Many socioeconomic and environmental factors in those countries are both opportunities and barriers to address poverty and climate change problems.
The communal landownership in the small islands countries in the Pacific region, for example, make easier to distribute the lands for food production to needy people but the ownership has discouraged the people for economically productive uses.
These people of the countries are likely to be seriously suffered if extreme natural disasters and global political crises coincidently overlaps or happened together. These countries cannot avoid the cyclones due to geophysical positioning. They need diversification in food and economic business to survive in serious humanitarian crises and take economic benefit in market based business in harmonious international environment.
Unfortunately, international agencies have influenced on the values and behaviors of community leaders and policies of government agencies and used the lands under tree planation for making high benefit (offsetting carbon) to distant users.
If indigenous agroforestry system was integrated in the plantation, it would alleviate food and nutritional problem. The trees would reduce damage of cyclones in indigenous food system. Vested interest foreign people have strategically influenced to the community leaders and government agencies.
If FAO is committed to help those countries, its management requires identifying the vested interest people and ethically discourage their inappropriate interventions.
Thanks.
B. Dhakal
Dr. Bhubaneswor Dhakal