in Durban, South Africa, to decide on the future of a global climate agreement. The agriculture groups have also organized Agriculture and Rural Development Day on 3 December, a daylong event to share best practises on climate-smart agriculture and show how agriculture is part of the climate solution.

Full text of open letter:

Our world faces formidable challenges. The global population has now crossed the seven billion mark and is projected to reach nine billion by mid-century, requiring at least a 70 percent increase in agricultural production to meet increased demand.

The world’s resources are under more strain than ever before as global demand for water, energy and food is on the rise. At the same time, climate change threatens farmers’ ability to produce enough to meet growing demand, and poor communities’ ability to access nutritious food.

More frequent and extreme weather events are affecting our food supply, our infrastructure and our livelihoods. Last year, Russia suffered its worst drought in more than 100 years, triggering forest fires and destroying millions of hectares of crops. This year we have seen the Horn of Africa face its worst drought in 60 years as more than 13 million people requiring emergency food aid and pastoralists losing a third of their livestock. Recent flooding in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Cambodia has also impacted livelihoods and worsened food insecurity.

The most vulnerable regions of the world – developing countries – are disproportionately affected by climate change, despite contributing little to carbon emissions. People in developing countries depend heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods, yet are increasingly challenged in their ability to produce sufficient food for their families and for markets.

Whilst agriculture is a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it has significant potential to be part of the solution to climate change. Preserving and enhancing food security requires increasing agricultural productivity whilst at the time adapting to and mitigating climate change. It also requires a shift towards building farmers’ and vulnerable communities’ resilience to climate shocks, and related food price volatility.

More productive, sustainable and resilient agriculture requires transformations in how rural people manage natural resources and how efficiently they use these resources as inputs for crop production. For these transformations to occur, it is essential that the world's farmers, scientists, researchers, the private sector, development practitioners and food consumers come together to achieve climate-smart agriculture.

Yet the agricultural sector remains astonishingly underfunded. As a percentage of total investment, agriculture has dropped from 22 percent in 1980 to approximately 6 percent today. In absolute terms, this constitutes a drop to roughly half of the funding allocated thirty years ago.

At the upcoming climate change negotiations in Durban, we call on negotiators to recognise the important role of agriculture in addressing climate change so that a new era of agricultural innovation and knowledge sharing can be achieved. Specifically, we ask that they approve a Work Programme for agriculture under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) so that the sector can take early action to determine the long-term investments needed to transform agriculture to meet future challenges.

Endorsed by:

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

UN World Food Programme (WFP)

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The World Bank

CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)

Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU)

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR)

Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)

World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO)

Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

ACP/EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)

Farming First

Danish Agriculture and Food Council

Agriculture for Impact

Read the new press release direct from the Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) Leading Agricultural Organisations Issue Joint Appeal to COP17 Climate Negotiators at All-Day Event in Durban.

Global Commission Charts Pathway For Achieving Food Security in Face of Climate Change

Vanessa — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:57:56 +0000

The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change has outlined outlines crucial policy responses to the global challenge of feeding a world confronted by climate change. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT).

Scientific experts outline concrete steps toward a sustainable global food system

COPENHAGEN (16 November 2011) — In the lead up to UN global climate talks in Durban, South Africa later this month, an independent global commission of eminent scientists today released a set of concrete recommendations to policy makers on how to achieve food security in the face of climate change. Based on a thorough review of existing research, the commissioners urged immediate, coordinated action toward transforming the food system to meet current and future threats to food security and environmental sustainability.

The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change’s “Summary for Policy Makers” outlines crucial policy responses to the global challenge of feeding a world confronted by climate change, population growth, poverty, food price spikes and degraded ecosystems. The seven high-level recommendations include significantly raising the level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems in the next decade; sustainably intensifying agricultural production on the existing land base while reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and reducing losses and waste in the food system.

Prof. Sir John Beddington, Chair of the Commission, summed up the challenge: “It’s about reorienting the whole global food system – not just agricultural production, and not just in developing countries. We need a socially equitable, global approach to produce the funding, policy, management and regional initiatives that will deliver nutrition, income and climate benefits for all.”

In making their recommendations, the Commissioners cited the interconnected relationship between agriculture and the environment. As populations grow to upwards of 9 billion people, so will demand for food, fuel and feed crops. This could put many agricultural systems under immense stress and result in further depletion of soil fertility, biodiversity and water resources and increase greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere, according to the Commission.

The release of the Commission’s “Summary for Policy Makers” was timed to inform pivotal, upcoming meetings on climate change, including the UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa from November 28 to December 9 and the Rio+20 Earth Summit next year. “Efforts to alleviate the worst effects of climate change cannot succeed without simultaneously addressing the crises in global agriculture and the food system,” said Dr Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, which convened the independent commission in February 2011. “The commission’s invaluable contribution is to provide scientists and policy makers with the most authoritative, evidence-based action steps to date to achieve global food security.” The Commission’s detailed final report will be issued in 2012.

The Commission brings together senior natural and social scientists working in agriculture, climate, food and nutrition, economics and natural resources from Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, India, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

Creating a safe operating space for people on this planet

“There is a strong risk we will live on a food-insecure planet in the future,” said Commissioner Dr Marion Guillou, President of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), “and we need to reshape food access and consumption patterns to ensure basic nutritional needs will be met.” Today, a billion people are malnourished while millions suffer from chronic disease due to over-consumption. World population will grow to an estimated 9 billion by 2050 and diets are shifting towards higher consumption of calories, fats and animal products. Global demand is growing for food, fodder and bioenergy crops, and food prices are rising.

“Climate change is already causing more extreme weather events, such as high temperatures, droughts and floods, and will particularly harm those people who already live on the brink of hunger and malnutrition,” said Commissioner Professor Tekalign Mamo, Advisor to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture. “Food insecurity produces widespread human suffering, even in the world’s wealthiest countries, as well as political and economic instability, so it is clear the status quo is not an option.”

