Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

I have been working on climate change and food security in several countries over the last year or two, but will write here about Mexico and Ghana.  In these cases - and all the others - farmers are having to adapt to climate change on top of other changes going on anyway.

(1) The most important of these is rising population densities, leading to shortened fallows and  an enforced move along the land-use intensification continuum in response to the resulting declining soil fertility.  Higher proportions of income than before are having to be spent on fertiliser and weed/pest control.

(2) Secondly, in rural Mexico (Yucatan) and rural northern Ghana (Mole), the schooling of children in primary and secondary school and the frequently resulting exodus of young people to look for urban employment rather than returning to their parents' farms has resulted in a permanent loss of labour on the farm. This may be no bad thing in the long run, but in the short run it makes risk-spreading  (for instance raising cattle and other animals as well as growing crops) almost out of the question in labour terms.

These two changes are forcing profound changes in farming systems in their own right, even before taking climate change into account as well.

Farmers in Ghana told us that, from the mid 1990s, they began to notice the increased unpredictability that is their main experience of climate change. Indicators for the imminent onset of the rains which used to be relied on as a trigger to planting -  the appearance of certain birds and flowers, for instance - no longer meant what they had meant before. It was impossible to be sure that rains would start, or that if they started they would continue.

Their needs include quick-maturing crop varieties, which are relatively hardy. Because they are having to abandon many previous crops and crop varieties they need a lot of advice about how to innovate. But agricultural extension services no longer exist.

In Yucatan, farmers are narrowing the range of crops they grow and often investing more in livestock as adaptations both to points (1) and (2) above, and to the much more violent intensity of heat, drought and hurricanes that is their experience of climate change.

In both these places - and others worked in - the complementarity of wild foods from the forest is very important, and these foods may at times mitigate the climate change experience.

In Ghana, more commitment to rural extension is needed all round from the  government agencies responsbile for agriculture, livestock and forests.

In richer Mexico, these agencies do work in rural areas, but they do not sufficiently work with one another. Villagers complained that they were offered completely contradictory advice by Agriculture and by Forests, and wished that higher level policy makers would sort out their differences, and make themselves more fully aware of local people's needs and constraints.

Here is a brief with links to PDF files for teacher and or student resource material which would greatly assist the Governments Central &, State, National Agriculture Research & Education Systems (NARES), Departments of Education (schools and colleges) , Dept of Rural Development and such like organisations in creating capacity, especially in rural women and youth, leading to self sufficiency, at little or no cost, self reliance and enterprise for producing safe and nutritious food through agriculture. 

This resource material is well attuned to the agroecological systems, link at: http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/agroecology-idea-practice-coming-age/, 

economic, equity, energy, etc., a system which we must design and follow, if we are to be sustainable in the long term, reducing hunger, malnutrition, poverty and effects of climate change whilst increasing net income/ purchasing power, if we are to improve livelihood, now and in the future for the poor rual producer communities. 

Successful farmers in each area, teachers, educators, trainers being  the prime players in this endeavor, as they play a pivotal role in the implementation of this programme by motivating rural women and youth and students to understand, acquire knowledge and look at agriculture as a viable option for migrating back from urban slums to a life sustainable in the long term. 

The books being forwarded would act as a stepping stone for putting the rural women and youth to work gainfully, ensuring access to own requirements of nutritious food and cash, thus reducing hunger, malnutrition, effects of climate change and poverty whilst increasing net incomes/ purchasing power, improving rural livelihood, contribution to economic development/ growth and ensuring sustainability in the long term: 

Links and Legends:

I. Our Land Our Life by Nyla Coelho, 

A book on a low cost low risk agro ecological education system for schools and colleges, especially for rural areas/ communities in India. It offers an educational system with specific emphasis on low cost low risk climate friendly agriculture/ farming systems, applicable to the soil and agro climatic conditions of each area. It’s design provides a hands on approach to learning/ research, both academic and on farm, season after season, if agriculture is to substantially contribute to the country's economic development and growth, thus creating employment opportunities for the rural youth, ensuring  sustainability in the long term. The book is the outcome of research based on inputs from successful farmers/ pioneers following agro ecological systems, educators, researchers and academicians from across the country.

