The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, has warned countries of the world to help rural small-scale farmers adapt to climate change in order to avert hunger and migration, reports NaijaAgroNet.
This follows a recent United Nations’ announcement that 2020 was one of the warmest years on record, with catastrophic temperature rises expected this century.
“It is unacceptable that small-scale farmers who grow much of the world’s food are left at the mercy of unpredictable weather patterns, with such low investment to help them to adapt,” said Houngbo.
“They do little to cause climate change, but suffer the most from its impacts. Their increasingly common crop failures and livestock deaths put our entire food system at risk. It is imperative that we ensure they remain on their land and sustainably produce nutritious food. If not, then hunger, poverty and migration will become even more widespread in the years to come.”
In response, Houngbo will announce the launch of IFAD’s Enhanced Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP+) at the Climate Adaptation Summit on 26 January, alongside IFAD’s Goodwill Ambassadors Idris and Sabrina Elba who will discuss the topic with Alexander de Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, and Dag Inge Ulstei, Norway’s Minister of International Development.
Only 1.7 percent of global climate finance – a fraction of what is needed - goes to small-scale farmers in developing countries despite their disproportionate vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, according to a report released by IFAD at the end of 2020.
Isaac Oyimah/Editor
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