Investment, innovation and empowerment

The Commission reviewed the scientific evidence base to develop a package of solutions that address how food is produced, distributed and consumed. Their recommendations support climate-resilient agricultural production, efficient resource use, low-waste supply chains, adequate nutrition and healthy eating choices that, together, will constitute a sustainable food system.

The “Summary for Policy Makers” presents concrete, urgent actions to be implemented simultaneously by a constellation of governments, international institutions, investors, agricultural producers, consumers, food companies and researchers. Recommended tactics range from shifting economic incentives and making ‘fast start’ funds available for agriculture to strengthening land rights and building transparency in food markets.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” said Commission Vice-Chair Dr Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Research Director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, “but we know that success depends on a combination of investment, innovation and deliberate effort to empower the world's most vulnerable populations.” The Commissioners called for significantly raising the level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems in the next decade.

Efficiency throughout food supply chains

“Our global system wastes food, reducing efficiency in agricultural productivity,” according to the Australian Commissioner Dr Megan Clark, Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). For example, roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted across the global food system. In addition, land clearing and inefficient use of fertilizers and organic residues make agriculture a significant contributor to greenhouse gas pollution on the planet. “Investments to increase efficiencies in agriculture and supply chains while also mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are critical for economic and environmental health and will realise important benefits to the global food system,” she said.

“An estimated 12 million hectares of agricultural land – and their potential for producing 20 million tonnes of grain – are lost each year to land degradation,” explained Commissioner Professor Lin Erda, Director of the Research Centre of Agriculture and Climate Change at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “At the same time, many regions have large gaps between potential and actual crop yields.”

The Commission notes the importance of sustainably intensifying agricultural production on existing land – including improving supporting infrastructure and restoring degraded ecosystems – while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. “Sustainable intensification is essential,” said South African Commissioner Professor Bob Scholes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), “and will be most successful at reducing greenhouse gas emissions if we improve land tenure and have strong land-use planning in place to protect forests, wetlands and other critical remaining natural ecosystems.”

Supporting the most vulnerable

A large section of the human population is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and food price volatility. Severe food insecurity can lead to humanitarian crises such as the current situation in the Horn of Africa. Specific recommendations to assist vulnerable populations include insurance against climate shocks, strategies to moderate food price fluctuations and safety net programs. Education, health and nutrition programs provide much needed pathways out of food insecurity.

“Building resilience to climate change must be deeply rooted in social systems beyond agriculture,” said the Commissioner Dr Rita Sharma, Secretary of India’s National Advisory Council. In India, for example, a program to guarantee rural employment is being used as a strategy to boost income and therefore reduce vulnerability.

“Global donors can help promote better climate change risk management through a more coordinated, multi-benefit approach,” said Mexican Commissioner Dr Adrian Fernández Bremauntz, Senior Consultant at the ClimateWorks Foundation. The Commission calls for national and international agricultural development policies to prioritise boosting productive assets and infrastructure.

Better information for integrated decision-making

“We are already in the business of managing significant risk and navigating trade-offs,” said U.S. Commissioner Professor Molly Jahn of the University of Madison-Wisconsin. “Agricultural greenhouse emissions are undeniably a significant issue. We need to innovate approaches to deal with this, but not at the expense of food production by poor farmers today.” The Commission highlights the importance of improved monitoring and modelling to support integrated decision-making for economic growth, agricultural productivity, poverty reduction and long-term environmental sustainability.

“If we are armed with real-time, spatially explicit information about land uses, markets and human populations, we can do a much better job of meeting our needs and taking care of the planet,” said Commissioner Dr Carlos Nobre of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. “This means better capacity to forecast crises as well as testing specific interventions and scaling up the ones that work.”

Policy kick-start

At the same time, global and national policies need to increase the focus on sustainable agriculture and continue the momentum that has built on food security in order to kick-start a transformation of the whole food system. “Agriculture and food security tend to fall between the cracks of global policy making,” explained the Kenyan Commissioner Professor Judi Wakhungu, Executive Director of the African Center for Technology Studies (ACTS). The Commission points out the need for higher importance of agriculture in discussions concerning the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and at the Rio+20 Earth Summit to be held in Brazil in June 2012.

Commissioners stress the need for multiyear commitments of financial and technical assistance to help agricultural producers build resilience to climate variability and improve their livelihoods, while contributing to climate change mitigation. Commissioner Dr Nguyen Van Bo, President of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science said, “Policies and finance streams must engage and empower poor rural farmers to improve yields and incomes on existing land bases without new environmental impacts.”

The Commission’s final report, upon which the recommendations are based, will be released early in 2012. The Commission will share its recommendations at the upcoming Agriculture and Rural Development Day in Durban, South Africa and other policy forums throughout 2012.

Visit the Commission website for the full report and additional resources.

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The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change is identifying what policy changes and actions are needed now to help the world achieve sustainable agriculture that contributes to food security and poverty reduction, and helps respond to climate change adaptation and mitigation goals. The Commission is an initiative of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (www.ccafs.cgiar.org), with additional support from the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development.

The Commission’s Action points

(Full details elaborated in “Summary for Policy Makers” document at http://www.ccafs.cgiar.org/commission)

Integrate food security and sustainable agriculture into global and national policies
Significantly raise the level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems in the next decade
Sustainably intensify agricultural production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts of agriculture
Target populations and sectors that are most vulnerable to climate change and food insecurity
Reshape food access and consumption patterns to ensure basic nutritional needs are met and to foster healthy and sustainable eating habits worldwide
Reduce loss and waste in food systems, particularly from infrastructure, farming practices, processing, distribution and household habits
Create comprehensive, shared, integrated information systems that encompass human and ecological dimensions

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Scientists Eye “Windows of Opportunity” for Adapting Food Crops To Climate Change in the Next Two Decades

Vanessa — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:01:00 +0000

A farmer with climbing beans in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A new study finds that modest temperature and rainfall changes significantly reduce the area suited for this crop. Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT).