Download PDF  http://www.peakoilindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Our-Land-Our-Life_NC_2012.pdf

II. Links to workbooks prepared by The Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi, with the same title as the above book are also provided below. These work books are teaching manuals for school and college teachers; also double as student workbooks that can be used by them for interacting with parents/ family/ communities, adapting to their soil and agro climatic conditions, thus ensuring own access to requirement of nutritious food and cash needs. I am sure you will find this excellent resource book most useful, if we are to ensure reversal of migration to cities:

http://www.ueec.org.in/in_english.htm

Our Land, Our Life, 6-8 class workbooks in English currently running in Government Schools of Uttarakhand

    6th class:    7th class:     8th class:

class 6       Class 7       Class 8 

Our Land, Our Life, 6-8 class workbooks in English VI to X class should

6th Class ,  7th Class ,  8th Class ,  9th Class ,  10th Class 

III. Tending a Schoolyard Garden by Nyla Coelho

Tending a Schoolyard Garden is a teacher's manual/ handbook that facilitates teachers to motivate and create interest in students in the soil, nature, leaves, flowers, plants, animal husbandry, fisheries, etc., all of which creates livelihood opportunities, provides us with food, nutrition and thus good health, at little or no cost while contributing hugely to economic development and growth, as it reduces dependence on subsidies, effects of climate change. When in school and college in the city, one looked forward to the physical training class, sports, scouting excursions, etc., as a break from classroom academics. This manual with its hands on approach to growing greens, vegetables, fruits in the school garden, raising of poultry and dairy animals for eggs, milk, etc. for mid day meals and or for sale to local communities provides a practical and enjoyable approach to agriculture for rural (and urban) students. It is written in an easy to follow style with step-by-step instructions and plenty of illustrations. It offers teachers/ students the necessary wherewithal as well as the confidence that this system is low cost low risk and thus doable and hence  being sustainable in the long term. This book is the outcome of field tests of the Our Land Our Life curriculum (see above). The book comes with a DVD containing over 130 carefully selected resource material. 

For hard copies of Our Land Our Life and Tending a Schoolyard Garden, write to: [email protected]

Download PDF:  http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/schoolyard-nyla.pdf

Also attached is a doc - Organic mitigates climate change.

Subhash

Quel modèle de production agricole pour la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle face au changement climatique actuel ?

La question des impacts du changement climatique sur la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle est celle du choix du modèle de production agricole capable de maintenir la production requise pour continuer à satisfaire les besoins alimentaires de l'humanité. Car, c'est un fait que le changement climatique a des conséquences énormes sur l'environnement et les conditions de production agricole. Les conditions climatiques (température atmosphérique, pluviométrie, insolation, ...) ne sont plus comme elles étaient il y a quelques dizaines d'années. On se demande si l'environnement continuera à assurer efficacement ses fonctions de production, de régulation et de protection pour l'homme. En réalité, des espèces et variétés végétales et des races animales utiles à la production de la nourriture sont affectées négativement. Il y en a qui vont disparaître carrément, pendant que d'autres vont perdre de leur performance productrice passée. Mais, dans le même temps, il y aura aussi des espèces, variétés végétales et races animales qui vont s'adapter à ce changement climatique. Il y en a en qui continueront ou qui deviendront utiles à l'alimentation humaine suite à ce changement climatique.  Il reste seulement à savoir quelle attitude adopter dans ce contexte de changement climatique. A notre avis, il suffira d'appliquer le principe que "l'on ne commande à la nature qu'en lui obéissant". Nous devons plus jamais faire attention aux pratiques agricoles dégradantes qui nuisent à l'environnement et donc réduisent son efficacité à accompagner la productivité agricole. C'est dire que l'agriculture conventionnelle, qui est d'ailleurs l'une des causes de ce changement climatique, ne doit plus continuer. Nous devons renoncer entre autres à l'utilisation abusive des pesticides, engrais minéraux et espèces exotiques. Il s'agira de s'orienter beaucoup plus vers l'agroécologie comme modèle de production; un modèle qui mettra au centre des pratiques, la conciliation de la production agricole avec le respect des principes écologiques. Ceci amène à accorder une importance considérable aux espèces, variétés végétales et races animales traditionnelles; c'est-à-dire qui ont fait leur preuve d'adaptation écologique à travers le temps. Il doit en être de même pour l'approvisionnement en semences. Celles-ci doivent provenir moins des variétés exotiques qui sont souvent exigeantes en intrants et en sols, et qui sont aussi plus sensibles aux maladies. L'agroécologie est donc la solution, mais il demeure qu'il faudra prendre les dispositions nécessaires pour son adoption massive. Car, il faut le signaler, les pratiques agroécologiques (agroforesterie, agriculture de conservation, utilisation de plantes de couverture, etc.), tout en réduisant le recours aux intrants externes, exigent le plus souvent une quantité de travail plus importante et une technicité plus améliorée de la part du producteur.    

