The report, Drinking Water Equity, Safety and Sustainability, by the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, says between 1990 and 2008, the proportion of the world’s population with access to improved drinking water sources increased from 77% to 87%. This represents an increase of almost 1.8 billion people worldwide and puts the world ever closer to reaching the MDG drinking water target of 89%.

However, despite good progress being made, at the current rate, 672 million people will still not have access to improved drinking water sources in 2015. We have seen the world’s population increase by almost 1.5 billion people since 1990 with 94% of this growth occurring in developing regions. Some countries are failing to increase access to improved drinking water sources in line with this population growth. For example, 12 countries, the majority of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa, have each seen an increase of more than 1 million people in the absolute number of people without access since 1990, despite making significant progress in providing drinking water to millions more people and seeing increases in proportional coverage between 1990 and 2008.

In addition to population growth, the process of rapid urbanization presents a further challenge to increasing access to improved drinking water. In 2008, 50% of the world’s population lived in urban areas – an increase of 7% since 1990. As a result we have seen the growth of informal settlements and poor environmental sanitation, which together hinder efforts to increase access to safe drinking water in urban areas. Climate change is also likely to lead to increased water stress as extreme weather events threaten water infrastructure.

The report found that the gap between the richest and poorest in the use of drinking water sources differs significantly by region and country. However, in all developing regions access to improved drinking water sources increases with wealth, and access to piped water on premises is much higher among the richest 20% of the population.  As well as social disparity, there is also gender disparity as for almost three-quarters of households without access to drinking water on premises; women and girls have the primary responsibility for collecting water. In some countries the proportion is more than 90%, creating a significant burden.

The report also says that even when there is access to water, it is often not safe for drinking. Water quality surveys show that many improved drinking water sources—such as piped supplies, boreholes and protected wells—do not conform to WHO guidelines. On average, half of all protected dug wells may be contaminated, along with one-third of protected springs and boreholes.

Read the report in full here.

Read about the Farming First principles to increase water efficiency.

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The call to action was announced at this year’s annual Agriculture and Rural Development Day, which took place on Saturday 3^rd December in Durban in parallel with the COP17 climate change negotiations. The all-day event brought together more than 500 agricultural experts, including policymakers and negotiators, journalists, farmers and scientists to discuss priorities to boost agricultural production while supporting adaptation and mitigation to climate change.

Dr. Bruce Campbell, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) said:

It is astonishing that agriculture remains excluded from a global agreement on climate change.  This year’s conference offers a unique opportunity for this omission to be addressed.

Professor Sir John Beddington, Chair of the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, outlined a seven-point plan for urgent action for achieving food security in the face of climate change in his keynote presentation. These included integrating food security and sustainable agriculture into global and national policies, raising the level of investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems over the next decade and sustainably intensifying agricultural production whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A number of key learning events took place during the day, which looked at the successes in agricultural adaptation and mitigation. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) led a learning event that looked at the tools and policies required to bring food security, adaptation, and mitigation together and shared best practice. At the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) learning event on building the resilience of African smallholder farmers in a changing climate, Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, Chief Executive of FANRPAN highlighted the importance of research, technology and mobilisation of funding for smallholder farmers in Swaziland, and other regions across Africa. Many other side events on the day provided agricultural organisations with the opportunity to share knowledge on examples of best practice in early action on agricultural adaptation and mitigation that deliver economic and livelihood benefits  – the triple wins we need for climate smart agriculture.

Other high-level speakers at the event included, Rachel Kyte, Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank and Chair of the CGIAR Fund Council, Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Mary Robinson, Chair of the The Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ) and Former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner and Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of South Africa

In the afternoon, there was a high level panel discussion, facilitated by Laurie Goering, Editor of Reuters Alertnet Climate, and included prominent participants such as Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). As the panel discussed taking agricultural productivity and food security into a new era, Spelman put forward the UK’s position on climate-smart agriculture saying:

Coping with climate change is a matter of extreme urgency. There are no simple, one-size-fits-all solutions but rather a rich diversity of approaches used around the world. Climate-smart solutions require smart finance.

