The devastating drought sparked by the worst El Niño in records has driven Ethiopia to an alarming state of food insecurity and malnutrition. The El Niño-induced drought is not just a food crisis — above all, it is a livelihood crisis. FAO Ethiopia seeks USD 13 million by the end of March to support more than 600.000 of the worst affected people, for seed support – both food crop seed and forage seed - and supplementary feeding for core breeding animals of livestock-dependent households. This is part of its overall USD 50 million El Niño Response Plan, which remains less than 10 percent funded.

This video shows how men and women farmers and other decision makers have applied the climate-smart agriculture approach in practice. UNFAO shares project results from Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Nicaragua and Vietnam.

Kenyan smallholder farmers have addressed climate change through integrated livestock systems and improved their incomes. The ecosystem approach has reduced environmental degradation of mangroves and reduced the climate vulnerability of Nicaraguan communities. FAO’s work with partner countries in Asia and Africa has generated solutions helping decision makers to overcome barriers in the sustainable adoption of climate-smart agriculture.

Looking to the future, it won’t be easy to feed the world in a changing climate, and farmers will not be able to do it alone. Making food production climate-smart requires: investments in agriculture, knowledge of locally suitable practices and harmonized policies.

A look at how our Soils help to combat climate change in their role of sequestering CO2, and how our collective habits can damage this benefit with potentially devastating consequences.

This video explains the climate-smart agriculture approach including its objectives and why it is needed.

Climate change will hit farmers, herders and fishers the hardest. The Climate-smart agriculture approach promotes the development of the technical, policy and investment conditions to achieve sustainable agricultural development for food security under a changing climate. It seeks to: increase sustainably agricultural productivity and incomes, help adapt and build resilience to climate change impacts and wherever possible, reduces and/or removes greenhouse gases. 

To make climate-smart agriculture a reality we need to: expand the evidence base; improve policies; empower local institutions; and combine new financing options. Let’s make sure our agriculture is productive and sustainable for generations to come.

Questions &Answers with Milton Haughton, Executive Director of the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), on disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change in the Caribbean fisheries sector.

The Caribbean is one of the most hazard prone regions. The fishing communities are amongst the most vulnerable to these hazards. With the support from FAO, the region has developed a comprehensive strategy to ensure fisheries policies and action are developed with disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in mind.