Building Climate Resilient Food Systems For Pacific Islands

ÿThis report summarizes the recent work done in the Pacific region to assess the vulnerability of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture to climate change and provides the diagnosis and analysis required to identify cost-effective investments that could be made under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) ?Theme 1: Adaptation to progressive climate change? to bring the adaptations recommended for agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture to fruition by filling important gaps in knowledge.

This book provides insights on innovative strategies to build resilient food systems in the wake of challenges posed by climate change. Providing food security to the growing population especially in developing countries without exacerbating the environment is a major challenge. Climate change is expected to reduce agricultural productivity, leading to a decline in overall food availability and significantly increasing the number of malnourished children in developing countries. Interventions for enhancing the adaptive capacity of farmers especially of small holders needs immediate impetus. The policy formulation and development programs must reorient in the wake of the new expectations and deliverables. This book comprises of sixteen chapters that discuss the trends in global agriculture development and food system. The book highlights different aspects of household food and nutritional security. The chapters covering diverse aspects address food system, rural and urban food chain, factors affecting their sustainability and short and long term solutions to make them climate resilient. Important issues having significant implications on climate change such as Waste management, Value chain, Agri-marketing, etc. are also covered. The book would be an important resource for researchers in food science, environmental sciences and agriculture. It would also be beneficial for students and future scientists working on sustainable agriculture and food security.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted food security issues and nutrition gaps in Asia and the Pacific, where various risks and fragilities have continually affected the food and agriculture sector. There is a clear need to integrate sustainable management of natural resources, nutritional considerations, and the economic dimensions of food supply chains to enhance resilience and mitigate climate change. This publication explores how innovative financing and transformative knowledge solutions can help address the financing gaps and other challenges of food systems in the region.

Climate change affects various stages of the food system including production, processing, distribution, and consumption. To cope with this vulnerability, many nations have engaged in a global movement to establish strategies aimed at food security. As in other countries, in the Republic of Korea climate change has had, and will continue to have, a significant influence on the food system, creating many uncertainties. In response, the Korean government and relevant agencies under national strategies have implemented various policy measures and programs to respond to the effects of climate change and strengthen the country’s food resiliency. In this paper we examine those strategies, measures, and specific programs, and in particular those that involve agricultural extension and technology dissemination. These various sector-specific or cross-sector strategies have not only counteracted climate change impacts but also improved the incomes of farming households, who have struggled with import competition and low profitability under Korea’s generally slowing economy. The Korean government has also implemented extension and tech dissemination projects in and with developing countries with the aim of building resilient food systems in the era of climate change. We find that such programs would benefit from the formation and maintenance of international networks, and moreover, each international program must be preceded by a thorough needs assessment that takes into account the regional context and each project should promote appropriate technologies-that is, technologies customized or particularly suited to the local context.

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this book evaluates the complex nexus between climate change and regional food security in Asia Pacific. Feeding the planet puts a lot of stress on the environment. The fundamental challenges we are facing today include how to grow more from less in a sustainable manner; how to optimize the entire food value chain from field to fork to reduce the carbon footprint, protect the environment and support biological diversity, cause less water pollution and soil erosion, raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural productivity, better the lives of rural populations and contribute to the growth of the world economy. With a robust multi-site study in Southeast Asia, Pacific Island Forum and South Asia, this book examines the regional initiatives on, the current state of, and the future prospects for mitigations and resilience regarding climate change and food security vis-à-vis other regions of the world.

In the current context of climate change, focusing on gender equality in the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) can drive improvements in resilience, food security and nutrition. This document seeks to enrich the knowledge and evidence base on gender, food systems and resilience in the SIDS of the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIS) region, providing evidence from Barbados, Cabo Verde, Comoros (the), Palau, Saint Lucia, Samoa and Sao Tome and Principe. It focuses specifically on gender-related roles, gender gaps and traditional knowledge in agriculture and natural resource management to better support women’s participation in value chains and the benefits they receive from value chain development. It calls for radical transformations to build resilient livelihoods, overcome gender inequalities and help rural women and men reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. Furthermore, the transformations called for, which focus on gender equity, will increase the resilience of rural livelihoods to unforeseen events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in view of the critical role women play in ensuring food security and nutrition.

The resilience of food systems and security to emerging challenges and threats, especially in the context of environmental and climate risks and global pandemics such as the Covid-19 crisis, is currently gaining growing importance in research, policy, and practice. Based on this, the core focus of this book, as a part of a series of CERES publications, consists of identifiying and exploring the best ways to overcome such challenges and shocks and to build resilience in the Global South. More precisely, the book analyzes current dynamics and trends related to the climate resilience of food security and assess the relevance of emerging approaches such as climate-smart agriculture, new roles of agriculture extension, smart farming, and climate adaptation of farming systems.The book includes both conceptual and empirical research reporting lessons learned from many geographical, environmental, social, and policy settings while focusing on Africa, Middle East, and Asia. It also provides research and policy-oriented inputs and recommendations to guide change processes at multiple scales.

CTA is committed to supporting the Pacific Island States to build resilience and improve incomes and nutrition outcomes, especially in rural agricultural communities. Since mid-2016, CTA has been implementing the “Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific Islands” project, co-funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, and run in partnership with the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation, PIPSO. Its goal is to strengthen the capacity of the Pacific Island governments, farmer and private sector organisations, and sub-regional institutions to develop strategies and programmes, as well as mobilize financing, that can increase poor rural people’s access to nutritious and healthy food.