New Support Needed to Tap the Genetic Potential of Seed Banks With Increased Aid from Biotechnology

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (3 OCTOBER 2011)—Responding to appeals from African leaders for new tools to deal with the effects of climate change on food production, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has released a series of studies focused on “climate proofing” crops critical to food security in the developing world.

The studies constitute various chapters in a new book titled Crop Adaptation to Climate Change from John Wiley & Sons, which was developed by an international team of the world’s leading climate and agricultural researchers to provide adaptation strategies for more than a dozen crops—such as potatoes, beans, bananas and cassava—on which billions of people depend worldwide.

The studies describe how climate change could threaten food production and how specific adaptation strategies could neutralize or at least significantly lessen the impact. They argue that investments are urgently needed to identify important genetic traits, including drought tolerance and pest resistance, which will be critical for helping farmers adapt to new growing conditions.

“In these studies, we’ve brought together the best climate science with the best knowledge of crop improvement to spell out how crops will be affected and what plant breeders can do to avert or at least cushion potentially devastating blows,” said Julian Ramirez, a scientist at the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and one of the authors of the studies.

The studies indicate that many of the critical traits farmers will need to deal with hotter, dryer, and in some cases, wetter conditions likely reside in seeds now safeguarded by international crop genebanks. But researchers note that tapping the potential of plant genetic resources, particularly the rich vein of traits contained in the wild relatives of key crops, will require more intensive application of cutting edge biotechnology, including new tools from the rapidly developing fields of genomics and transgenics.

“These results offer plant breeders a strong foundation for establishing research priorities for the next two decades, which is about the time they’ll need to develop new generations of crop varieties suited to shifting agriculture environments,” said Bruce Campbell, CCAFS director.

The studies indicate that the most direct impact on crop yields will come from changes in temperature and rainfall. But they also warn that indirect effects of climate change could result from altered incidence of pests and disease, though these changes will not always be for the worse.

Scientists report that the potato, for example, a dietary staple for millions of people around the world, is especially vulnerable to heat stress, which reduces growth and starch formation. Rising temperatures in southern Africa and tropical highlands worldwide could be particularly hazardous. Scientists believe that developing and distributing heat-tolerant potato varieties could reduce climate-related damage for about 65 percent (7.7 million hectares) of the world’s potato crop.

Also of concern is the potato tuber moth, which could spread northward and to higher elevations as a result of climate change. But drier, warmer summers in some regions will likely depress the incidence of potato’s worst disease – late blight, which caused Ireland’s potato famine in the 19^th century.

Data on the projected impacts of climate change on bananas, beans, cassava and potatoes are available on the website of the recently launched Adaptation and Mitigation Knowledge Network (AMKN) (www.amkn.org). This online platform brings together a large volume of knowledge from diverse sources about climate mitigation and adaptation and links it to interactive maps. Users can access tools and information, such as climate models, drought indexes, and socio-economic data about agriculture, together with farmer comments on video and photos from pilot sites across the tropics.

“Until now, all this information has been widely dispersed, making it hard for scientists, policy-makers, and civil society actors to get a proper grasp of the complex interactions between agriculture and climate change,” said Andy Jarvis, an agricultural geographer at CIAT who also oversees CCAFS research on climate change adaptation. “By making key information freely and easily available for the first time, the AMKN should greatly enhance our understanding of the threat that climate change poses to food security and ultimately our ability to curb the threat.”

For many crops, developing the traits needed to cope with climate change promises to be a long, arduous process, the new studies suggest. Past banana and potato breeding has focused mainly on yield, product quality, and pest- and disease-resistance, while tolerance to drought and heat has received scant attention.

Yet, scientists express confidence that the thousands of samples of traditional varieties and crop wild relatives held in genebanks likely contain a wide diversity of tolerance traits. Though largely neglected in modern crop breeding, traditional varieties and crop wild relatives could play a vital role in helping farmers adapt to climate change, despite the challenges of crossing species that are distantly related.

To overcome those barriers, researchers say they need more detailed information on the traits contained in crop genebanks and more support for deploying biotechnology tools to gather and use this information.

"This pioneering research, which considers crop-by-crop how climate change will alter food production in the future, opens up new windows of opportunity for research to deal with the challenges that farmers face around the world," said Campbell. "But given how rapidly growing conditions are changing, these windows won't be open for long. We must act now to ensure that in the coming decades farmers have the technologies they need to maintain a food-secure world."

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The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is a strategic partnership of the CGIAR and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). CCAFS brings together the world’s best researchers in agricultural science, development research, climate science and Earth System science, to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture and food security.

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Climate Information Crucial to Help Reduce Risk and Limit Disaster Damage

Cecilia — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:06:30 +0000

Washington, USA (21 JUNE 2011) - Forecasts can play an invaluable role when used properly in helping humanitarian agencies and governments plan for and prevent disasters, according to a new report launched today at the American Red Cross Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Climate and weather disasters, from the massive floods in Pakistan, Australia and Colombia, to the devastating drought in Niger, have claimed thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars in damages in the last year. According to statistics from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, these types of disasters have risen significantly in the last few decades. Scientists expect changes in climate will make extreme events more frequent and intense in the future.

Governments and humanitarian organizations, such as the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are placing greater emphasis on trying to prevent and minimize the impact of disasters by making earlier and better informed decisions ahead of time. The new report, called A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management, is the latest in the Climate and Society series produced by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI). The IRI published the report in partnership with OCHA, IFRC, WFP, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The report details ways in which disaster risk managers can improve their decision making by integrating climate information into their operations. Monthly, seasonal and long-term climate forecasts typically provided by national meteorological agencies and expert institutions such as NOAA and the IRI can guide contingency planning, logistical preparations, and resource-allocation decisions. At the same time, information about how the climate is likely to change in coming decades helps disaster managers evaluate how investments made today will stand up to future extremes.

