In Durban, IFAD's President outlined the challenges of addressing the interactions between climate change and food security, highlighting IFAD's long-standing efforts.
While farmers are already adapting to climate change, increased public investment in research is needed to improve adaptation.
2 December 2011: The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo Nwanze, called climate change and food security two of humanity’s greatest challenges in the 21st century. Nwanze is in Durban, South Africa, for the Durban Climate Change Conference, where he stressed the need for smallholder farms to increase food production over the coming decades, to keep pace with a growing population in the face of more frequent extreme weather and shifting weather conditions.
The IFAD statement noted that farmers already are adapting to climate change, but called for increased public investment for research to improve adaptation. IFAD supports initiatives to help smallholders increase their productivity and incomes.
IFAD, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN World Food Programme (WFP) have received funding from the European Union’s Food Facility (EUFF) for their efforts to assist those who have been affected by the global food price crisis. Set up in collaboration with the UN High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, EUFF has channelled approximately €370 million through FAO, IFAD and WFP to bridge the gap between short-term emergency needs and longer-term development. [UN Press Release]