WASHINGTON, Apr 9 (OneWorld.net) – “If fundamental climate change mitigation and adaptation goals are to be met, international climate negotiations must include agriculture,” appeals an international food policy think tank.
Farmers in Haiti. © FrizzText (flickr)“We are at the point where the negotiations are going to put in place new mechanisms for the next five to 15 years and it’s critical that agriculture be included this time around,” said Gerald Nelson, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
- Agriculture must be on the agenda of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) negotiations in Copenhagen this December because global warming has a significant impact on food production, agriculture can help mitigate climate change, and poor farmers will need help adapting to changing temperatures, writes IFPRI (see full report below).
via Global Climate Talks Must Address Agriculture | OneWorld.net (U.S.).
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This makes a lot of sense. One would even go further to suggest that a REDD/AFOLU arrangement would be a better deal for Africa in a post-2012 climate change architecture. There are many good reasons for supporting inclusion of Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU). For starters, as currently constituted the CDM arrangement is slow, ineffective for African participation, and honestly can be made user-friendlier. Besides, smallholder agriculture has long been linked to deforestation and degradation and therefore is key to adaptation/mitigation efforts. Another dimension has to do with issues of land tenure and land rights, which are less contested in agriculture than in forested areas. Minang and Swallow (2009) have made a strong case showing that agriculture and other land uses would potentially yield more core-benefits than REDD. A similar position is being advanced by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC) states. A convergence is emerging towards a common position under the Africa BioCarbon Initiative, which is a platform to mobilize sustainable financing for Africa while maximizing Africa’s contribution to climate change mitigation and the adaptation of her ecosystems to climate change.