“What we are able to show in the report is that climate information providers and humanitarian actors can effectively communicate and develop useful working relationships,” says the publication’s director, Molly Hellmuth. “And when they do, there is great potential to save lives and reduce the impacts of disasters–which is a real motivation to both groups."

In 2008, IFRC issued its first-ever international emergency appeal based on a seasonal climate forecast, using this forecast to develop contingency plans, preposition stocks, and train volunteers to respond to floods in West Africa. When floods occurred in Togo, Senegal, Ghana and the Gambia, national Red Cross societies were ready and able to distribute emergency supplies within 48 hours. The previous year, without the climate forecast, responding to floods took 40 days and cost three times as much per beneficiary.

A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management (PDF) details this and 16 other examples including: integrating rainfall and hurricane forecasts into planning in post-earthquake Haiti; using climate information to increase long-term food security in Kenya; and using games to help humanitarian workers better understand how to use complex climate information. The key lessons and recommendations in the report include:

Weather and climate information, especially seasonal forecasts, can be used to help reduce the impacts of disasters by informing preparedness, disaster prevention, and emergency response.

Partnerships between climate scientists and disaster risk managers are essential to develop trust and create actionable information. “The best, actionable climate information arises out of a dialogue between climate scientists and disaster risk managers–it can’t be a one-way process,” says Maarten van Aalst of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, one of the report’s authors. “This requires investing in a relationship that promotes knowledge sharing, trust and creativity.”

Climate information needs to be integrated into existing decision-making platforms to ensure disaster managers can use it in their daily activities and that it helps generate concrete action.

Immediate gains can be made to improve disaster risk management in areas of the world where seasonal forecasts are more reliable, and where better-informed humanitarian decisions can provide relatively strong and immediate returns on investment.

Better funding mechanisms linked to climate early warning are needed. Governments, humanitarian organizations and donors should provide stronger support for preparedness and prevention measures, including more systematic funding for early action based on relevant climate information.

“We recognize that preventing and managing disasters is extremely complex and goes beyond just using climate information,” says IRI Director-General, Steve Zebiak. “However, in our partnership to save lives with the IFRC, we have seen the tangible value of improved preparedness when climate informs disaster-risk management.”

# # #

More information

For more information on this process, please visit: http://iri.columbia.edu/csp3

Download the full report: A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management (PDF - 5 mb)

Download the Policy Brief: A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management (PDF - 1.5 mb)

Click to learn more about CCAFS work on managing climate risk

REDD+ Strategies Lack Plan for Agriculture Even as Countries Cite Farm Expansion as Main Cause of Forest Loss

Vanessa — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:27:23 +0000

BONN, GERMANY (8 JUNE 2011)—The majority of countries participating in a major global effort to reduce greenhouse emissions caused by forest destruction cite agriculture as the main cause of deforestation, but very few provide details on how they would address the link between agriculture and forestry, according to a new analysis by experts probing the effect of climate change on food security.

Moreover, many of these countries are pursuing food, cash crop and biofuel production policies that could intensify agriculture-related pressures on forest lands, offering further evidence of the disconnect between farm policy and climate policy within the “REDD+” process. (REDD stands for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation).

Deforestation currently accounts for about 12 to 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. And most of that loss occurs when forests are cleared to make way for food and biofuel production.

“There is simply no way governments can have credible REDD+ strategies unless their top priority is to address agriculture and food security – these are the main drivers of forest destruction,” said Bruce Campbell of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). “The need to make these connections is urgent because the commercial demands, food security issues, and government mandates driving agriculture’s expansion into forested areas will only increase.”

The CCAFS research project was done in partnership with Lexeme Consulting based in Vancouver, Canada.

The findings were released in Bonn this week at technical negotiations hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They were drawn from an examination of REDD+ “readiness proposals” submitted by 20 countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). The Facility is providing US$345 million to developing countries to prepare for a future in which significant financial payments could be tied to the preservation of forest-based carbon.

Sixteen of the 20 countries studied cited agriculture as the primary driver of deforestation and forest degradation. The other four cited mining and logging as the main factor, but indicated that agriculture was among the top three. The study also found countries pursuing food and biofuel production goals that appear to be in direct conflict with their REDD+ forest preservation priorities.

For example, while Argentina has taken exemplary steps to protect its forests – including a tax on agriculture exports to fight deforestation – it passed legislation in 2006 that promotes vegetable oils and animal fats for biofuels, and sugar cane, corn and sorghum for bioethanol. Argentina also struggles with how to limit industrial soybean production, largely grown as fodder for meat production around the world, which accounts for 70 percent of deforestation in the country.

“While some countries admit that the agricultural sector must be addressed in their REDD+ readiness plans, all countries are hard-pressed to define how conflicting government mandates and powerful economic interests, particularly with regard to large-scale industrial agriculture such as oil palm or soybean production, will be reconciled with their well-intentioned REDD+ goals,” said Gabrielle Kissinger, the author of the CCAFS-supported study.

Throughout the readiness documents, lucrative industrial and commercial activities – often linked to specific government and trade policies – emerged as especially significant agriculture-related drivers of deforestation. In Vietnam, cultivation of coffee, cashew, pepper, rice, rubber and shrimp for export markets is causing the steady erosion of forests. In Costa Rica, the key factor is government-promoted meat exports. While in Mexico, export-oriented farm production, enabled in part by North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), plays a major role in the 82 percent of deforestation caused by crops or livestock grazing. Indonesia does not provide details on industrial drivers of deforestation, but there is considerable evidence elsewhere that large-scale oil palm plantations have been a major factor in the loss of millions of hectares of carbon-rich peat lands.

