fao-climate-change

Organic Agriculture: African Experiences in Resilience and Sustainability

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:00:00 GMT

The experiences featured in this publication show that the complexity of plant and animal interactions with the environment can be managed for improved productivity and resilience, and that farming requires enhancing natural processes, rather than substituting them with external inputs.

Forests and water:a complex relationship

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:00:00 GMT

This publication provides an overview of forest and water interactions and describes the increasing international momentum gained by this topic. It then presents, in chronological order, summaries of the various events held between 2008 and 2011, as well as their main outcomes and recommendations. It concludes with the most important part of thepublication; namely, the analysis of the key recommendations and the forests and water agenda for the next years.

Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:00:00 GMT

This report reflects the conclusions of the Workshop and the analysis undertaken by FAO and Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (PAR) over the past year. This Workshop, held at FAO in April, 2010, explored the different challenges that confronted agriculture and the options that existed or could be developed that would be needed to meet the challenges of feeding the world, coping with climate change and improving impact of agriculture on the environment.

ROADMAP ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:00:00 GMT

The present document introduces a proposed Roadmap on Climate Change and Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and provides an indicative estimate of the extra-budgetary resources required for the implementation of the Roadmap activities. The proposed Roadmap is presented in

Appendix I and the estimated extra-budgetary resource requirements in Appendix II.

SELECTED PROCESSES AND INITIATIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGE OF RELEVANCE TO GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:00:00 GMT

This document compiles information on processes and initiatives related to genetic resources for food and agriculture and climate change.

State of Mediterranean Forests 2013

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Global changes (changes in societies, lifestyles and climate) strongly affect the Mediterranean region. If unmanaged, such changes could lead to the loss of biodiversity, an increased risk of wildfire, the degradation of watersheds, and desertification, with serious consequences for the sustainable provision of forest goods and ecosystem services.

Quinoa: An ancient crop to contribute to world food security

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 23:00:00 GMT

This technical report is an updated and detailed compilation of the nutritional benefits and agricultural versatility of quinoa. The report discusses the expansion of the crop to other continents and demonstrates quinoa's high potential to contribute to food security throughout the world -- especially in areas where the population does not have access to adequate protein sources or where production conditions are limited by low humidity, reduced availability of inputs, and aridity.

Helping smallholder farmers mitigate climate change

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 23:00:00 GMT

This joint FAO CCAFS policy brief stresses that carbon payments for mitigation are unlikely to be adequate to incentivize changes in behaviors due to challenges related to low returns, transaction costs and long timeframes for payback. It argues that incentives related to food security and adaptation to climate change are central to promote mitigation, and that policies and investment are required to provide up-front finance and long-term rewards.

Advancing agroforestry on the Policy Agenda

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Aimed at decision-makers, key policy advisors, NGOs and governmental institutions, the policy guide shows how agroforestry can be integrated into national strategies and how policies can be adjusted to specific conditions. The policy guide provides examples of best practices and success stories, as well as lessons learned from challenges and failures.

FAO, Forests and Climate Change

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

This publication summarizes the work that FAO is undertaking, with its partners, to assist countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change as it relates to forests, trees and the people who depend on them. It is organized in four of the five main areas of FAO's integrated approach to sustainable forest management (SFM):*Monitoring and Assessment*Management planning and practices*Policy and governance*Forest products, services and industry

The fifth main area of work, Intersectoral cooperation and coordination, cuts across the other four areas.

Building resilience for adaptation to climate change in the agriculture sector

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Summary report of the of the joint workshop organized by FAO and OECD on Building resilience for adaptation to climate change in the agriculture sector held April 2012.The various sessions of the workshop questioned the notion of resilience from very different angles, confronting concepts, specific risk management strategies, case studies and national policies, from different perspectives, biophysical, economic, or social and institutional, and at various scales, from farm and household to national and global.

Environmental impact assessment: Guidelines for FAO Field Projects

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

This publication provides guidelines for all FAO units to undertake environmental impact assessments (EIA) of field projects. The use of these guidelines apply to all FAO field projects and activities, requring implications to be fully considered early in the planning process so as to avoid significant negative impacts of environmental or associated social nature.

