Agrobiodiversity and climate change

Global climate change: An end to the dream?

Just as the rooibos farmers have begun to imagine a brighter future for themselves and their children, the changing climate has already begun to threaten their market success. In the past few years, the farmers have been experiencing severe impacts from drought and higher temperatures, felt most acutely in the drier parts where they farm. The delicate soil and water conditions in this area are being exacerbated by increasingly warmer temperatures. Rainfall patterns have also changed and the rooibos farm plots have suffered from high levels of degradation and mortality.These vulnerable lands have been affected by wind and water erosion, and this threatens not only the livelihoods of the farmers, but also the long-term production of the lands. And so, the farmers’ long-term prosperity will depend greatly upon their ability to adapt their farming practices to these new conditions.

Read the full article

December 28th, 2008 | Category: Projects | Leave a comment

Now available:

LEISA Magazine vol. 24:4, December 2008:

Dealing with Climate Change

“The rains these days are unpredictable… One year they start in November, another year in December, and then we have dry spells at the critical stages of crop growth…” All over the world, the observations of farmers like Emmanuel Luhanga seem to confirm the scientific evidence which shows that climate change is a fact, occurring at an alarming rate. The latest reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) quote a 0.76° C increase in the world’s average temperature in the last century, expecting temperatures to rise by 2° C by 2050. This is leading to rising sea levels, the disappearance of glaciers, and to drastic changes in rainfall patterns, affecting the production potential of rural areas.
Most rural areas have always experienced climate variability, and farmers have always had to cope with a degree of uncertainty in relation to the local weather. Detailed observations reveal that many of the effects attributed to climate change are in fact the result of deforestation or soil erosion, or take place because more people live in disaster-prone areas. But there is no doubt that farmers are facing a changing context, with rainfall and temperature patterns moving outside the regular variability ranges.
This is already having a very strong impact. How do farmers perceive and deal with these changes? This was one of the core questions we had when putting this issue together. Are farmers prepared? What are the advantages of sustainable agriculture practices? And what is needed in terms of communications or global political decisions?

—From the Editorial of the December 2008 issue of LEISA Magazine.—

December 22nd, 2008 | Category: News, Publications | Leave a comment

Droughts, floods, locusts, civil war, tsunamis…. When disaster strikes, threatening lives and livelihoods, humanitarian agencies must respond swiftly and decisively. Making sure people have enough to eat is usually at the top of the list of emergency measures. But that task invariably raises the important issue of seed supplies. Will farmers in the stricken area have enough seed to plant during the next growing season?

When Disaster Strikes: A Guide to Assessing Seed System Security is a practical assessment tool. It will help emergency relief agencies and their field workers to decide whether a seed-related intervention is warranted in the first place, and if so, to design the best strategy to help farmers. The method is laid out in seven steps. Each includes how-to notes, guiding questions, and action checklists. Besides helping agencies understand and cope with acute stresses on seed systems, the guide also tackles the issue of longer-term stresses and how to take advantage of development opportunities.

Have a look at the document (pdf, 729 kb)

December 13th, 2008 | Tags: seeds | Category: Publications | Leave a comment

Even if posted via our del.icio.us account already I once again would like to point out the SPORE - Special Issue on Climate Change - August 2008. It covers Global Trends, Crops, Livestock, Forests, Coasts and Oceans in relation to climate change. It is available in English, French and Portugues.

Another important activity concerning climate change was this year CTA Seminar:
Global Climate Change and Agriculture in ACP countries

The objective of the seminar was to:

• Raise the awareness of policy makers and rural communities about the way in which climate change is affecting agricultural and rural development;
• Identify the information and communication needs of decision makers and rural communities so they can protect their livelihood systems against climate change.
• Identify strategies that will meet the information needs of policy makers and rural communities in ACP countries.

Please visit the seminars website.

December 13th, 2008 | Category: Events, News, Publicity | Leave a comment

The Age of Stupid is the new movie from Director Franny Armstrong (McLibel) and producer John Battsek (One Day In September). Pete Postlethwaite stars as a man living alone in the devastated future world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance? It will hopefully have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009 and then be released in UK cinemas in March 2009, followed by other countries.