[ENGLISH VERSION]

Which Model of Agricultural Production for Food Security and Nutrition in the Present Climate Change Context ?

The issue of climate change impacts on food security and nutrition is the choice of the model of agricultural production capable of maintaining the production required to continue to meet the food needs of humanity. For, it is a fact that climate change has a huge impact on the environment and agricultural production conditions. Weather conditions (air temperature, rainfall, sunshine, ...) are not like they were a few decades ago. One wonders if the environment will continue effectively performing its functions of production, regulation and protection for humans. In fact, species and plant varieties and animal breeds useful for food production are negatively affected. There are some of them which are going to disappear, while others will lose their former production performance. But at the same time, there will be also species, plant varieties and animal breeds that will adapt to climate change. These plants and animals will continue to be or will become useful for human consumption due to the climate change. It only remains to find how to behave in the context of climate change. In our opinion, it is sufficient to apply the principle that "one can  command nature only by obeying it." We must now pay great attention to the degrading agricultural practices that harm the environment and thus reduce its effectiveness to support agricultural productivity. This means that conventional agriculture, which is also one of the causes of this climate change, must continue. We must reduce significantly the use of pesticides, fertilizers and exotic species. We must then move much more towards agroecology as a model of farming; a model that will develop agriculture and will be also respectful to the ecological principles. This model impose to attach considerable importance to the species, crop varieties and traditional animal breeds, which have proven ecological adaptation through time. It must be the same for the supply of seeds. These later must come less from exotic species that are often demanding inputs and soils, and are also more susceptible to disease. Agroecology is the solution, but it needs to make arrangements for its widespread adoption. For, it must be reported, agro-ecological practices (such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, use of cover crops), while reducing the use of external inputs, often required a significant amount of labor and an improved technical level of the farmer.

=============

Dr Emile N. HOUNGBO

Agricultural Economist,

Agricultural University of Ketou (UAK, Benin)

[email protected]

Hi everyone

I think it is high time for FAO to critcally analyze the agricultural and environmental policies of different countries...The results of the analysis can better guide us where to intervene and how to do it effectively to realize the goal of envoronmental sustainability without affecting the eonomic growth of countries

Furthermore, this will help us in identifying the best practices around food and nutritional security both at Govenment and community level....Then FAO shall take steps to share these best practices among the countries for necessary changes in their policy and institutional frameworks......Now focus shall be more on community resilient traditional systems and practices which seem to have tremendous potenial in addressing the concerns of climate change,food  and nutritional security

Hope this issue will find a place in the action plan of FAO

"What are the main issues for policy-makers to consider when linking climate change on the one hand and food security and nutrition on the other, in particular when designing, formulating and implementing  policies and programmes?"

ALGAE for FOOD and FEED in third-world countries.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/algae-growing-nuns-in-central-africa...

To UNEP and FAO: The article above is about Nuns at St. Josephs growing algae for food. Algae farms can be built today on non-arable land. recycling 85% of all water using the sun.  All is needed is non-arable land, a source of water and a source of CO2.  All technology hurdles have been met. Algae is one solution to eliminate malnutition in children from third-world countries and algae farms can be built today using existing technology and off-the-shelf equipment. 

For information: [email protected]

Q1 comments: 

1) What are the main issues for policy-makers to consider when linking climate change on the one hand and food security and nutrition on the other, in particular when designing, formulating and implementing  policies and programmes?

Public policy is defined by Thomas Dye as "anything a government chooses to do or not to do". While this is but one way of understanding public policy, it has helped me think about answering this question.  Question1 implies linking policy-makers who most likely have different agendas, resources and political priorities. Additionally, in many countries policy design/formulation/implementation for the issues of climate change; nutrition; and food cuts across several policy systems (climate change involves environment departments; nutrition is health and wellbeing and food can be agriculture (production), trade and economy and access to food or assistance in redistribution to those who are in need may fall under social welfare.

