Countries evaluate challenges involved in adapting agriculture to climate change

*Latin America is characterized by both large-scale agribusinesses and systems with low productivity and income.*

San Jose, Costa Rica, July 9, 2014 (IICA). Nearly 90 representatives of ministries of agriculture and environment in Latin America, as well as international cooperation agencies, identified issues of common interest in relation to agriculture and climate change, and are now equipped to make a stronger case for the inclusion of agricultural issues in the global negotiations on the phenomenon.

Meeting in Costa Rica at the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the officials agreed that public policies to facilitate the adaptation of agriculture to climate change in the hemisphere should be geared toward national development goals rather than simply a sectorial vision.

One of the countries in the region, Peru, will be hosting the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December of this year.

“Our governments should design an environmental policy that will enable agriculture to cope with climate change, and promote the use of early warning systems and harvest insurance. That would make our agro-ecosystems sustainable,” observed the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Costa Rica, Gina Paniagua.

According to the Director of Climate Change of Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment and Energy, William Alpízar, the adaptation of agriculture could make an important contribution to the conservation of natural resources. “It is not just an environmental issue, it is a question of development and concerns us all,” he remarked.

“Climate change is already occurring, so it is essential to ascertain its impact and the current vulnerabilities in the critical sectors of each country. We should also promote interdisciplinary studies that consider socioeconomic, physical and biological aspects,” commented researcher Graciela Magrín, coordinator of the Chapter on Central and South America of the reportClimate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“Climate change has a greater impact on agriculture than on any other sector. We need to understand this relationship a lot better, but the COP 20 is a great opportunity to work together and support the actions of the ministries of agriculture and environment,” pointed out the Deputy Director General of IICA, Lloyd Day.

The inclusion of agriculture in the international climate change negotiations is a mandate of the UNFCCC and the creation of a specific working group under the Framework Convention is currently under discussion, explained Julie Lennox, the focal point on climate change and head of the Agricultural Development Unit of the Subregional Headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

According to an IICA report, in 2013 a total of 17 countries in the Americas sent the UNFCCC notes advocating the creation of a group focused on agriculture. Based on the arguments presented, in June of this year it was agreed that four areas of work would be explored: early warning systems and contingency measures for dealing with extreme events, risk analysis for climate change scenarios, adaptation measures, and practices and technologies for sustainable productivity.

“Until this group is set up, the agricultural sector should advise the negotiators of the ministries of foreign affairs and environment, and push ahead with national mitigation and adaptation actions while keeping a close eye on international opportunities and risks,” Lennox said.

The meeting in Costa Rica of ministerial representatives from Latin America was organized by IICA, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ).

The COP 20 will be held in Lima, Peru from December 1-12.

Issues highlighted in the IPCC report

The IPCC report is one of the three components of the body’s fifth global report, which presents the latest scientific information on climate change. The final version of the document will be published in October.

Countries with more land available for agriculture, such as Brazil and Argentina, have seen their agricultural production rise in response to burgeoning world demand for food and raw materials. However, the report observes that the growth of production has been due to an increase in the area under cultivation rather than in yields.

“The region has based its economic growth on the unsustainable use of natural resources, with intensive land and water use, accompanied by high levels of greenhouse gas emissions,” observed the coordinator of the IPCC.

For those reasons, Julie Lennox remarked, one of the main challenges of public policies for the adaptation of agriculture is the need for efforts to reduce gas emissions.

“The countries should try to maximize the co-benefits of adaptation and transition to more sustainable economies, in other words, more efficient use of water, energy and other natural resources, as well as reductions in the carbon footprint and less pollutants,” she concluded.

Audio recording: interview with Graciela Magrín, coordinator of the chapter of the IPCC report on Central and South America (Spanish only).

For more information, contact:
david.williams@iica.int