How small farmers are adapting to climate change
Everyone must play a role in helping small farmers adapt to climate change, and chefs are uniquely positioned to do so. Recipes for change, a campaign of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), features ingredients that are under threat from climatic changes.
Everyone must play a role in helping small farmers adapt to climate change, and chefs are uniquely positioned to do so. Recipes for change, a campaign of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), features ingredients that are under threat from climatic changes.
2014 was the hottest year on record, according to both the聽Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)聽and the聽National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Rainfall in crucial agricultural zones is diminishing, and small farmers are facing desertification of farmland due to climate change. Everyone must play a role in helping small farmers adapt to climate change, and聽chefs are uniquely positioned聽to partner with the farmers who grow the ingredients for their meals.聽Recipes for Change, a campaign of the聽International Fund for Agricultural Development聽(IFAD), features ingredients that are under threat from climatic changes.
The campaign focuses on traditional crops and dishes that are under threat from global climate change. Regional celebrity chefs travel to rural areas to work with small farmers and to cook traditional meals with local farmers. A series of videos features stories and recipes from rural communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and also features celebrity chefs from those regions. IFAD, a specialized agency of the United Nations, has partnered with the Research Program on聽Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security(CCAFS) to produce the videos.
The project notes that one in three people are dependent on smallholder farms for food security. Furthermore, small farmers often produce food on marginal land and face reduced yields and incomes due to climate change. Therefore, adaptation to climate change is of vital importance to small farmers and rural communities.
Videos include recipes for聽sweet and sour catfish soup聽from Vietnam, bananas with beans and split green peas from Rwanda, and Chairo soup from Bolivia. Other recipes, such asPoulet Yassa聽from Senegal and Guatemalan聽rice and beans, are also available; the online recipes explain both regional climate risks and IFAD solutions to problems faced by smallholder farmers.
In celebration of聽World Environment Day 2015, Italian celebrity chef Carlo Cracco聽visitedMoroccan farmer Fatima Abed to create a recipe for lamb tagine with Moroccan truffles. Abed is facing desertification and land degradation due to climatic changes. 鈥淐oming here is a humbling experience because if you let it, the desert will advance,鈥� said Cracco. 鈥淲e must help those people who work to recuperate the land, so that there is a change in the way we fight the battle of climate change.鈥�
Leading up to the聽Conference of the Parties (COP21)聽in December of 2015, IFAD will intensify the campaign in hopes of contributing to a worldwide call for an ambitious global deal on climate change. Many聽other organizations聽are showing support and solidarity for small farmers adapting to climate change by organizing actions and campaigns worldwide.
Recipes For Change grew out of IFAD鈥檚 existing work with small farmers and adaptation to climate change. IFAD鈥檚聽Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme聽(ASAP) channels climate finance to small farmers to build resilience in the face of climate risks. Working in more than 30 developing countries, ASAP is now the largest global financing source related to adaptation to climate change.
Join the community聽and discuss ingredients and issues with other changemakers! Follow Recipes for Change on Twitter and Instagram: #RecipesForChange