Nearly all policy problems display characteristics of  reconciling cooperation and conflict. If you accept this, then the first main issue to consider is cooperation and  finding common ground for the policy-makers that justifies government intervention in the economy -  a problem common to all policy domains. Without agreement on the definition of the problem; the goal(s); the means to achieve the goals, and how to measure (ie evaluation), policy design/implementation/evaluation, the problem remains "unstructured"(see Hisschemöller and Hoppe 1995). I am coming to the conclusion policy-makers (the ones who actually make the decisions) either do not believe there will be a shortage of "commodities" (food), or if they do accept the information and evidence, it is riddled with too much uncertainty to sustain their attention, let alone come to agreement across the different policy arenas and policy systems (e..g different countries/regimes/ideologies). Perhaps there wont be policy action until there is a crisis - a big crisis and we make a new definition of the problem - such as social conflict? If we cannot agree on the ways to measure it, how can we manage it? And if there is lack of agreement on the values and beliefs (ie different policy domains), how can we expect "food security/insecurity" to be a main policy issue ?   As Dye says, the govt chooses "not to do something". Its much easier to let the market work out a solution through innovation (e.g incentivize to increase food production) then take a policy systems-thinking approach to solving the complex global problem.

Time horizon is also a factor. Policy implementation may be viewed as beyond the scope of election cycle., so why take action now and especially when there remains high levels of uncertainty on the issues of climate change, food security and nutrition is an issue.  (for example see Mark Gibson, The Feeding of Nations the many ways to measure food insecurity/security - if we cant measure, how can we manage?). Policy-makers have limited resources - there is only one pie  (of available resources) but many ways to cut it. The evidence on climate change may be far too distant to give policy-makers certainty that they are making the right decision.

If we look back in our history and if the literature reporting on the early days of policy-making on food insecurity (ie formation of the FAO) is accurate, then we can postulate that the current state was one of social conflict. The governments and policy-makers of the day needed to address the problem of scarcity of food. The literature suggests 1) there was at least one policy broker with influence to advocate on behalf of those suffering and thus helping to define the problem and put it on the policy agenda; 2) a common goal held by the elected leadership to resolve the social conflict that food insecurity was causing and 3) political will to implement the means to reach the goal  and resolve the issue of scarity and distribution of food. 4) in addition to respecting the human right to food principle, there were economic reasons to act. There was action. There was leadership. Common ground was "brokered".

So what could policy-makers consider?  Maybe are trying to solve the wrong problem. The "problem", or difference between current state and future state is not just about food and the climate etc. but what happens when people dont have enough food - it is social conflict, diseases, loss of life, economic losses etc. Social conflict may be easier to quantify - as a society, we've been there, done that. A problem of social conflict might better engage our rational decision-making of costs and benefits and loss of quality of life speaks to our emotional component of decision-making. Designing policy solutions that incentive changes in individual behaviour from the bottom-up, focus on local knowledge and leadership and small but many changes in individual and community might help. Each local community knows its area, its strengths and weaknesses. For example, to solve the problem of coordination, instead of top-down government policies that are difficult to implement, monitor, evaluate and ensure compliance, nudging individual behaviour seems more achievable. Perhaps we need polices and financial resources to build leadership, cooperation and coordination at community levels and collaborative governance systems that are prepared to face the crisis we anticipate. Moreover, this needs to be done in both developed and developing countries; small landholders and large landholders. The problem is everyone's responsibility -  NIMBY (not in my backyard) doesnt cut it.  Small things like consumer food waste is embarrassingly high and yet we continue our behaviours. Sadly, will it take another crisis to focus a common problem and change policy? if you believe this, then is the next best policy option is for government intervention policies that build preparedness for the crisis but even that takes leadership, advocacy and finding common needs and wants.

Dear Friends of UNEP/FAO and all

Please follow my models and concepts from my Ph.D  Research for achieving SCP as well SDG.

