Farmers must be centre of policy decisions

The ‘Farming First’ coalition, which aims to return farmers to the centre of policy decisions, has recommended world leaders to adopt a number of policy instruments to help tackle global warming. These include:

• A dedicated adaptation fund for agriculture to help farmers deal with the effects of climate change
• Promoting agricultural best practices, particularly Integrated Crop Management,  conservation agriculture, intercropping and fertilizer best management practices
• Urging agricultural inclusion with multilateral financial mechanisms, potentially including the UNFCCC’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI)
• Investing in research, science, and knowledge sharing to allow farmers to better cope with climate change as they grow food

David King, Secretary General, International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) said: “Farming First wants world leaders to create a dedicated adaptation fund for agriculture to help farmers get the financial support they need to deal with the threats of climate change which they, more than any other group of people, are already struggling with.”

Thomas Rosswall, expert in developing world agriculture and climate change, said poorer farmers needed access to more efficient techniques.

“To meet the twin challenges of climate change and food security, we need two things. First, we need more research and innovation to create new solutions.

“Secondly, we need to make better use of the proven technologies and practices which have not yet reached the hands of many farmers,” he said.  

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