Have a look at the leaflet (pdf, 84 kb) or visit the movies website http://www.ageofstupid.net/

Contributed by Terry Cannon
Visiting Fellow, IIED Climate Change Group and University of Greenwich

December 10th, 2008 | Tags: Publicity | Category: Events, campaign | Leave a comment

Dear Friends,

Please find attached a statement prepared and presented to the press and delegates. At around 12:30 noon, a few of us were standing in front of the Elk Room where the informal meeting of the Contact Group  of the SBSTA (Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice)  Working Group on REDD (Reduced emissions from deforestation and forest  degradation in developing countries) were meeting. We were monitoring

whether the language in the original SBSTA Draft which says “  Recognizing the rights and importance of engaging indigenous peoples  and other local communities, the need for promoting co-benefits, and  ensuring consistency with the aims of other related processes.” is still in. We also wanted to see what progress there is in pushing the  language ” Recognizing the rights and interests of indigenous peoples  and local communities and the importance of promoting the full application of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other relevant agreements. ”

When some Parties came out, we were shocked to know that Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand pushed for the removal of these paragraphs,  especially the word rights and the reference to the UNDRIP. So we  hurriedly prepared this statement (pdf, 9 KB) and sent it out to everybody.

The Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change together with other NGOs, then organized a quick mass action where they were shouting “No Rights No REDD”.

This statement was distributed widely. There was a lot of media coverage.

regards, Vicky

Statement of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)

Paul Bordoni: “We are uploading the statement on the Platform’s web site dedicated to climate change while we strive to give greatest awareness of the issue. Feel free to use this web space to voice your concerns related to climate change and indigenous people.”

03 December, Wednesday, 18:00 - 19:30 hrs
White-tailed Eagle Room, Poznań International Fair

TEBTEBBA: “We are inviting participants to the COP 14 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Poznan, Poland this Dec. 1 - 12, 2008 to the Side Event: Climate Change Local Mitigation and Adaptation Measures of Indigenous Peoples. This will be held on Dec. 3, 18:00 - 19:30hrs at the White-tailed Eagle Room, Poznań International Fair. Indigenous representatives from Indonesia, Kenya, Philippines, Ecuador will be the Panelists. They will share the adaptation and mitigation measures being done in their own communities as well as the constraints in carrying these out. The results of the South East Asia and Global Consultations on Indigenous Peoples and REDD, which were recently held in Baguio City, Philippines will also be presented. Discussions will take place after the presentations.”

Speakers:

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Chairperson, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Executive Director, Tebtebba

Abdon Nababan
Secretary General, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), Indonesia

Johnson Cerda
Comuna Sta. Elena, Ecuador

Joseph Ole Simmel
Maasai Peoples Indigenous Development Organization (MPIDO), Kenya

December 10th, 2008 | Category: campaign | Leave a comment

• Climate Change Takes Its Toll On Pacific Food Security by Cherelle Jackson
• GEF Praises Samoa’s Climate Change Adaptation Advances by Cherelle Jackson
• FSM Seeks Funds For Climate Adaptation Study by Nannette Woonton

December 5th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Bio-diversity of thinking key solution to multiple crises

“The conventional wisdom sees Climate Change and population growth causing water scarcity, storm damage, sea-level rise leading to a lowering of average food harvests. More recently the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the Global Food Crisis have been linked in so far as the financial resources are unavailable to address the scope of the food problem. In fact many are now discussing this multi-factorial nature of crises that are mounting up. In an article, by Tony Burke, “Food for thought as other crisis hits hard”, 19th Nov 2008, he states that, “The world is facing a challenge to produce more food, while combating climate change, which further exacerbates, water scarcity and a global financial crisis’.”

The linked article looks at bio-diversity in its original and in a slightly different meaning.

December 5th, 2008 | Category: General | Leave a comment

17 November 2008: Addressing the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Biodiversity and Climate Change of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is meeting from 17-21 November 2008, in London, UK, CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf recalled that the Group’s objective is to provide biodiversity-relevant information to the UNFCCC through the provision of scientific and technical advice and assessment on the integration of the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into climate change mitigation and adaptation activities.

He noted that the meeting will focus on two key challenges, namely: identifying the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, including recognizing vulnerable components of biodiversity; and further elaborating the positive and negative links between biodiversity and climate change mitigation. He stressed that the AHTEG deliberations will form a critical contribution to the UNFCCC’s evolving processes, helping to build efficient carbon markets and effective response mechanisms.

[The Statement] - [Meeting Documents]

The original post can be found at www.climate-l.org.

November 25th, 2008 | Tags: disc | Category: News | Leave a comment