Almost all of the countries studied – 15 out of 20 – indicated efforts were underway to expand commercial and agriculture production that would serve urban and export markets or satisfy rising international demand for biofuels.

Several countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, cited smallholder farmers as key contributors to forest clearing, but there appears to be a different dynamic at work for this type of agricultural pursuit. Also, recent research suggests the impact of smallholders on forests is decreasing relative to that of commercial concerns.

“It is clear that in order to deal with agriculture as a cause of deforestation we need to understand what is driving agricultural expansion,” said Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN). ”Smallholders need better access to the tools and information they need to increase the productivity of existing farmland more effectively and sustainably. This will enable them to manage the complex responsibilities they have to both safeguard precious forest areas while ensuring global food security challenges continue to be met."

Meanwhile, research indicates that increasing production on smallholder farms will be a crucial factor in ensuring there is enough food available to feed a population that is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Most of that growth is expected to occur in the same regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America that are priorities for REDD+ initiatives.

The CCAFS-supported study finds Brazil could offer a potential model for how to boost agriculture production while also decreasing rates of deforestation over the last six years. Brazil has become a global agriculture powerhouse – while using only 6 percent of its arable land. It has accomplished this mainly through strong cross-sectoral commitments, better monitoring and financial incentives, as well as a coordinated development effort that emphasizes such things as improved soil health and high-yield crop varieties. The important nesting of federal and state commitments is exemplified by Brazil’s Acre State’s REDD+ plans, which encompasses all lands and use types, including the full-range of agricultural uses that impact Acre’s forests, and could provide a model for how to integrate REDD+ strategies with agriculture production goals.

During a side event at the Bonn meeting hosted by CCAFS and FAO, several participants noted that the challenges facing the REDD+ process are largely due to a long-standing neglect of fundamental problems related to food security and forest governance in the developing world.

“In many ways, most forest destruction reflects a far bigger battle over land, which will influence how we can produce enough food and biomass in an equitable and sustainable way,” said Joachim von Braun, Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) in Bonn.

Frances Seymour, director general of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), said CIFOR's studies in regions suffering significant loss of natural forests show that changes in the ways governments support local landuse decisions can make a significant difference.

“If governments are committed to addressing local land tenure and access rights to forest resources, facilitating fair and transparent landuse planning, and taking forest-based ecosystem services into account, they can support the achievement of both agriculture and REDD+ objectives,’” she said.

Lini Wollenberg, who leads CCAFS research theme on mitigation pointed out that REDD+ strategies should embrace initiatives that can make agriculture more compatible with forest protection. These include the expansion of measures, like certification schemes tied to sustainable agriculture production that could provide a financial incentive to protect forests.

She also recommended that much more could be done to shift agriculture to “degraded” lands that are still capable of being productive and to promote agriculture pursuits that increase carbon storage, such as agroforestry.

“There are many ways agriculture can be brought into the REDD+ process and it’s time for countries to start investing their REDD+ readiness funds to pursue this goal,” she said.

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Study Reveals Future “Hotspots” of Risk for Hundreds of Millions Whose Food Problems are on a Collision Course with Climate Change

Vanessa — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:25:30 +0000

Map 4.4 Five percent reduction in crop season, sensitivity to change, capacity to cope (Corrected). Source: CGIAR.

Note: This press release was edited on 7 July 2011 after the authors spotted an error in their calculations. Changes are shown with strikethrough and in bold; a full discussion of the issue and new calculations are available at this link.

Scientists Warn Disaster Looms for Parts of Africa and All of India if Chronic Food Insecurity Converges with Crop-wilting Weather; Latin America also Vulnerable

COPENHAGEN (3 JUNE 2011)—A new study has matched future climate change “hotspots” with regions already suffering chronic food problems to identify highly-vulnerable populations, chiefly in Africa and South Asia, but potentially in China and Latin America as well, where in fewer than 40 years, the prospect of shorter, hotter or drier growing seasons could imperil hundreds of millions of already-impoverished people.

The report, "Mapping Hotspots of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Global Tropics" (PDF) was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The work was undertaken by a team of scientists responding to an urgent need to focus climate change adaptation efforts on people and places where the potential for harsher growing conditions poses the gravest threat to food production and food security.

The researchers pinpointed areas of intense vulnerability by examining a variety of climate models and indicators of food problems to create a series of detailed maps. One shows regions around the world at risk of crossing certain “climate thresholds”—such as temperatures too hot for maize or beans—that over the next 40 years could diminish food production. Another shows regions that may be sensitive to such climate shifts because in general they have large areas of land devoted to crop and livestock production. And finally, scientists produced maps of regions with a long history of food insecurity.

“When you put these maps together they reveal places around the world where the arrival of stressful growing conditions could be especially disastrous,” said Polly Ericksen, a senior scientist at the CGIAR’s International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya and the study’s lead author. “These are areas highly exposed to climate shifts, where survival is strongly linked to the fate of regional crop and livestock yields, and where chronic food problems indicate that farmers are already struggling and they lack the capacity to adapt to new weather patterns.”

“This is a very troubling combination,” she added.

For example, in large parts of South Asia, including almost all of India, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa—chiefly West Africa—there are 369 265 million food-insecure people living in agriculture-intensive areas that are highly exposed to a potential five percent decrease in the length of the growing period. Such a change over the next 40 years could significantly affect food yields and food access for people—many of them farmers themselves—already living on the edge.

Higher temperatures also could exact a heavy toll. Today, there are 56 170 million food-insecure and crop-dependent people in parts of West Africa, India and China who live in areas where, by the mid-2050s, maximum daily temperatures during the growing season could exceed 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). This is close to the maximum temperature that beans can tolerate, while maize and rice yields may suffer when temperatures exceed this level. For example, a study last year in Nature found that even with optimal amounts of rain, African maize yields could decline by one percent for each day spent above 30ºC.

