The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) joined forces in 2019, leveraging a combined 65 years’ experience in research on the role of forests and trees in solving critical global challenges.
Originally published on Medium by Andreea Nowak
Unequivocal evidence of climate change has called for shifts in mindsets and behaviors all round the world, and agriculture is no exception. Climate adaptation measures are needed in nearly every hub of the food value chain: input providers, farmers, processors, transporters, retailers, and end consumers. Adaptation measures are many and various. For farmers, adapting to a changing climate may mean completely abandoning familiar yet unsustainable practices such as monocultures; adopting new measures, like using drought-tolerant crop seeds; or simply doing more (and doing better) of what they have been doing for decades, such as diversifying crops.
The consequences of climate inaction will become devastating for nature, economies, and societies within the next ten years. By 2030, our current global trajectory will have pushed an additional 100 million people below the poverty line; significantly reduced the food security and livelihoods of some 500 million smallholder farmers; and left more than USD 7 trillion in net adaptation benefits unrealized. The consequences will be far-reaching; for example, by 2030, climate inaction will be costing Tanzania up to 2% of its national GDP every year.
But there is much more that meets the eye.
Climate adaptation measures offer real benefits, yet adoption of these remains limited
Tanzania´s population has increased more than fivefold in the last five decades (1965–2015) even as crop yields have remained virtually unchanged or diminished as a result of soil degradation, droughts, and suboptimal farming methods, among other issues. The consequence of this has been widespread food deficits and insecurity.
Read full article here