Strengthening agriculture resilience in the Arab region: A collaborative webinar series

October 2023  - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) of the League of Arab States (LAS) is currently conducting a webinar series titled “Towards climate-resilient agrifood systems in the Arab region”. The series aims to enhance knowledge and capacities on the impacts, tools, solutions, and best practices to enhance agriculture's resilience in the region.

The Arab region is confronting a significant challenge as climate change accelerates, leading to rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and an increase in extreme weather events. These changes place substantial stress on the agriculture, water, and land use sectors that underpin crop cultivation, livestock farming, aquaculture, fisheries, and forest-based production, all of which play a crucial role in the region's economy and food security.

Failing to address this need could lead to severe consequences, especially in areas already struggling with heightened food insecurity. This emphasizes the critical importance of taking action to enhance the sustainability, productivity, and resilience of agriculture sectors in the region.

As part of ongoing efforts to address these challenges, this webinar series serves as a valuable platform for experts to share insights and practical examples from the Arab region on planning for and implementing adaptation and mitigation solutions in agrifood systems, promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Key topics include an understanding of UNFCCC processes and negotiations related to agriculture and food systems, the assessment of climate impacts on agrifood systems, developing and implementing climate-resilient and climate-smart practices in crop production, livestock, fisheries, and aquaculture, with a focus on sustainable water and land management solutions, leveraging climate finance to enhance resilience in agrifood systems and many more.

Expanding on the topics covered in this series up to this point, participants delved into vital climate action topics for the agriculture sector in the NENA region. These discussions touched on priorities like progressing from Koronivia to Sharm El Sheikh joint work on the implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security, working towards net-zero emissions, understanding carbon footprints, enhancing transparency in emissions measurement, and utilizing FAO tools for greenhouse gas assessment. Examples from the region, such as Egypt, have been shared to illustrate these discussions.

Climate change is a cornerstone of the work undertaken by FAO. This webinar series is designed to extend the reach of a NENA community of practice on agriculture and climate change. It aims to enable more stakeholders to actively contribute to the transformation of regional food systems, making these systems more resilient to climate change, all while keeping in mind the global commitment to the Paris Agreement.