Regional predictions for shifts in temperatures and precipitation going out to 2050 were developed by analyzing the outputs of climate models rooted in the extensive data amassed by the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Researchers identified populations as chronically food-insecure if more than 40 percent of children under the age of five were “stunted”—that is, they fall well below the World Health Organization’s height-for-age standards.

“We are starting to see much more clearly where the effect of climate change on agriculture could intensify hunger and poverty, but only if we fail to pursue appropriate adaptation strategies,” said Patti Kristjanson, a research theme leader at CCAFS. “Farmers already adapt to variable weather patterns by changing their planting schedules or moving animals to different grazing areas. What this study suggests is that the speed of climate shifts and the magnitude of the changes required to adapt could be much greater. In some places, farmers might need to consider entirely new crops or new farming systems.”

Crop breeders at CGIAR centers around the world already are focused on developing so-called “climate ready” crop varieties able to produce high yields in more stressful conditions. For some regions, however, that might not be a viable option—in parts of East and Southern Africa, for example, temperatures may become too hot to maintain maize as the staple crop, requiring a shift to other food crops, such as sorghum or cassava, to meet nutrition needs. In addition, farmers who now focus mainly on crop cultivation might need to integrate livestock and agroforestry as a way to maintain and increase food production.

“International trade in agriculture commodities is also likely to assume even more importance for all regions as climate change intensifies the existing limits of national agriculture systems to satisfy domestic food needs,” said Bruce Campbell, director of CCAFS. “We have already seen with the food price spikes of 2008 and 2010 that food security is an international phenomenon and climate change is almost certainly going to intensify that interdependence.”

Ericksen and her colleagues note that regions of concern extend beyond those found to be most at risk. For example, in many parts of Latin America, food security is relatively stable at the moment—suggesting that a certain amount of “coping capacity” could be available to deal with future climate stresses that affect agriculture production. Yet there is cause for concern because millions of people in the region are highly dependent on local agricultural production to meet their food needs and they are living in the very crosshairs of climate change.

The researchers found, for example, that by 2050, prime growing conditions are likely to drop below 120 days per season in intensively-farmed regions of northeast Brazil and Mexico. Growing seasons of at least 120 days are considered critical not only for the maturation of maize and several other staple food crops, but also for vegetation crucial to feeding livestock.

In addition, parts of Latin America are likely to experience temperatures too hot for bean production, a major food staple in the region.

The study also shows that some areas today have a “low sensitivity” to the effects of climate change only because there is not a lot of land devoted to crop and livestock production. But agriculture intensification would render them more vulnerable, adding a wrinkle, for example, to the massive effort underway to rapidly expand crop cultivation in the so-called “bread-basket” areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

“Evidence suggests that these specific regions in the tropics may be severely affected by 2050 in terms of their crop production and livestock capacity. The window of opportunity to develop innovative solutions that can effectively overcome these challenges is limited,” said Philip Thornton, a CCAFS research theme leader and one of the paper’s co-authors. “Major adaptation efforts are needed now if we are to avoid serious food security and livelihood problems later.”

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New Commission Confronts Threats to Food Security from Climate Change

Vanessa — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Experts from Six Continents are Set to Produce Policy Recommendations For Boosting Food Production in Face of Harsher Climates, Increasing Populations, Scarce Resources

COPENHAGEN (11 March 2011) — Recent droughts and floods have contributed to increases in food prices. These are pushing millions more people into poverty and hunger, and are contributing to political instability and civil unrest. Climate change is predicted to increase these threats to food security and stability. Responding to this, the world’s largest agriculture research consortium today announced the creation of a new Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.

Chaired by the United Kingdom’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Sir John Beddington, the Commission will in the next ten months seek to build international consensus on a clear set of policy actions to help global agriculture adapt to climate change, achieve food security and reduce poverty and greenhouse gas emissions.

There is a rich body of scientific evidence for sustainable agriculture approaches that can increase production of food, fibre and fuel, help decrease poverty and benefit the environment, but agreement is needed on how best to put these approaches into action at scale. Evidence also shows that climate change, with population growth and pressures on natural resources, is set to produce food shortages and biodiversity loss worldwide unless action is taken now.

“Extreme weather like the droughts in Russia, China and Brazil and the flooding in Pakistan and Australia have contributed to a level of food price volatility we haven't seen since the oil crisis of 40 years ago,” Beddington said. “Unfortunately, this could be just a taste of things to come because in the next few decades the build-up of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere could greatly increase risk of droughts, flooding, pest infestation and water scarcity for agriculture systems already under tremendous stress.”

The Commission brings together senior natural and social scientists working in agriculture, climate, food and nutrition, economics, and natural resources from Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, India, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

“I think policymakers are eager for a clear set of recommendations supported by a strong scientific consensus for achieving food security in a world where weather extremes seem to becoming more and more common,” said Dr. Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Research Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and the Commission’s Deputy Chair. “This Commission is confronting a problem not just of the future but, for places like Bangladesh, a problem of the present. We already are seeing major changes in growing conditions caused by higher temperatures and loss of productive lands to rising sea levels.”

Today, scientists are increasingly concerned that more extreme weather events, especially drought and floods will impede the growth in food production required to avert hunger and political instability as the global population increases to nine billion people by 2050. Even an increase in global mean temperatures of only two degrees Celsius—the low end of current estimates—could significantly reduce crop and livestock yields. Supporting these concerns has been the weather-induced crop losses that contributed to high food prices this year and in 2008.

The World Bank reported in February that the recent rise in food prices—which included a doubling of wheat prices and a 73 percent increase in maize prices—already has pushed an extra 44 million people into poverty. World Bank President Robert Zoellick said food prices have been an “aggravating factor” in the political turmoil in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere in the Middle East and that their destabilizing effect “could become more serious.”

