Farmer centered approaches key to food security and climate change

Farmer centered & smallholder
approaches offer us our best
opportunity to address food
security in a changing climate
Julian F. Gonsalves, PhD.
Julian Gonsalves, COP Side Event, Peru. December 2014.

Major issues of 21st century for us are the hunger-poverty
challenge affected by climate change
 One BILLION people are undernourished because they lack access to
affordable food.
 Another billion suffer from hidden hunger, i.e. micronutrient deficiencies.
 Yet to come: we will need to feed 9 billion in 2050 (but note: we have 200+
definitions of food security).
 Climate change will eliminate much of improvement in child malnutrition
levels (IFPRI 2009).
 Land degradation remains a high priority as 5-12 million become lost
annually.
 Majority of world’s poor (370 million) are resource poor, risk prone and
heterogeneous.
 More than half of smallholder in most continents are below poverty line.

Do we
need
more
statistics?

• Climate change will affect hundreds of millions of small scale
farmers, herders, forest dwellers, fishers, who are already
(currently) food insecure.
• Climate change is threat multiplier – under poverty
condition can delete assets, wipe out savings, roll back
progress.
• Drivers of poverty worsen vulnerability, increase risks and
limits adaptation – so livelihood based approaches are
critical, important.
• Climate justice perspective – focus on resource poor who are
most affected by climate change (better targeting – preferential
choices).
• So it’s not climate proofing but poverty proofing.

This is a smallholder area in
Northern Vietnam.

Mosaics in
our
landscapes:
not
degraded
but
regenerating

Five
centuries +
of
farming

Difficult conditions
don’t deter us

We “create”
market linkages
(just do not let
unfair trade
destroy our
livelihoods).

Do we not understand
resilience?

We can smile
because we know
how to overcome
challenges – just help
us grow along our
pathways.

• So start with an assumption farmers and local
communities understand resilience! They
been through difficult times. Collectively
smallholders (the majority poor) they offer us
our best chance to fight climate change.Focus
on them as among our best bet

• The stubborn persistence of millions of
herders under traditional farming is a living
proof of a successful indigenous agriculture
strategy and contributes to the creativity of
small farmers throughout the developing
world (Wilken 1987).
• Millions of SH, family farms – testimony to
remarkable resilience of agro-ecosystems in
the face of change.

Let’s be optimistic about the future:
CCAFS is the largest ever research program on climate change
research.
IFAD now supports the largest climate change adaptation program
focused on smallholder farmers.
The CGIAR now has reduced poverty, improved food and nutrition
security and improved natural resource and ecosystem services as
new system level outcomes (proposed 2015).
Global donor, research and governments now value agriculture
Development outcomes influence research more than any time
since 80, 90
Funding for agriculture is more easily secured from governments,
LGU, donors (relatively).
New space has been created for development actors.

Need to develop
ways to utilize
research/knowledge
(apply what we
already know). The
“gaps” in utilization
of agriculture science
existed even before
this new awareness
of climate change
impacts.

 Smallholders (SH) provide us with opportunities big farmers don’t have
(remember regenerative approaches are not always scale neutral).
 Smallholding provide opportunities for diversification, intensification
under a multi-benefit and risk aversion approach.
 Multiple benefit – build climate resilience alongside other benefits – so
deploy traditional and new technologies
 No regrets approach (FAO) - adaptive practices and actions which will be
beneficial in future even if worst fears don’t materialize.
 Smallholder agriculture has untapped potential for emission reduction as
a co-benefit, e.g., no burning rice.

 Difficulties to communicate “mitigation” to poor farmers, so focus on
adaptation + approaches .
 Focus on productivity (livelihoods) and natural adaptation processes
using eco-friendly, holistic approaches… mitigation is invariably a co-benefit.
 Planned adaptation is part of top-down planned approach by
government, LGU, NGOs, etc.
 Autonomous adaptation happens at individual, HH or farm level.
 Autonomous adaptation can be nurtured, e.g. Prolinnova approaches.
 Autonomous – builds on local innovation, enhances local extension –
while support testing, etc. (PTD, PID).
 Look for the diversity dividend – a landscape dominated by diversified
farms, forests (mosaics) of agriculture-forest-coastal interventions.

 Incremental adaptation: because adaptation is an
on-going process
 What’s needed is innovative local funding
innovation grants, small grants, micro-credit for
climate smart agriculture
 Foster the adaptation process (nurture
innovation development through group processes
and farmer centered approaches
 Innovation fairs, innovation funds all help build a
social capital for enhanced adaptation capacities
(see www.prolinnova.org)

• Community driven approaches to adaptation (within broad
based multi-benefit approaches to adaptation) are integral to
building capacities for incremental adaptation – need to start
now
• But not difficulty to mainstream such approaches unless – LGU,
platforms, multistakeholder processes are used
• Importance of going to scale : processes are scaled up not just
technologies :”Bring more benefits to more people more quickly
with longer lasting results” (Going to Scale, IIRR 2000).
• Knowing how to bring to scale multi-benefit adaptation
approaches will ultimately help us deliver local outcomes at
scale.

Farmer centered approaches key to food security and climate change

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