News
Climate change puts Southeast Asia’s billion dollar cassava industry on high alert for pest and disease outbreaks
Key Crop for Tapioca, Animal Feed and Biofuels Faces Pest Risks,
According to New Research Discussed at Climate Smart Agriculture Conference in Bangkok
BANGKOK (12 APRIL 2012)—Severe outbreaks of new, invasive pests triggered by rising temperatures could threaten Southeast Asia’s multi-billion dollar cassava industry, as well as the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of small farmers that rely on the crop for income, according to research from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
“Warmer conditions and longer dry seasons linked to climate change could prove to be the perfect catalyst for outbreaks of pests and diseases. They are already formidable enemies affecting food crops,” said Pramod K. Aggarwal, regional program leader for Asia at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Read more »
Rapid climate change threatens Asia’s rice bowl
Researchers Focus on Innovations to Adapt Agriculture to Wild Swings in Climate Extremes, as Vividly Manifested by Southeast Asia’s Catastrophic Flood-drought Cycles
Bangkok (12 April 2012)—As Asia’s monsoon season begins, leading climate specialists and agricultural scientists warned today that rapid climate change and its potential to intensify droughts and floods could threaten Asia’s rice production and pose a significant threat to millions of people across the region.
“Climate change endangers crop and livestock yields and the health of fisheries and forests at the very same time that surging populations worldwide are placing new demands on food production,” said Bruce Campbell of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). “These clashing trends challenge us to transform our agriculture systems so they can sustainably deliver the food required to meet our nutritional needs and support economic development, despite rapidly shifting growing conditions.” Read more »
World Scientists Define United Approach to Tackling Food Insecurity
Report offers roadmap for action by global leaders to create a sustainable food system
LONDON (28 March 2012) — Nearly one billion people in the world are undernourished, while millions suffer from chronic disease due to excess food consumption. Global demand is growing for agricultural products and food prices are rising, yet roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. Climate change threatens more frequent drought, flooding and pest outbreaks, and the world loses 12 million hectares of agricultural land each year to land degradation. Land clearing and inefficient practices make agriculture the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution on the planet. Read more »
Researchers Outline Food Security-Climate Change Road Map in Science
Modest advances for agriculture in Durban signal need for scientific input
WASHINGTON (19 JANUARY) — While last month’s climate negotiations in Durban made incremental progress toward helping farmers adapt to climate change and reduce agriculture’s climate footprint, a group of international agriculture experts, writing in the January 20 issue of Science magazine, urges scientists to lay the groundwork for more decisive action on global food security in environmental negotiations in 2012.
“Agriculture worldwide is being impacted by climate change and in less than 15 years global population will rise by one billion people,” said Sir John Beddington, lead author of the article ‘What Next for Agriculture After Durban?’ “Policy makers and scientists need to work together, quickly, to chart a course toward a sustainable global food system.” Read more »
Major survey of 5000 households finds farmers have tools for climate adaptation
by Patti Kristjanson and Vanessa Meadu
In thinking about climate adaptation, it is easy to overlook the fact that poor farmers across the tropics already possess much of the knowledge required to adapt to climate change. Many are already adapting their agriculture not only to more variable weather patterns but also to more immediate problems such as growing families, health-related challenges, and spiking food prices. And many of these actions also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or store carbon. Read more »
Victories for food and farming in Durban climate deals
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (13 December 2011) - After a grueling two weeks of negotiations, where it looked at times like climate talks might be deadlocked, world leaders on Sunday agreed to a number of decisions including the Durban Platform, which contain some provisions for adaptation, progress on a green climate fund, and a deadline for governments to adopt a new universal legal agreement on climate change by 2015.
Regrettably, the outcomes from Durban do not go far enough to hold global temperatures at a two-degree warmer world, nor is there sufficient finance or appropriate mechanisms in place to tackle the major adaptation challenges faced by least developed countries. But at least there were some outcomes that may eventually help poor farmers deal with climate change, which threatens food security among the most vulnerable. Read more »
Agro-climate tools link farmers with crucial information
The way we produce food must adapt to a variable and changing climate. And key to achieving this is to improve the link between climate information and agricultural practices, especially those of smallholder farmers in developing countries. ‘Agro-climate tools’ do just that, and a number of tools are already being used to fill the gaps between climate information and practical action. Read more »
An introduction to Climate-Smart agriculture
Worldwide, there are opportunities for agriculture to contribute to efforts to adapt to, and mitigate climate change, while also supporting food security and the fight against poverty. To realize the true potential of climate-smart agriculture, international climate change negotiations must take into these opportunities into account, and adopt policies that create incentives for farmers, help finance projects, and fund continued agricultural research. A new booklet from the Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security gives concrete examples of successful climate smart agricultural practices and helps push the agenda forward.
Download it now! Farming’s Climate Smart Future: Placing Agriculture at the Heart of Climate Change Policy
Talking carbon finance with farmers
Story by Kate Langford, World Agroforestry Centre.
Partners from the CGIAR Climate program have been sharing valuable lessons on how to explain the science behind climate change and carbon markets to farmers. These are published in a new World Agroforestry Centre policy brief that will be presented during UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa
To the farmer, being informed you can earn money for something you can’t see, but which exists in the trees you have or are being encouraged to plant on your land, might seem like a far-fetched story.
To the scientist and project managers, communicating information about climate change or the concept of carbon sequestration to farmers is a challenge when these are issues which scientists deal with every day.
Scientists and farmers might operate in two very different worlds, especially in developing countries, but with more and more opportunities emerging for farmers to benefit from carbon payments by improving their agricultural practices or planting trees, these worlds are converging. Read more »
Finding tomorrow's agriculture, today
Scientists Reveal Where Growing Conditions Today Mirror Future Climates, as World Becomes Living Lab for Adaptation
Maize farmers in South Africa and soybean growers in China can see “climate analogues” for 2030 in present-day South America and other places
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA (8 December 2011) — With climate change posing a threat to food production around the world, scientists are developing a form of virtual time travel that can offer farmers in many countries a glimpse of their future by identifying regions where growing conditions today match those that will exist 20 years from now, according to a new report from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
“Climate Analogues: Finding Tomorrow’s Agriculture Today” (PDF) is an effort by CCAFS to make climate change adaptation a more tangible endeavor by encouraging the exchange of knowledge between communities around the world regarding current agriculture practices that can help farmers maintain productivity in the future, despite potentially dramatic shifts in growing conditions. Read more »
CCAFS Coordinating Unit - University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, phone +45 35331046; Email ccafs [at] cgiar [dot] org, EAN 5790000279012
Lead Center - International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)