Climate Change & Agrobiodiversity Research

In conjunction with the International Year of Biodiversity being celebrated in 2010, the second National Malaysian Conference on Agrobiodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Utilization (NAC2) will be held in  Sabah, Malaysia from 11 to 13 May 2010.

The first national agrobiodiversity conference was held in November 2006. It stressed the importance of agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainable utilization to ensure the future generation will continue to have access to the genes required for adaptation against biotic and abiotic stresses. Addressing those stresses have an impact on food security and the nation’s ability to alleviate poverty among the hardcore poor.

Since the last conference, many research and development initiatives have been made by various public and private research organizations, and academic institutions to ensure the past and the current state of country’s agrobiodiversity and ecosystem remain intact.

The call for papers and posters is open until 31 March 2010. Learn more and see the conference Programme (pdf).

On 10 March 2010 the Open Society Institute Brussels office will provide an opportunity to hear a fresh take on climate change from Mark Hertsgaard, an Open Society Fellow and journalist who has covered the climate crisis for 20 years. Worsening conditions are locked in for the next 50 years, says Hertsgaard.  All of us must now prepare for the harsher heatwaves, droughts, storms and rising sea levels that lie ahead, as well as for the political and economic challenges they raise.

In his forthcoming book, Hot: Living Through the Next 50 Years On Earth, Hertsgaard combines ground-level reporting from around the world with reflections on the future. He provides a picture of what is projected over the next 20 to 50 years: Chicago’s climate transformed to resemble Houston’s; dwindling water supplies and crop yields; the redesign of New York and other coastal cities against mega-storms and sea-level rise. Above all, he shows who is taking wise, creative precautions.  For in the end, Hertsgaard is writing about how we can survive.

More from Mark Hertsgaard:

For generations, the Nganyi people of western Kenya have served as rainmakers, helping local communities decide when best to prepare their land and sow their seeds. By observing subtle changes in nature that would be unnoticeable to most people – in air currents, the flowering and shedding of leaves of certain trees, the behaviour of ants, bird songs, even the croaking of frogs and toads – they have been able to interpret weather patterns and provide valuable advice.

But even the Nganyi have been flummoxed by climate change and the alternating cycles of droughts and floods it is inflicting. Read more in the full article in The Independent.

• in pictures: Kenya’s rainmakers

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) carried out a study to explore and analyse the range of actions supported by IFAD which either deliberately, or unintentionally but fortuitously, contribute to strengthening responses to climate change. The study, titled “IFAD’s Response to Climate Change through Support to Adaptation and Related Actions“, identifies lessons that can be used to enhance the mainstreaming of adaptation in IFAD operations, both centrally and at the project level. While the primary focus is on climate change adaptation, efforts in support of mitigation are also included. To learn more, download a summary of the report or the full document.

In recent years, climate change has become a strategic priority for IFAD. The challenge for the Fund, as for other international financial institutions and development agencies, is that of finding ways to build in-house capacity on climate change issues and effectively mainstream adaptation to climate change within its operations, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the activities it supports and strengthen the adaptive capacity of poor rural communities. One initiative designed to do this, and which is supported under the Innovation Mainstreaming Initiative (IMI), is entitled Strengthening IFAD’s Capacity to Mainstream Climate Change Adaptation in its Operations. This initiative has a number of components: reviewing other development agencies’ experiences in mainstreaming climate change adaptation in their operations; conducting a portfolio review to learn more about how projects have dealt with climate change issues; organizing seminars and learning events; and developing design guidelines, methodologies and learning notes for mainstreaming adaptation measures.

The 117th EAAE seminar titled “Climate change, food security and resilience of food and agricultural systems in developing countries: Mitigation and adaptation Options” will be held from 25 to 27 November 2010 at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. The call for papers is open at the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) and the Food Security Center and the deadline for extended abstracts (4 pages) is 15 April 2010.

Since 1989, the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) organizes a seminar on a tri-annual basis that focuses on agricultural and rural development issues in the developing world. This year’s seminar will focus on the economics of adaptation and mitigation options to climate change in developing countries and its linkages with food security.

The objective of the seminar is to bring together agricultural economists and other scientists working in the field of rural and agricultural development in developing and transformation countries in order to analyze the impacts of climate change on food security, and to evaluate relevant options for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change in the food and agricultural sector. Apart from climate change, theoretical and empirical research on the resilience of food and agricultural systems are also welcome.

A multimedia publication “Reclaiming citizenship: empowering civil society in policy-making” was recently launched by the International Institute for Environment and Development. It calls for a new approach to policymaking that gives citizens a greater say in decisions that affect them. “The failure of leadership at the Copenhagen climate change summit last December is just one example of a major crisis in environmental decision-making,” says author Dr Michel Pimbert.