The Commission has been set up by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security program (CCAFS) – a 10-year effort launched by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) – with support from the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development. .

“Our ability to deal with the effects of climate change on food security, in both the developed and developing world, will largely determine whether our future is one marked by stability or perpetual food shocks,” said Dr Bruce Campbell, Director of CCAFS. “But there are so many perspectives on the best way for farmers to adapt to climate change—and for farmers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as well—that we have ended up sort of paralyzed by a lack of clear choices.”

The Commission will synthesize existing research to clearly articulate scientific findings on the potential impact of climate change on food security globally and regionally. The Commission will then produce a set of specific policy actions for dealing with these challenges.

The Commission’s findings will be primarily directed to international policy, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Rio+20 Earth Summit, and the Group of 20 (G20) industrialized and developing countries.

Broad Coalition Gathers to Open the Door for Agriculture in International Climate Change Negotiations

Vanessa — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:36:36 +0000

Women farming in Cinzana village, Mali. Agriculture is a global crossroads where the issues of climate change, food security and poverty meet. Photo: Peter Casier.

Agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions and vulnerability to climate change impacts are far too big to ignore, say scientists

CANCUN/MEXICO, 2 December 2010—Not content to see farming remain outside the international climate change negotiations under way in Mexico, a broad coalition of 17 organizations will bring together more than 400 policy makers, farmers, scientists, business leaders and development specialists on Saturday, December 4 to define steps for opening the door to agriculture within the next six months, permitting its full inclusion in both national action plans as well as the global climate agenda.

"Agriculture is a global crossroads where the issues of climate change, food security and poverty meet," said Inger Andersen, Chair of the CGIAR Fund and Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. "Dealing with these challenges separately in a piecemeal fashion is no longer viable; an integrated approach is the way forward. Increasingly, that is how we are approaching our work to achieve environmental, economic and social sustainability for lasting poverty reduction."

This is the conviction that gave rise to Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2010, which is taking place in parallel with the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The organizers of the day are pushing for agriculture's inclusion based on the argument that this sector is both part of the climate change problem and part of the solution.

Three straightforward propositions

"The link between climate change and agriculture cannot be overlooked," said Elwyn Grainger-Jones of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), speaking on behalf of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development. The threat posed to smallholder agriculture is especially grave, according to IFAD's forthcoming Rural Poverty Report 2011. "The case for incorporating agriculture into the global climate change agenda rests on three propositions," Grainger-Jones added.

First, agriculture accounts for about a third of total greenhouse gas emissions, including those from deforestation that are related to agricultural expansion. This is more than emissions from the entire transportation sector, and it simply cannot be left out of an international climate agreement that would pretend to be comprehensive and effective.

Second, agriculture is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, such as rising temperatures and more severe weather. By depressing agricultural productivity—with expected losses on the order of 10-30 percent in developing countries—and by raising the price of food, climate change could swell the ranks of the malnourished by 20 percent over the next several decades, according to a study by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

And third, agriculture offers unique possibilities for successful investments and policies that simultaneously reduce emissions, help communities adapt to climate change and increase food production. Better management of agricultural land has the potential to capture an estimated six billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year by the 2030 while also improving soil health and protecting biodiversity.Sustainable practices do exist

"Conservation agriculture figures importantly among the actions that Mexico will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.83 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the next 2 years," said Ignacio Rivera Rodríguez, Sub-Secretary for Rural Development in Mexico's Secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA).

This and other practices could also contribute significantly to climate change adaptation, protecting the livelihoods of rural people in developing countries—who account for 75 percent of the world's poor. Such approaches are vital as well for achieving the 70 percent increase in food production that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates is needed to feed a population of more than nine billion people by 2050.

"Sub-Saharan Africa is among the regions that will be hardest hit by climate change," said Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chief Executive Officer of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) and Farming First spokesperson. "Unless action is taken now to help farmers respond, the impacts of climate change could derail the region's revitalized efforts to transform the agricultural sector and deflate the optimism this has created about a uniquely African 'Green and Rainbow' Revolution."

Looking to the future of agriculture

Beyond 2050, the impacts could become unmanageable, pushing rural people in parts of Africa and South Asia beyond their capacity to cope, argue CGIAR scientists. This is why they believe it is urgent to pursue climate change mitigation in agriculture, building on recent progress with REDD+, which stands for reducing deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks.

"Some argue that REDD+ is already complicated enough without agriculture, while others point out that at least half the emissions from deforestation come from agricultural expansion," said Bruce Campbell, Director of the Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is a collaborative initiative of the CGIAR and Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP).

This critical connection between agriculture and forests is a key topic at Agriculture and Rural Development Day and will also be dealt with on 5 December at Forest Day 4, another event taking place alongside COP16. The organizers of both days will address this issue jointly at an official COP16 side event to be held on 6 December. They aim to determine how the two sectors can work together to confront climate change, while bolstering food security through sustainable agriculture and forest management.

"A big challenge for agriculture is to offer farmers both the means and incentives to grow more food sustainably on less land rather than extend the agricultural frontiers into forests," said Campbell. "This is the kind of triple win we're seeking to address climate change in agriculture while also achieving food security and boosting rural incomes."

AGRICULTURE & RURAL DEVELOPMENT DAY 2010
4 December 2010
Gran Meliá Hotel, Cancún/Mexico

To RSVP or request interviews, please contact: media [at] agricultureday [dot] org
Jeff Haskins: +1 301 646 9869/ +52 1 5517063158 or Pascal Corbé: +49 160 97 832 339
or visit agricultureday.org

Editor's note: For live updates, photos, and video from Agriculture Day,
visit the ARDD Blog at http://www.agricultureday.org/blog/. Follow @AgClimate on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

Press Release: New, Most Comprehensive Program to Date Seeks to Ensure Food Production Is Not Crippled by Climate Change

Vanessa — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:18:39 +0000

Urgent Action Needed to Help Poor People Adapt to Climate Shifts that have Ominous Implications for Africa and Asia, Say Leaders of New Program

WASHINGTON, DC (November 17, 2010)—Amidst growing alarm that climate change could deal a catastrophic blow to food security in poor countries, a partnership of the world’s premiere experts on agriculture, climate, and the environment today announced an intensive global response to confront the impacts of shifting weather patterns on crop and livestock production and their dire consequences for food security.