Potential Impacts of climate change on food security in Mali

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

This paper examines how climate change could affect projections for agricultural production and rural poverty in Mali by performing a sensitivity analysis with the Threshold21 model, an integrated scenario-analysis tool. The simulation suggests potentially important impacts on agriculture production and more pronounced impacts in the rural population. The paper further examines the effectiveness of public investment, namely research and development for agriculture, as a crucial measure for adaptation. The large amount of resources that would be necessary to avoid the worst case scenario suggests the necessity of continued support from the international community to improve food security in the country and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole more pronounced impacts on the rural population.

Community guidelines for accessing forestry voluntary carbon markets

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

These guidelines were developed to assist smallholders and smallholder groups, community-based forest managers, non-governmental organizations and local forestry officials to decide whether or not to undertake a forestry voluntary carbon market project and, once a decision has been taken to proceed, to provide guidance on how to design and implement the project.

Invisible Guardians : Women manage livestock diversity

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:00:00 GMT

This publication presents an analysis of women’s role in the sustainable use, development and conservation of animal genetic resources. The importance of small-scale famers and pastoralists as custodians of these resources is well recognized, but has never previously been disaggregated by gender. The differential roles of men and women have largely been neglected in studies of animal genetic resources management, but by piecing together several strands of argument and indirect evidence it can be concluded that women are the main guardians of livestock diversity.

Adaptation in Action

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 23:00:00 GMT

FAO-Adapt consolidates FAO’s multidisciplinary expertise on climate change adaptation. Through this Organization-wide framework, FAO provides countries with best practices, key principles and priority themes on which member nations can focus adaptation efforts in agriculture and food security.Since launching FAO-Adapt in June 2011, the Organization has: developed and implemented new, adaptation-focusedprojects and programmes; and enhanced FAO’s own capacity to deliver adaptation support to member countries.FAO-Adapt also promotes synergies between adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development activities. As additionalneeds emerge, FAO-Adapt will continue to evolve in order to best leverage the Organization’s climate change expertise.

Potential Effects of Climate Change on Crop Pollination

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Climate change has the potential to severly impact ecosystem services such as pollination. FAO has developed a Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture. This report discusses the causes of pollinator decline and its impact on pollination services.

Greening the economy with climate-smart agriculture

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Agriculture has to address simultaneously three intertwined challenges: ensuring food security through increased productivity and income, adapting to climate change and contributing to climate change mitigation. To accomplish this, food systems have to become, at the same time, more efficient and resilient, at every scale from the farm level to the global level. Radical changes are needed in agricultural and food systems. These changes can play an essential role in greening the economy and contributing to sustainable development.This paper considers the intertwined challenges of food security and climate change, potential impacts of climate change on agriculture, and the impact of agriculture on climate. It further develops and illustrates with concrete examples the concepts of increasing resource efficiency and building resilience as guiding principles to address these challenges. It shows how changing practices in the field can drive sustainable economic development.

Mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture into a broader landscape approach

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Today’s large diversity of semi-natural and manmade landscapes is the result of centuries of human interventions. The management and use of natural resources and ecosystem services have provided for humanity’s multiple needs for food, fibre, fodder, fuel, building materials, medicinal products and water. However, this has often been undertaken in an unsustainable manner causing the degradation of the natural resource base and loss of ecosystem services. Increasing pressure from population growth, changes in food consumption patterns, climate change and competition from other sectors is further weakening the viability of current systems. The triple challenges to simultaneously mitigate the effects of climate change, safeguard natural resources more efficiently and produce more food and ensure food security for future generations require effective policies and approaches. This paper examines how landscape approaches can be used in developing integrated multipurpose production systems that are environmentally and socially sustainable. The paper assesses the key policy, governance, financial and institutional interventions required, and looks at how a landscape approach can support the adoption of climate-smart agriculture and generate green growth. Finally, the paper considers how synergies between the agriculture and forestry sectors can be improved and how this can be facilitated through REDD+ implementation.

Developing a climate-smart agriculture strategy at the country level: lessons from recent experience

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Since the Global Conference on Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture held at the Hague in 2010, the concept of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has gained increasing attention at international and national levels, with several countries initiating related activities. The objective of this paper is to highlight recent experiences with country-level implementation of CSA to identify some key lessons to incorporate in ongoing efforts to expand the use of the approach in developing countries. Section 1 describes the evolution of the concept of CSA since the Hague conference. Section 2 introduces the building blocks for developing a CSA strategy and combines them into a coherent framework. In sections 3 to 6 the paper goes into more depth on the building blocks, the data needed and potential approaches for prioritizing action. Finally section 7 provides some guiding principles on CSA investments.