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"Demand-driven research is what we want" says Director Campbell

Submitted by Cecilia on 30th October 2012
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Products delivered by researchers need to be demand-driven

By Caity Peterson

You can run into all kinds of people at major global agricultural conferences – Bruce Campbell, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), for example.

Spying Dr. Campbell alone, exposed like a gazelle in the vast corridors of the Conrad Hotel – the venue for the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2) – with nothing but a cup of coffee to defend himself, an auxiliary unit of the GCARD2 social reporting team seized the opportunity to corner him for a lightning interview. Read more »

Science Officer Gopal Bhatta talks to the President of Nepal about climate-smart agriculture

Submitted by Cecilia on 3rd January 2012
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Science Officer for CCAFS Indo-Gangetic Plains Dr. Gopal Datt Bhatta recently met with his Excellency the President of Nepal, Dr. Rambaran Yadav for an interesting conversation about CCAFS activities in Nepal. Here is a blog post about the meeting, written by Gopal Datt Bhatta.

In December of last year I got the opportunity to meet with the President of Nepal to tell him about CCAFS and our activities in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Dr Rambaran Yadav really wanted to know more in detail of each intervention that are being implemented, especially in his own home country Nepal. I therefore mentioned different projects that are being undertaken and particularly emphasized climate smart village activities and what CCAFS aims to obtain with these models. Interestingly, His Excellency interconnected each and every activities of CCAFS climate smart village model with his childhood experiences. He gave lots of examples of what is happening in the nature and particularly in the terai and hill areas of Nepal. He observed: ‘’Some two or three decades before, the terai area used to have clear sky and luminous winter but now winter is very gloomy and there is no sign of sunshine throughout most of the winter season. This has resulted in several deaths in terai in recent years". Read more »

On gender, climate change, and food security

Submitted by Vanessa on 10th December 2011
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Existing inequalities between men and women may be made worse by climate change.

Moushumi ChaudhuryIn 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 »

"Changing the game for the food system in the face of climate change"

Submitted by Vanessa on 3rd November 2011
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One of the objectives of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is to bring together the research community to focus on addressing food security, and dealing with resilience, adaptation, and mitigation. To support this, CCAFS helped to set up the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, which is busy finalizing its recommendations for policy makers, which will be launched on 16 November.

Christine Negra, who coordinates the Commission, recently spoke to the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development about the need to transform the food system, highlighting achievements at the Global Science Conference on Climate Smart Agriculture in the Netherlands, and giving a sneak preview of the Commission's proposal.

Watch it here: Read more »

Interview with Gerald Nelson: feeding a hotter, more crowded planet

Submitted by Cecilia on 23rd August 2011
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The future of food security and the need for farmers to adapt to a changing climate was recently discussed by CCAFS Theme Leader Gerald C. Nelson when he was interviewed by the National Public Radio (USA). Also participating in the radio program ‘Feeding a Hotter; More Crowded Planet’ was the President o the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) Lester Brown and the director of Oxfam America Gawain Kripke.

Gerald C. Nelson, Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and leader of the CCAFS policy analysis research together with the other participants, discussed the challenges of keeping food supplies secure in the face of a changing climate and potential solutions. Since nearly one billion people worldwide don’t have reliable access to food, something climate change might increase, solutions are more than critical.  Read more »

"We must support South Asia to deal with unprecedented climatic changes"

Submitted by Vanessa on 29th November 2010
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This interview with Pramod Aggarwal, Regional Facilitator for the Indo-Gangetic Plains with CCAFS, was originally published in the November CGIAR eNews. Pramod speaks about some of the threats and opportunities that climate change will present in this region and about appropriate responses to them.

Pramod AggarwalQ: A few years ago, CGIAR scientists published some alarming projections about the probable impacts of climate change on irrigated wheat production in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. What other key crops are likely to be affected negatively?

PA: It is indeed correct that wheat in the Indo-Gangetic plains is likely to be significantly impacted by climatic change. This crop is very sensitive to any temperature increase, especially during the months of February and March, coinciding with the grain formation and filling stages. Other crops, such as rice, maize, sorghum, cotton, pulses and oilseeds, are also likely to be affected, although it is somewhat difficult to quantify the exact magnitude of the losses due to large uncertainties in future precipitation.

Q: What new opportunities could climate change create in the region’s agriculture?

PA: Since climate change affects all crops as well as livestock and fisheries, with different impacts in different regions, it might give rise to new opportunities. For example, crops such as maize, sorghum and millets could possibly be grown during the winter season in northern India, as temperatures become warmer. Also, crop losses due to frost are likely to decline. In some areas, increased precipitation might encourage farmers to adopt new technologies. In addition, expected changes in the duration of different crops could encourage new land-use patterns. Initial studies indicate that apple cultivation, for example, has started shifting to higher elevations in Himachal Pradesh, as temperatures have become slightly warmer in the lower regions. Read more »

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