By 2020, the effort aims to reduce poverty by 10 percent in the targeted regions; reduce the number of rural poor who are malnourished by 25 percent; and help farmers in developing countries contribute to climate change mitigation by either enhancing storage or reducing greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to 1000 million tons over a decade, compared with a “business-as-usual” scenario.

The program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, or CCAFS, will be formally launched on 4 December at Agriculture and Rural Development Day at COP16. It is the most comprehensive effort undertaken thus far to address the interactions between climate change and food security, livelihoods and environmental management. Emerging from new collaboration between the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP), the program brings together strategic research carried out by the CGIAR, ESSP and their respective partners in a collective effort to be coordinated by the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

“Farmers have shown a remarkable ability over the centuries to adapt to climate uncertainty, but rapidly rising temperatures and associated unpredictable weather could push more vulnerable small farmers beyond their current ability to cope with the coming changes in crop cycles and in disease, insect and weed pressures,” said Lloyd Le Page, Chief Executive Officer of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres. “That’s why we’re bringing together the world’s best scientists, and finding new ways for them to work together with farmers and decision-makers to deliver innovation and knowledge that will help solve these challenges.”

The launch of CCAFS marks the beginning of a long-term endeavor with an initial 3-year budget totaling US$206 million. By building on current research for development and funding and by attracting new scientific collaboration and financial support, the program will go far toward its goal of achieving sustainable food security in the face of climate change.

“This new collaborative program represents a bold and innovative response to the challenge of adapting agriculture to climate change and variability while realizing the opportunities open to farmers for mitigating global warming,” said Inger Andersen, CGIAR Fund Chair and Vice President for Sustainable Development, World Bank. “It goes far beyond current activities, marking a new phase in our efforts to cope with climate change in agriculture through cutting-edge collaborative science.”

“The CGIAR centers have always worked to help farmers in poor countries cope with challenging conditions by providing drought-tolerant crops or better soil and water management strategies,” said Bruce Campbell, CCAFS Director. “But climate change threatens to alter growing conditions so rapidly and dramatically as to require an intensive effort that draws on the combined talents of all of our centers and partners. We want to bring a sense of urgency to finding and implementing solutions and attracting more support for this effort.”

“The collaboration between the CGIAR scientists and the ESSP scholars is unique in bringing together two different and separate but highly skilled research communities that cover basic and applied research on development, sustainability and environmental change,” said Rik Leemans, Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the ESSP. “Sharing and joining our resources will unquestionably result in innovative ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change and simultaneously provide successful incentives to advance development.”

Research finds that stressed agriculture systems in Africa are highly vulnerable, with studies predicting climate shifts could dramatically reduce crop yields and incomes with smallholder farmers in struggling developing countries bearing the brunt of the impact. In Asia, there are studies warning of changes in monsoon, glacier and snowmelt in areas already facing stiff competition for water resources. In Asia’s populated and intensely-farmed coastal zones, rising sea levels threaten the viability of fertile croplands.

CCAFS partners will identify and test climate change adaptation and mitigation practices, technologies, and policies that are suitable for poor, smallholder farmers and other stakeholders affected by climate change.

They will also identify “hot spots” where intervention is urgent and conduct vulnerability assessments. In addition, they will refine models that predict the impacts of a changing climate on agriculture and livelihoods, and identify ways to select crop varieties and livestock breeds with essential traits and novel farming and food systems suitable for future climate conditions.

Partners will further help farmers deal with changes in plant, pest and disease pressures, which are particularly likely in areas where temperatures are rising, and—in collaboration with other critical actors in the food system—they will conduct research on adaptation and mitigation policies that can enhance food security.

Much of the work on the ground will begin in 2011 with an initial focus on East and West Africa and the agricultural regions of south Asia known as the Indo-Gangetic Plain.

Early “wins” include securing a major role for agriculture in the post-2012 international climate change regime and establishing a global network of data collection sites that can help identify options for adapting to climate change.

To be held alongside the United Nations Conference on Climate Change taking place in Cancún, Mexico, Agriculture and Rural Development Day will convene some 500 policy makers, farmers, scientists and development experts who will seek to identify climate change solutions in agriculture and move this key sector to the forefront of international climate debate.

The program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is a strategic partnership of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). CCAFS brings together the world’s best researchers in agricultural science, development research, climate science, and Earth System science, to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture and food security. For more information, visit www.ccafs.cgiar.org.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for sustainable development with the funders of this work. The funders include developing and industrialized country governments, foundations, and international and regional organizations. The work they support is carried out by 15 members of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector. www.cgiar.org - http://cgiarconsortium.cgxchange.org.

The Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) was established in 2001 to promote cooperation for the integrated study of the Earth system, the changes that are occurring to the system and the implications of these changes for global sustainability. Brings together global environmental change researchers worldwide, the ESSP comprises four international global environmental change research programmes: DIVERSITAS, specialising in biodiversity and agro-biodiversity; the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), specialising in institutional, socioeconomic and human security issues related to global environmental change and the policies to address it; the International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme (IGBP), specialising in the physical, chemical and biological processes that define Earth system dynamics; and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), specialising in climate science. http://www.essp.org/

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Media Advisory: 2°C and Rising: Food Security in a Two-Degree World, How to Cope?

Audiobriefing

An audiobriefing was held on 17 November 2010. An audio recording of the briefing is available below.