The small Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu is embracing agroforestry to help farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change.

An article on the website of the Pacific Islands News Association reports on a recent workshop aimed at assisting farmers from all of Tuvalu’s 9 islands to develop more resilient agricultural systems and increase food security. Farmers learnt how to design agroforestry systems and about methods for composting as well as transplanting and grafting seedlings.

“Adopting agroforestry practices that contribute to a resilient and food secure Tuvalu is the way forward and I urge all of you to take full advantage of the opportunities provided,’ said Enele Sopoaga, Tuvalu’s Prime Minister, at the opening of the workshop.

The training was provided by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), through the European Union-funded Global Climate Change Alliance: Pacific Small Island States (GCCA: PSIS) project in collaboration with the Tuvalu government. The EU project will establish agroforestry demonstration sites, provide farming equipment, construct a plant nursery and work with local communities to implement appropriate food security measures that build resilience to climate change.

The Pacific region is particularly threatened by climate change with rising sea levels already causing saltwater inundation in many pulaka (swamp taro) pits in Tuvalu and a drought in 2011 which severely affected crop yields.

Read the full story: Agroforestry training builds capacity of farmers in Tuvalu