26 October 2011: The Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture brought together scientists from 38 countries to take stock of the current state of global knowledge on science and best practices on climate-smart agriculture, and to identify key priorities and efficient ways to implement interventions.
The conference, which took place in Wageningen, the Netherlands, from 24-26 October 2011, focused on: enhancing food production while reducing emissions; overcoming barriers to climate-smart agriculture; and managing volatility and risk through technological and socioeconomic options.
The event concluded with the adoption of “The Wageningen Statement: Climate-Smart Agriculture – Science for Action,” which acknowledges the challenges of addressing food security, poverty eradication, and climate change adaptation and mitigation in the context of a growing world population. It notes that many of the techniques used in climate-smart agriculture are based on proven techniques, such as mulching, intercropping, integrated pest and disease management, conservation agriculture and forecasting. The statement urges increased farm and landscape level research, education, extension and innovation through sustainable intensification, integrated scientific approaches, breeding priorities for 2030, and national decision policies to overcome barriers to climate-smart agriculture. The statement also calls on stakeholders to contribute to platforms to improve dialogue on policies and practices for climate-smart agriculture, including financing early action on proven technologies and practices to drive change in agricultural production systems.
The meeting was a follow-up to the Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change in 2010, which was organized to follow-up the Shared Vision Statement agreed to at the 17th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-17) in May 2009, and to further develop the agriculture, food security and climate change agenda. The 2011 meeting was co-organized by the World Bank and supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). [Press Release on Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture] [Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture Website] [The Wageningen Statement] [IISD RS coverage of 2010 Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change]