Invest In Agriculture To Fight Climate Change –FAO

Food and Agricultural Organization

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) deputy director-general-General for Natural Resources, Maria-Helena Semedo has said in addition to reducing poverty and hunger, agriculture can play a crucial role in making the response to climate change responsible and more effective.

The FAO Deputy Director stated this yesterday at the signing of Paris Agreement In New York to attend the signing ceremony of the Paris Climate Change Agreement as well as other high level events.

In her words “Agriculture can help reduce the impact of climate change; thus fostering resilience among communities, she said during a High-Level Thematic Debate on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN Headquarters”

The Agreement recognises “the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the impacts of climate change”.

He said the event also highlights the need to “increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience in a manner that does not threaten food production.”

Semedo noted that “Agriculture is  one of the main sectors of the economy that is severely affected by climate change. The recent El Niño phenomenon is a testimony to that. She said the support for the agreement comes at a time when some 60 million people around the world are being affected by the El Niño climate event.

It is important to note that the rural poor and small holder farmers are severely affected by climate change threats, Semedo stressed.

During speaking engagements at various high level events, the FAO Deputy-Director General reiterated the crucial role of family farmers in poverty and hunger eradication “Poverty and hunger have similar causes and are often bound together   and must therefore be tackled together” she said

Meanwhile the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who hosted the event said “Some 175 countries today signed the historic accord — agreed last December in the French capital — at a ceremony at UN headquarters