Climate change action needs to focus on small-scale farmers

 

  Investing in small-scale farmers pays off (Photo: CC0)

More efforts to support small-scale farmers are needed if we want to achieve food security in a changing climate. This was the message of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the UN climate conference COP22 which concluded on Friday in Marrakech. According to IFAD president Kanayo F. Nwanze, small-scale farmers are not only responsible for the bulk of food production in developing countries, but also face some of the worst threats to their own food security. „Where do the poorest and hungriest live? In developing countries. Which areas are the most abundant agriculturally? Rural areas.

What is their main activity? Smallscale agriculture,“ Nwanze said in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian. „We are looking at about 500 million small farms worldwide catering for up to 3 billion people on our planet. So, if you want to achieve zero hunger you must focus: these people are our clients.

They are also often neglected and forgotten.“ Although the Paris climate agreement recognises the importance of food security for the first time, and the Marrakech Action Proclamation calls on all parties to „ensure food security and to take stringent action to deal with climate change challenges in agriculture”, farming and small-scale farmers in particular, did not take centre stage at the Marrakech climate talks.

Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that development agencies had hoped for the establishment of a work plan on agriculture that would include concrete assistance measures for small-scale farmers. However, such a plan was put off. José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, was also disappointed: „This lack of progress on agricultural issues puts at risk efforts to help farmers adapt to climate change and meet a global goal to end hunger by 2030, the FAO chief was quoted by Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A recent IFAD report showed that investing in climate adaptation for smallholder farmers would also pay big financial returns. For each dollar invested in smallholder agriculture, farmers could earn a return of up to $2.60 over a 20 year period by applying climate change adaptation practices. The report, released by IFAD on 9 November, demonstrates that widespread adoption of agricultural practices in the production of major staples could help farmers adapt to climate change, increase food security and reduce emissions. Among the most promising agricultural practices outlined in the report is alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in rice production. AWD consists of repeated interruptions of flooding during the season, causing the water level to decline as the upper soil layer dries out, before subsequent re-flooding. This practice increases the efficiency in water usage, offers stable yields and brings a significant reduction in methane emissions, the report said

2000m²: Take a look at your share of gobal food and land!

If we were to divide the total global surface area of arable land by the number of people living on the planet, each person would get 2000m². It is on this piece of land that everything Mother Earth supplies you with must grow: wheat, rice, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, oil, sugar… not to mention all the animal feed that does not stem from meadows and pastures. Visit the website of this new ARC2020 project to find out what your 2000m² would look like if they were to represent the global situation and to learn how much tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, wheat and potatoes could be grown on your field. www.2000m2.eu

Agroecology: Voices from social movements

 A movement is growing. While agroecology has been practiced for millennia in diverse places around the world, today we are witnessing the mobilisation of transnational social movements to build, defend and strengthen agroecology as the pathway towards a most just, sustainable and viable food and agriculture system. Created as part of a research project at Coventry University, explores the meaning, practice and politics of agroecology from a social movement perspective.

Food experts urge global shift towards agroecology

Input-intensive crop monocultures and industrial-scale feedlots must be consigned to the past in order to put global food systems onto a sustainable track, according to a team of experts on food security, agro- ecosystems and nutrition. The solution is to diversify agriculture and reorient it around ecological practices, whether the starting point is highly-industrialized agriculture or subsistence farming in the world’s poorest countries, they argue. The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), led by former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, published its findings in the report From uniformity to diversity. The authors call for diversified agroecological systems. We have summarised the main messages of the report.

One year into the SDGs: Goals for a world without hunger and poverty

9/16: 25 September marked the first anniversary of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. One year ago, the 193 UN Member States adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a set of 169 targets that aim to end poverty and hunger in all their forms by 2030 while protecting the environment. Eliminating hunger is a key issue of the new post-2015 agenda. Goal 2 promises to „end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. It contains targets on ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030, doubling the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale farmers, ensuring sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices, and maintaining the genetic diversity of seeds, plants and animals.

New Landmatrix report shows scale of the global land rush

10/16: Since the year 2000, foreign investors have acquired 26.7 million hectares of land around the globe for agriculture, with Africa being the most affected continent. This means that around 2 per cent of the arable land worldwide, or roughly the equivalent to an area the size of the United Kingdom and Slovenia together, has been transferred into the hands of foreign investors. That is the message of a new report released by the Landmatrix, an independent initiative that collects and evaluates data on large-scale land acquisitions. The report can be downloaded here.

