As I sit inside the negotiating chambers of the climate talks in Warsaw, I am watching yet again a huge potential solution to climate concerns being neglected. Despite a united effort from the global agricultural community since 2009 to commit to climate change solutions, the world’s farmers continue to be sidelined for yet another year.
One billion farmers stand on the front line of climate change — and stand to see their livelihoods severely affected, not to mention the nine billion people they will be required to feed by 2050. It is estimated that food demand could rise by 35 percent by 2030, 77 percent of which will need to come from higher crop yields — a difficult task when harsher weather conditions are likely to reduce crop yields in years to come.
With this in mind — how can climate change negotiators still not take responsibility to help farmers adapt and miss the incredible opportunity that the agricultural sector can make to mitigate future climate change?
The tales of horror and destruction in India and most recently the Philippines should have been a sobering warning to bring agriculture front of mind at COP19. Filipino farmers have had thousands of acres of rice plantations destroyed, and coconut plantations have been “completely flattened”. Coconuts account for nearly half the Philippines’ agricultural exports and the country is the world’s biggest producer of coconut oil, so it is clear to see that the need to prepare countries for extreme weather conditions and therefore protect farmer livelihoods is increasingly urgent. In the context of an ever-changing climate, it is vital that farmers are given the tools they require to adapt to new growing conditions and produce the food and fuel the swelling population demands.
Read the full story by Anette Engelund Friis on The Huffington Post blog.
Photo: S. Mann (ILRI)
