December 27, 2012

A Year for Climate-Smart Landscapes

climate change, riceClimate change not only poses a serious threat to agricultural production, livelihoods, and natural systems, but also in trying to manage the negative impacts presents an opportunity to rethink the current mode of land management and agricultural development.

This was a big year for high-profile collections of high-level experts coming together around the issues of food security, agriculture, and climate change. Early in the year, the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, a group of renowned scientists across relevant fields, came together to propose recommendations to achieve a sustainable agricultural future in the face of climatic challenges. The final report that emerged represents the collaboration across sectors and the coming together to address these pressing concerns. The Committee on World Food Security, which meets annually in the fall, this year also convened a high level panel on climate change and food security. Coordination and multi-stakeholder processes served as an overarching theme of the panel’s recommendations.

Climate change mitigation perhaps has dominated the stage. At a COP18 side event, Rainforest Alliance and RECOFTC brought together examples of smallholder carbon projects, drawing out the commonalities. On the other hand, the need for adaptation measures is becoming increasingly clear. Co-Organizer World Food Programme described a new project on community action in Ecuador to adapt to climate change while improving food security, building on indigenous knowledge.

In the coming year, we look forward to highlighting more climate-smart landscapes on the Landscapes Blog!

Photo credit: Curt Carnemark (World Bank)
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