“Governments are proving ineffective custodians of the environment and human well being because their hands are tied by various interest groups that oppose changes that would benefit the majority of people. A more direct democracy is now needed for citizens to exercise their right to participate in decision-making and shape the future,” he adds.

Pimbert’s publication focuses on food and agriculture, but is also relevant to many other sectors of policymaking on environment and development. It examines the institutions and approaches needed to invent a new form of politics that reflects the needs of groups who are most affected by social and environmental change but have so far been excluded from decision-making processes.

The e-book explores processes that can help reclaim active forms of citizenship – including learning from the rich history of face-to-face democracy, the importance of strengthening local organizations, building countervailing power from below and realizing the potential of community controlled media. “Deliberative and inclusive processes that can significantly enhance citizen voice and agency in decision-making today,” says Pimbert. He also emphasizes how to nurture citizenship and competence to act in the public interest throughout his e-book.

Pimbert argues that the issue of who decides food and agricultural policies is central to ending hunger and malnutrition. He praises the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which agreed recently to let farmers’ organisations have their say in framing food-security policies.

“For the first time in the history of the UN system, the FAO’s Committee on World Food Security has opened its doors to civil society,” he says. “Other governmental and intergovernmental bodies must follow its lead, and heed the need for greater inclusion of farmers, community groups, indigenous people and other marginalised people.” “But strengthening the voices of the excluded will also increasingly depend on linking the local to the global through many of the participatory processes described in this multimedia publication,” Pimbert adds.

To read more, download the full publication “Reclaiming citizenship: empowering civil society in policy-making“.

Download other publications in the series.

Nearly 200 participants ,from roughly 40 countries, attended the “Fourth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change” conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 21 to 27 February 2010.  Learn more about how the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research took part. IIED, EPMS and BCAS were delighted to host the conference and are extremely pleased with the level of enthusiasm and interest in CBA generated by those present. The organizers look forward to seeing you at the Fifth International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation in February 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The conference report is now available and there is a link to it on the IIED website. Daily reports by the IISD Earth Negotiations Bulletin team (ENB) are available, along with some very nice photos. IDS also did a daily conference blog. There will be a more detailed conference report available soon, so we will continue to provide information as it becomes available.

NOTE: This Peruvian response is to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ meeting taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico (1-4 March 2010) – an international technical conference entitled “Agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries (ABCD10)“.
—————————————————
Dear friends:

On Thursday 25 February 2010, Peruvian indigenous organizations, local government bodies and civil society organizations in Cusco, Peru held a meeting to formulate a strategic response to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) ABCD10, starting on 1 March, that will push for greater use of genetically modified organisms. A demonstration through the ancient Inca streets followed up this multi-stakeholder gathering.

The meeting produced a Declaration underlining that the FAO agenda does not represent the best approach to tackle agricultural challenges, including those brought by climate change. The President of the Government of Cusco is officially sending an Open Letter of the Peoples of Cusco to the FAO Director General, members of ABCD10 organizing committee and relevant Mexican government representatives.

For your information, please read an unofficial English version of the Cusco Declaration.

More information about the meeting and demonstration can be found at:

• Read the Open letter to the FAO (in Spanish);
• Visit the photo gallery of the event;
• Watch “Viva Cusco Libre de Transgenicos” (YouTube video) of the event.

Best regards,
Alejandro Argumedo

The Worldwatch Institute’s Sustainable Agriculture Program highlights the benefits to farmers, consumers, and ecosystems that can flow from food systems that are flexible enough to deal with shifting weather patterns, productive enough to meet the needs of expanding populations, and accessible enough to support rural communities. Nourishing the Planet, a Worldwatch Institute project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, assesses the state of agricultural innovations – from cropping methods to irrigation technology to agricultural policy—with an emphasis on sustainability, diversity, and ecosystem health, as well as productivity.

“Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group” is a regular series where advisors of the Nourishing the Planet project are profiled. This week  Sara J. Scherr, President and CEO of Ecoagriculture Partners, is featured. Nourishing the Planet will stimulate much-needed dialogue, among diverse groups, about the ways we can and should supply our food as population grows, climate patterns shift, and agricultural land use becomes more critical to healthy and resilient ecosystems.

From 1 to 4 March 2010 in Guadalajara, Mexico the FAO international technical conference on “Agricultural biotechnologies in developing countries: Options and opportunities in crops, forestry, livestock, fisheries and agro-industry to face the challenges of food insecurity and climate change (ABDC-10)” will take place . ABDC-10 is hosted by the Government of Mexico and co-sponsored by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and the World Bank are major partners in this initiative.

Impetus for the conference comes from the need for concrete steps to be taken to move beyond the “business-as-usual” approach and to respond to the growing food insecurity in developing countries, particularly in light of climate change that will worsen the living conditions of farmers, fishers and forest-dependent people who are already vulnerable and food insecure. To provide any comments or feedback, send a message to