December 2011

Written by Brent Swallow, University of Alberta. This blog entry is a follow up to his post How smart is climate-smart agriculture?. This post has also been published on www.agricultureday.org.

Agriculture and Rural Development Day was a resounding success, with over 500 people participants and an excellent set of plenary presentations, small group “learning events,” and a fun engagement with the South African Minister of Agriculture. For me the highlights were threefold:

1. A presentation of the summary of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change by Sir John Beddington. The Commission Report includes summary analysis and a set of clearly articulated and workable recommendations.
2. Showcasing of many examples of innovative agricultural development initiatives in the learning events
3. Coalescing of a common approach and simple message about the links between agriculture and climate change that may be simple enough to get the attention of the negotiators.
   

In an interview with Moushumi Chaudhury, we learn about the importance of research in the area of gender and climate change. Moushumi is a CCAFS Science Officer working on linking knowledge with action, with a special focus on gender and climate change. Ms Chaudhury also focuses on partnership and communication.

What examples can you give about the differences in the division of labour between men and women farmers? How might climate change affect this situation?

Well, I can give you a few examples from research that has been done in each of the three regions where CCAFS is working.

In Tanzania, there’s a distinct division of labour between men and women regarding the collection of water. In over three-quarter of the households, women are responsible for getting water for cooking and other domestic uses. IPPC scenarios indicate that as many as 250 million people will face water scarcity as a result of climate change. So a decline in the availability of water may have a particularly pronounced impact on rural women in Tanzania. It may mean that they will need to walk farther and spend more time looking for water, giving them less time to grow food, earn money and care for the family. This will increase women’s burden of work. Read more »

by Chase Sova

Angela Merkel said recently in an address to the German Parliament, that “marathon runners often tell you that [the race] gets particularly tough after 35km. But they also say that the whole distance can be completed if you are fully aware at the start of what you are about to do. It’s not the one who starts quickest who is necessarily the most successful, but the one who respects the whole feat.”

Merkel made these comments reflecting on the slow progress being made to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis, but the analogy applies to the climate discussions leading up to Durban. The relative, but unbinding success of COP 16 in Cancun last December has succeeded in fueling another round of high expectations in Durban – expectations that seem to ignore the realities of our global economy and international community.

The major topic of debate, for the sake of variety, is the parties’ ability to arrive at a legally binding agreement on the Bali Action Plan, Cancun Agreements or the future of the Kyoto Protocol. Also weighing in heavily in Durban, as it did in Copenhagen and Cancun, is the refueled discussion of who should be responsible for tackling emissions given the developed world’s historical responsibility and the emerging economies’ increasing contribution to GHGs. Read more »

By Brent Swallow, University of Alberta. Also read his follow up post Climate Smart Agriculture can be pretty smart

In 2010 a cluster of United Nations and pan-African organizations released a little book entitled Climate Smart Agriculture (PDF).

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) “seeks to increase sustainable productivity, strengthen farmers’ resilience, reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration.” The little book and the concept are getting a lot of attention here at COP17. Read more »