My Developed Model

• Research-Extension-Farmer-Climate-Market-End User (REFCME)
• This model is being developed by me( Bibhu Santosh Behera) from this study of research. This is the best model for achieving success in day to day life.
• Climate Smart Extension Education must be fruitful when it is preached and applied in Climate smart Agriculture .It should be introduced in Course curriculum in University as well schools for betterment of our future comings. So lets put our hand to translate this concept into action. So Follow this caption.
• GO GREEN
• ADOPT ORGANIC
• MARCH AHEAD
• FOLLOW CLIMATE SMART EXTENSION
• SUSTAIN THE FUTURE
• Bibhu Santosh Behera,Father of Climate Smart Extension, Indian PhD Researcher
• Dream of a Climate smart village

• Innovation  for  Climate smart economics

We should make Technology Advancement and Refinement (TAR) of Research or any technology which must be blended with Modern technology with conventional by conglomeration with Indigenous technical knowledge (ITK).The technology must be socially acceptable, economically viable, and technically feasible, culturally compatible and climatically suitable.

Bibhu Santosh Behera, Innovator  and Researcher of Climate Smart Extension Education for whole cosmos

INNOVATION(Agrowaste-Food Compost)

Being invented by Bibhu Santosh Behera,Ph.D Research Fellow,OUAT,Bhubaneswar

• As the Tribal people’s were traditional they were making a Low cost bamboo dustbin in their villages and put all food left out as well agro wastes and finally they use it as a substitute of Compost.
• Dosages:-2 Bullock carts per Acre
• You can use it in day to day life

Dear Florence,

Some additional comments on your most recent comment that "priority should be given to crops which can limit GHG emissions". I agree but think this should be qualified in various ways.

1. Emissions from agriculture come mostly from use of fuel-burning machinery, and secondarily from deforestation (in slash and burn agriculture). Now, concerning machinery, there is a worldwide increase in the use of no-tillage or limited-tillage systems by commercial farmers (e.g. in the US, Brasil or Argentina), which greatly reduce the use of machinery and thus of fuel, and besides keep the land under green cover most of the time, and sequester more carbon when crop residues are mixed with topsoil before planting again on the bed created by the previous crop. Now this is mostly practiced by modern and relatively big farmers in high and middle income countries, hardly by subsistence peasants (at least not on in massive numbers). Such systems require know how, machinery and other inputs not within the reach of the poorest farmers.

2. Plants and trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere while they are growing (and emit it while they are rotting on the ground). A stable forest neither absorbs nor emits carbon in net terms.

3. There is evidence that the planet is getting greener, in the sense that green cover and vegetagtion Net Primary Production is increasing worldwide in spite of deforestation. This is partly due to the very presence of higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere. In this respect there is a new paper by Liu and others (2015, see ref below) verifying that the planet is getting greener. This agrees with other recent studies such as those by Donohue et al (2013) and Hemming et al (2013) also referenced below. A review of Liu's paper can be found in an article published by Reuters: http://www.trust.org/item/20150330150036-h00zp/. F

Recent satellite-based studies of global green cover focused on semi-arid regions confirms Liu's conclusion by showing a general increase in green cover linked to in­creased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere (Donohue et al 2013). A simu­la­tion with the Hadley Centre climate model for equilibrium doubling of preindustrial concentration of CO2 found an expected net global increase of 57% in Net Primary Production of plants at the world scale (Hemming et al 2013). This expected increase results from a gross increase of 75% in photosynthetic ca­pacity and a 21% decrease due to plant responses to changes in the climate. It tends to support the idea that CO2 effects may be larger than climate effects (e.g. temperature and rainfall) to determine the impact of anthropogenic climate change on vegetation of all kinds (natural or cultivated). Dr Josep Carbonell, head of the World Carbon Project, sums it all up by stating: "CO2 is bad for the climate, but good for plants".

REFERENCES

Donohue, Randall; Michael L.Roderick, Tim R.McVicar, & Graham D.Farquhar (2013). Impact of CO2 fer­ti­li­zation on maximum foliage cover across the globe’s warm, arid environments. Geophysical Re­search Letters 40:1-5.

Hemming, Deborah; Richard Betts & Matthew Collins (2013). Sensitivity and uncertainty of modelled te­rres­trial net primary productivity to doubled CO2 and associated climate change for a relatively large per­­turbed physics ensemble. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 170:79–88. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168192311003157.

Liu, Y.Y., A.I.J.M. van Dijk, R.A.M. de Jeu, J.G. Canadell, M.F. McCabe, J.P. Evans and G. Wang (2015), Recent reversal in loss of global terrestrial biomass, Nature Climate Change, doi: 10.1038/nclimate2581.