Agriculture possesses huge uptapped potential to reduce poverty, bolster food security, adapt to climate change, reduce pressure on natural resources, and in many places lower greenhouse gas emissions. To realise this potential, farmers, fishers, and pastoralists must urgently become “climate-smart”, especially in the developed world, which is being hit hardest by climate change impacts. As the open letter endorsed by the 19 agricultural organisations reads:

Whilst agriculture is a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it has significant potential to be part of the solution to climate change. Preserving and enhancing food security requires increasing agricultural productivity whilst at the time adapting to and mitigating climate change. It also requires a shift towards building farmers’ and vulnerable communities’ resilience to climate shocks, and related food price volatility.

You can read more about the open letter in our previous blog: “Agriculture: A call to action for COP17 climate negotiators”.

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Carbon standards

Thom Achterbosch from the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council spoke about agriculture’s potential for mitigation of GHGs, for which the private sector, and the government, had roles to play. Carbon standards measure the life-cycle impacts of consumer products and particularly their GHG emissions. The data is then run through assessment models, to generate an estimated “carbon footprint”, which is usually expressed in grms of CO2-equivalent per functional unit (kg etc) of the product. By enabling producers to measure and monitor their emissions, carbon standards encourage GHG emissions reductions, and facilitate reducing carbon hotspots in the value chain.

Currently several methodologies exist to calculate GHG effects – national standards, supermarket standards, private voluntary standards and industry standards. There is a need to balance opportunites of carbon footprinting with many challenges: food security, open rade system, shared benefits in value chains.

To read more, see the presentation.

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NERP

Clyde Graham from the Canadian Fertilizer Institute introduced the Nitrous Oxide Emission Reduction Protocol (NERP), which helps reduce on-farm emissions of nitrous oxide in a quantifiable and verifiable way that allows farmers to earn carbon credits. It has been approved in the Canadian provine of Alberta – the first jurisdiction of North America to actively regulate greenhouse gas emissions and establish a regulatory carbon trading market.

NERP is based on applying fertilizer using Best Management Practices on the 4R nutrient stewardship system: Right source, @Right rate, Right time, Right place.

The scheme has shown a 15-25% reduction in nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer application, and has also managed the risk of nitrate accumulation in soils. NERP meets the high production, intensified, resilient, sustainable and low-emission criteria of the FAO description of climate-smart agriculture. In the future, NERP could be adapted to be an eco-level and become an internationally recognised standard.

To read more, see the presentation.

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The mission of the cooperative is “to enhance the socio-economic status of the people through collective action by sustainable natural resources management.”

Through wasteland development, the organisation helps to generate employment for the local community, and provides the necessary financial, technical and extension services to enhance their activities.

The emphasis of the project is on the collective action of the community. Through organizing Primary Farm Forestry Cooperatives, the scheme promotes and nurtures community based action for sustainable livelihoods of the landless, small and marginal farmers, tribal communities, and women, who make up over 90% of the population.

Through the programme, forest cover has been improved in more than 500 villages and degraded lands have also been restored:

• 27,000 ha of wasteland, comprising sodic, rocky, waterlogged, ravine and nutrient-poor soils, has been converted into green, multipurpose forests.
• An inventory of 9.42 million trees is being managed by 146 Primary Farm Forestry Cooperative Societies.
• It is estimated that the forests that have been developed through the programme are having net carbon sequestration of 14.27 tonnes per ha/year. The total net carbon gained after afforestation by these forests is 1.76 million tonnes.

The scheme is also focusing on 15 watershed development projects, using soil-water conservation measures such as staggered contour trenches, grass sowing and sunken pits.

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Eighty-five percent of the Malagasy population practice subsistence farming. More than eighty percent of the population survives on less than $2 per day, and poverty is one of the main reasons for the depletion of the country’s natural resources.

Whilst human activities on the land are significantly eroding away the land, it is the increasing frequency and increasing intensity of cyclones, floods and drought, brought on by climate change, that are making the greatest impact on the ecology, economy and the food security of Madagascar.

