May 2012

by Vanessa Meadu

A coalition of agriculture research and development organisations is working hard to put food and farming front-and-centre in next month’s Rio+20 conference, where world leaders will decide on the future framework for sustainable development.

Twenty years ago, the first United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development helped give birth to major international environmental treaties such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The 1992 meeting also shaped international and national discourse and environmental policies, and helped root the concept of sustainable development firmly into the mainstream. While even the UN environment chief has 'mixed' feelings as to whether the world has indeed achieved the goals laid out in 1992, it is certain that this year’s conference will help shape how sustainable development policies unfold for the next generation. Sustainable agriculture must not be left out. Read more »

By Moushumi Chaudhury

Communication is key for changes to happen, but what might might be less known is how best to do it. Scientists can sometimes be viewed as being removed from “reality” where they make little effort to communicate science and understand local realities of farmers. They are also seen as designing research that is not demand driven because they do not listen or communicate with various actors around them. It could also be said, however, that non-scientists are also not engaging or communicating with the science community because they do not have access to scientists or because they speak a very different language from scientists, turning communications into a challenge. However, if we are to make transformative changes in the lives of farmers to improve their adaptive capacity or help mitigate greenhouse gases (GHG), we need to find innovative approaches to bridging communication gaps. Read more »

by Cecilia Schubert

“Small-holder farmers in developing countries are expecting urgent, decisive action coming out of the ongoing climate conference in Bonn”, said Manyewu Mutamba (SACAU) yesterday to a full packed audience at the Ministry of Transport in Germany. Mr Mutamba spoke as an official panelist at the United Nations intersession side event “The status of knowledge on how agriculture can contribute to adaptation and mitigation”, co-convened by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) at the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

With the inclusion of agriculture as a topic for discussion on the climate agenda, CCAFS took this window of opportunity to map out the importance of including agriculture in the future negotiations, not only for ensuring global food security but also because of its mitigation potential. Mr. Mutamba, together with moderator James Kinyangi, East Africa Regional Program Leader (CCAFS), and panelists Sonja Vermeulen, Head of Research (CCAFS), Henry Neufeldt from World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Vice-Chair of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change therefore showcased interlinked perspectives on how agriculture can contribute to adaptation and mitigation. The panel also discussed the prospects for a work program as a likely outcome from the SBSTA high level meetings. 

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By Cecilia Schubert

Dr Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Vice-Chair of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, writes in a newly published article about the importance of viewing agriculture as part of the climate change solution in the ongoing negotiations. At the moment, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change  Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (UNFCCC-SBSTA) meetings are taking place in Bonn, Germany, which is an opportunity for negotiators to address this one area that has received very little attention and its potantial role in both climate change adaptation and mitigation. Read more »