Guatemala's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food (MAGA) and the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) have released a report highlighting the diverse programmes and research being undertaken in Guatemala to cope with a changing climate.
The publication was presented at an event held at MAGA in Guatemala City.
20 March 2014: Guatemala’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food (MAGA) and the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) have released a report highlighting the diverse programmes and research being undertaken in Guatemala to cope with a changing climate.
The publication, which was presented at an event held at MAGA in Guatemala City, benefited from the support of the Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Noting the large proportion of Guatemalans dependent on farming and the agricultural sector’s sensitivity to climate change, the study details current national strategies, policies, and plans focused on climate change, agriculture and food security.
It identifies further action the Government can take to reduce the effects of climate change on food production in the region, recommending four additional steps that should be taken to supplement the current efforts of the Guatemalan Government, namely to: strengthen the prevalence of climate change in ministries; reactivate the Inter-institutional Committee on Climate Change; create an official Environmental Observatory that integrates geographical information systems in the agriculture and forest fields, as well as other areas; and strengthen historic and local knowledge.
The report supports the project ‘Planificación Resiliente del Clima: Investigación Interdisciplinaria para Mejorar la Provisión de Información para la Toma de Decisiones’ (Climate Resilient Planning: Interdisciplinary Research to Improve Information for Decision Making), which is aimed at using interdisciplinary research to create an information-sharing platform. It is envisioned that the platform will provide decision makers with timely and necessary information to effectively support agricultural development and food security in the face of climate change.
The project was developed by CCAFS, MAGA, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), Bioversity International, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University (IRI), and the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE). Bioversity International and CCAFS are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [CCAFS Blog Post] [Publication: Estado del Arte en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria en Guatemala]