Identifying actions around the world that can help farmers adapt to climate change and help deliver a more food-secure and prosperous world has been the focus of a meeting in London in response to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) outlines how the IPCC report concludes that climate change is already damaging food production and increasing food prices, and will have further impacts in the future. It raises fresh concerns for food security and farming, especially in tropical regions like South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants at the meeting - representatives from the research community, civil society, farmers’ organizations, donor agencies and the private sector - were optimistic that there are many options to adapt to climate stresses that can significantly lessen or even negate negative impacts.

Many countries are already implementing a range of climate smart agricultural practices that could be models for elsewhere. One example is Evergreen Agriculture, the integration of trees into crop and livestock systems. Fertilizer trees, that improve soil fertility and increase food production, are also providing fodder, fuel, medicine, fiber and income. Evergreen Agriculture is helping millions of smallholder farmers across Africa protect themselves against drought and hunger, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Investments in the appropriate agriculture innovations are needed now, because some of the most effective ways to deal with climate change, like more resilient crop varieties and livestock breeds, can take up to 20 years to develop,” says the article.

The meeting was organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, global risk adviser Willis, the International Sustainability Unit, and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID).

Read the full story: Taking action to deliver agriculture growth, jobs and food security in the face of climate change