The government of Madagascar has resolved to fight against deforestation and the degradation of land, thereby reducing the country’s carbon emissions. According to Conservation International Madagascar, stopping deforestation would lead to a 20% reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted.

Several initiatives have been launched to combat poverty and global warming, including the National Programme for Adapting to Climate Change (PANA). In the agricultural sector, where poor practices such as overgrazing are common, farmers are being encouraged to practice crop rotation to help regenerate soils in vital nutrients and minerals.  Installing windbreaks, using fertilizers, and planting trees have also been introduced.

In order that farmers can practice these methods, they need to access the technologies and infrastructure that make it possible. Equally, giving farmers training, coordinating information campaigns and encouraging experience sharing amongst farmers are important measures to ensure that best practice can be maintained.

This initiative was provided by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).

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One solution to tackle the problem of methane emissions from livestock manures is the natural process of anaerobic digestion, which breaks methane down into biogas. The NFU’s report promotes Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants as one of the most promising mitigation options for reducing GHG emissions from animal manures and slurries, alongside the potential to deliver low carbon energy and improved nutrient management.

NFU cited the following benefits of AD systems:

• Increase farm business profit by selling or using the energy produced
• Help to mitigate climate change by capturing methane
• Help to better manage manures and slurries

The NFU has been promoting biogas within the UK as a substitute for using fossil fuels either on the farm or for off-farm energy customers.

This initiative was provided by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).

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The Dutch National Public-Private program on Climate Research and Knowledge Infrastructure established an innovative program called ‘Spatial Planning and Climate Adaptation’ (ARK).  One of the projects that ensued was a three-phase initiative,  ‘Climate and Agriculture in Northern Netherlands’, which was set up to assess the impact of global climate change over time on agriculture and to identify the measures to be taken to damper its negative impacts.

In this project, farmers conducted a farm-level study of all the aspects of climate change and discussed the possible adaptation measures.  Numerous stakeholders were involved, spanning science, industry, business and policy, who collaborated closely with the farmers to assess scientific results against everyday practical experiences.

To predict the influence of the climate on market developments, the project tests agro-economic scenarios using four climate parameters that are like to make greatest impact on crops: temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation.

A comprehensive research programme was conducted to examine what the hindering factors for agriculture would be and what adaptation strategies could be taken.  The scenarios investigated suggested that most of the 15 crops tested would be challenged by future weather conditions, finding that potato, lily and onion were the most vulnerable.

These projected climate scenarios provide valuable insights on possible impacts of climate change in Europe and guide communities, farming businesses and policy makers identifying appropriate measures of adaptation to climate change.

This initiative was provided by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).

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An IFAP case study reports that several projects have been undertaken in Albania to stop further land degradation. Many Albanian female farmers have implemented good agricultural practices to maintain soil productivity, conserve water and lower production costs by practising crop rotation, intercropping, composting, selection of resistant varieties and using effective irrigation systems.

Farmers of 25 communes in remote areas have recently received payments from the World Bank Bio Carbon Fund as an incentive to manage and care for their forests, helping to preserve ecosystems.

Further projects include afforestation, improvement of irrigation systems and a democratic-approach to involve farmers, particularly women, in the decision-making processes of agro-environmental policy making.

For more information, visit http://www.ccalb.org/

This initiative was provided by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).

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1. Tropical greenhouse technology
2. Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
3. Use of low volume irrigation water applicators.

Two main types of greenhouse are available according to the terrain; one for the coastal plains and the other for the upland slopes. An effective irrigation using a low volume water applicator combined with a fertigation system, which combines irrigation with fertilizer application, minimises water use but also allows for water and fertilizer to be applied more specifically and more efficiently.

This promotion of greenhouses has proven a viable and successful system to allow producers in the Seychelles to preserve their agricultural production in the battle against climate change.

For further information, visit http://www.env.gov.sc/ or http://www.sidsnet.org/aosis/

This initiative was provided by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).

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