UN body lists ways to reduce climate change impact on agriculture

Experts project that climate change will have a heavy impact on agricultural activities in the pacific island, which will eventually increase the rate of food insecurity and malnutrition in the region.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned in a press statement released in Rome, Italy on Thursday, ahead of the December UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark, that governments and donors should immediately start implementing robust and action-oriented climate change adaptation plans for the pacific islands as the phenomenon will have a heavy impact on agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the regions.

Effect of climate change

Climate change has been a source of concern to governments around the world, as it is believed it will affect the planting calendar of agriculture, thereby affecting regions which are already under severe ecological and economical stress, especially the pacific islands.

According to the statement, a rise in the ocean level, ocean warming and acidification, changing rainfall patterns, changing sunshine hours and cloud cover, change in ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns will lead to an extreme weather event such as tropical cyclones and drought.

"Many of these impacts can have an adverse effect on agricultural and fishery yields and food security. Land and marine ecosystem degradation, heat stress, soil erosion, salinisation and nutrient depletion, the spread of plant pests and diseases, more frequent forest fires, drought and flooding pose an acute and serious risk to food production," said the organisation.

Assistance for adaptation

Alexander Müller, the organisation's Assistant Director-General said farmers should not be left alone when it comes to climate change.

He called on countries and their development partners to ensure that farmers receive the best available information on the choice of crop varieties as well as soil and water management options to adapt to climate change.

"Those Pacific islands with monoculture crop production will need to assess their food security potential closely, as diversified agricultural systems will fare better under all climate change scenarios. Integrated systems of crops, trees and possibly livestock offer opportunities for sustainable intensification of food production while creating a more resilient ecosystem," Mr. Müller said.

Threat to fish and forest

The UN body also noted that climate change will seriously threaten the sustainability of the fishing industry and has the potential to undermine food security in regions strongly reliant on fish as sources of protein and for subsistence and commercial fishing for income generation.

"The changes in the distribution and abundance of tuna fish will have serious implications for the long-term viability of industrial fisheries and canneries in the western Pacific, as subsistence and commercial fishing will have to diversify production, fish industry infrastructure and distribution patterns in order to adapt to abrupt environmental and industry change."

The climate change will also place more pressure on the ongoing overexploitation of the forest resources and this will be detrimental for the regions as forest and tress can help prevent coastal erosions and provide protections from storm surges and tsunamis and also offer important habitats for numerous fish species, said the FAO.

Solutions

Governments in the likely affected regions have been called upon to take early steps to adapt to the oncoming threat by providing support in managing the existing forest sustainably and promoting integrated agro-forestry system.

Mr. Muller called for the international climate change negotiations to consider the close linkages between food security and global warming and asked for the support in implementing a national Adaptation Programme of Action including food security issues for the likely affected regions, especially the pacific islands.

"Researches and developmental activities should be intensified in agriculture, fisheries and forestry to identify and promote the use of salt and drought-resistant crop varieties, rehabilitation of coastal forests and infrastructure development in vulnerable coastal areas, as failure to act is likely to lead to increased poverty, political instability and conflict," said Mr. Muller.