Farming Matters: Making the case for Agroecology

9/16: This issue of Farming Matters explores innovative ways to show that agroecology provides critical solutions to the challenges of our time. Agroecology is gaining recognition for its potential to address climate change, biodiversity loss and malnutrition, and there are many successful example.

However, to garner the necessary support in policy and practice, looking differently at ‘progress’, ‘performance’ or ‘success’ of farming and food systems is key.

As agroecology can have impact at many levels, conventional indicators such as yield per hectare of a single crop no longer suffice. The experiences, opinions, and perspectives featured in this issue demonstrate how farmers, researchers, policy makers and consumers are using new lenses to track change.

Some authors point out that evidence alone is not enough to achieve an agroecological transition, and that the ‘movement’ dimension of agroecology is crucial.

New brochure: IAASTD findings and recommendations for future farming

Business as usual is not an option, if we want to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods and achieve environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development for all. This was the message of the “International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development” (IAASTD). The new brochure “Agriculture at a Crossroads” presents the report’s main findings with updated facts and figures, charts and maps and the latest scientific insights. The 52-page-brochure covers topics such as hunger and health, meat and animal feed, industrial and small-scale farming, agroecology, climate and energy, soil fertility and land grabbing. It connects the IAASTD’s findings to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and contains an interview with IAASTD co-chair Hans Herren.
Download the brochure here.

Gov.Tambuwal Urges FG to Stop Foodstuff Export to Neigbouring Countries

Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged the Federal Government to immediately stop the export of foodstuff to neighbouring countries, especially through the land borders.

Tambuwal made the call in Isa Local Government Area while launching the 2017 dry season wheat farming on Saturday.

He also called on the Federal Government to come up with emergency plans to purchase excess grains from the farmers so as to boost the nation’s grains reserve.

He decried the massive exportation of grains from Nigeria, saying it posed great danger to the nation’s food security.

“Considering our population, we must take measures that will enhance food security in our country,” the Governor said.

Inject N50bn into Oil Palm – Association tells FG

The National President, Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria, Chief Hilary Uche, on Friday called on the Federal Government to review its policy on oil palm.

Uche said that the call became necessary in view of the economic recession in the country.

He said that such policy should include provision of strong financial support for oil palm farmers.

He suggested injection of N50bn into oil palm sub-sector by the government to reduce the negative impact of the current economic recession on oil palm farmers.

He said, “With N50bn, we will achieve a lot in oil palm growing and processing in the 24 states with the potential to grow oil palm in Nigeria.”

The financial support, he added, would enable the country to get the desired dividends from such “agricultural window”.

He said that in countries where oil palm plantation was doing well, government usually support the sector.

Uche recalled that oil palm made the feasible impact in the economy of the defunct Eastern Nigeria before the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity in 1950s.

He said that Nigeria can repeat the feat if fund is provided to oil palm farmers.

The OPAGAN boss said that investment in oil palm required patience “in the sense that after planting, you have to wait for at least three years before harvesting.

He said, “Oil palm is unlike poultry, fishery, piggery or rice farming which you can invest in and in less than six months you start to get returns.

“Oil palm farmers need support from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal and State Ministries of Agriculture for the sector to contribute meaningfully to economic growth of the country.”

Uche noted that the advantage of oil palm was that it had has long gestation period and capable of sustaining the economy and it needed government’s full support.

He said that apart from getting high yielding seedlings, there is the need for good maintenance, provision of harvesters and processing for the country to have the benefits.

Uche said if Nigerian government can support oil palm sector the way she is supporting other agricultural windows like rice, cassava, the revenue from oil palm can sustain the nation’s economy.

He said, “Oil palm has more than 360 value chains and before now it had sustained the economy of part of this country and has the potential to provide jobs to numerous unemployed youths.

“Twenty hectres of plantation of oil palm can engage more than 2,000 workers, while one automated oil processing plant can employ more than 3,000 persons.

“This is apart from numerous others that can indirectly eke a living via sales and supply of the by-products.”

He added that if six automated oil palm processing plants could be established in each of the 24 states with the potential to grow oil palm, unemployment would be greatly reduced.

Uche, who noted that Adapalm oil palm plantation and processing plant in Ohaji/Egbema area of Imo had gone comatose, said that if properly managed, Adapalm could engage more than 5,000 workers.