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DOWN2EARTH Conference to Address Food Security, Climate Change

   Joe Decapua 29 October 2010

   Experts  from  around  the  world  are  gathering at The Hague for the
   Global  Conference  on  Agriculture,  Food Security and Climate Change
   (10/31-11/5) ā also known as Down2Earth. VOA English to Africa Service
   reporter Joe De Capua has details.

   Experts  from  around  the  world  are  gathering at The Hague for the
   Global  Conference  on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change ā
   also known as Down2Earth.

   One   of   the  big  challenges  facing  scientists,  researchers  and
   policymakers  is  how  to  feed an expected 9 billion people by 2050 ā
   amid  economic  troubles, competition for natural resources and rising
   temperatures.

   Looking for solutions 

   Conference  organizers  say  the  aim  is  to  ādevelop a roadmap with
   concrete actions linking agriculture-related investments, policies and
   measures  with  the transition to climate-smart growth.ā Climate-smart
   benefits both development and the environment.

World Bank

   Parched  soil  by  the White Nile. Khartoum, Sudan. Photo: Arne Hoel /
   World Bank

   Jerry  Nelson  is  a  research fellow at IFPRI, the International Food
   Policy  Research  Institute  in  Washington. He says while agriculture
   will  be  affected by climate change, it also has a major role to play
   in dealing with it. But itās taken years for that idea to take hold.

   āPeople are gradually realizing that, but itās taken some time, and we
   need  to keep making the points that you canāt keep agriculture out of
   the negotiations,ā he says.

   For  example,  at  last  yearās  climate summit in Copenhagen, African
   representatives wore buttons that read āNo agriculture, no deal.ā

   However,  Nelson says thereās still somewhat of a divide between those
   wanting  to  concentrate  on  climate  change and those stressing food
   security.  IFPRI  will  address  that issue in a new report due out in
   December.

   āWe make the strong case that you canāt divorce the two. Food security
   challenges  are  large and theyāre made even larger by climate change.
   And so this event will begin the process, I think, of coming up with a
   new  message,  which  says:  Donāt  forget  food  security,  but  also
   recognize the challenges coming out of climate change,ā he says.

   Donāt wait 

   He  warns  if  action  does  not  start now, the problems will only be
   harder to solve after 2050.

   āOne  of  the  messages  coming  out  of this new report that weāll be
   releasing  is  that  there  will  be some serious challenges facing us
   between  now  and  2050.  But we are at the point where we can -- with
   sufficient investment in agricultural productivity -- address the food
   security challenges reasonably well between now and 2050,ā he says.

   But  Nelson  adds,āThe big question is whether at the same time we can
   reduce  the  greenhouse  gas  emissions enough to slow the temperature
   increases.ā

   Sufficient  investment  in  agriculture  includes biological research,
   better  roads  and infrastructure and economic incentives for farmers,
   including small-scale farmers.

   Agriculture  contributes  to climate change through the destruction of
   forests,  methane  gas from livestock and the release of nitrous oxide
   from some fertilizers. On the other hand, plants pull carbon dioxide ā
   a major fuel for climate change - out of the atmosphere.

   He  says  scientists  canāt  say for sure just how each region will be
   affected  by climate change in the coming years. So itās important for
   those regions to build up economic resilience.

   āGood   economic   development   policy   thatās  sustainable,  thatās
   broad-based  so everybody benefits, is a very important first step for
   dealing  with climate change. But then the other thing is that we need
   to  invest  more  in  agricultural productivity, human capital and the
   physical capital that goes with that, he says.

   Developing countries need to retool 

   They  need  to  hire  more people and educate more people to deal with
   these  productivity  issues  and  they  need to give them the physical
   equipment to work with,ā he says.

   Nelson  says  one  of  the best ways for Africa to prepare for climate
   change  is  to  greatly  improve  its roads to allow the fast and easy
   shipment of food and other goods.

   The Down2Earth conference runs from October 31st through November 5th.

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