Climate smart agriculture in Asia – report back from Bangkok

As Asian countries move to confront the escalating threat that rapid climate change poses food security, water supplies, flood management and farm yields, leading climate specialists, agricultural scientists, development organizations, governments and global experts representing 14 Asian countries gathered in Bangkok on 11-12 April for the conference Climate Smart Agriculture in Asia: Research and Development Priorities. The objective was to review the most up-to-date research on the impacts of climate change and outline priority actions for enhancing the resilience and lowering the emissions footprint of Asian agriculture.

As a co-organiser of the event, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) helped share research innovations from across the CGIAR for enhancing the climate resilience of Asian agriculture.

At the close of the meeting, participants noted the need for increased multi-discplinary, and multi-sectoral collaboration to ensure the region is able to adapt to climate change, while reducing emissions from the agricultural sector.

Here's a rundown stories we produced, or were written about CGIAR research, at the event.

Press releases:

• Rapid climate change threatens Asia’s rice bowl
• Climate change puts Southeast Asia’s billion dollar cassava industry on high alert for pest and disease outbreaks
• India to Triple Number of Farmers Using Mobile Phones to Get Weather and Market Data

Blog stories:

• Rapid climate change threatens world’s rice bowl
• Climate change challenges Asian farmers in new ways
• New options for flood control could help during dry spells
• Three questions on climate change mitigation in agriculture

Media coverage to date

• Researchers warn of risk to South East Asian food production - ABC Rural, Australia
• Asian Countries Experience Maxiumum Climate Change - NewsPoint South Africa
• Climate change said to threaten Asia's 'Rice Bowl' - UPI.com
• Cassava, Southeast Asia’s Rambo Root, Threatened By Invasive Pest Outbreaks - Asian Scientist
• Global warming threatens southeast Asia's cassava industry - Times of India
• Sea Level Rise Threatens Mekong Rice  - IPS
• Rapid climate change now threatens Asia's rice bowl - The Nation, Thailand
• Drought, Flooding And 'Multiple, Combined Outbreaks' Of Pests Threaten To Reduce Asian Agricultural Output 50% - ThinkProgress.org
• South Asian farmers helped to share "climate smart" knowledge - Reuters
• Scientists Race to Save World's Rice Bowl From Climate Change - National Geographic Daily News

The conference on climate smart agriculture in Asia was convened by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutes (APAARI), the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).