In a blog on the website of Conservation International (CI), Cecilia Harvey, vice president of ecosystem services at CI, gives a personal account of how smallholder farmers in rural Santa Elena are struggling day to day with changing weather conditions.
Harvey discusses the particular vulnerability of smallholder farmers who are already feeling the impacts of climate change yet have low capacity to adapt. This, she says, will impact on everyone given that smallholders represent 85 per cent of the world’s farms and comprise 60 per cent of the global agriculture workforce.
During the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meetings in Bonn, Germany in June 2014, Harvey and colleagues from several partner organizations will highlight case studies showing how ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is helping smallholder farmers across the world adapt to climate change.
In agricultural systems, EbA offers several opportunities, such as:
- Agroforestry systems for crops such as coffee or coca which regulate temperatures, reduce impacts of strong rain events and enhance soil fertility
- ‘Live fences’ and windbreaks of native tree species which provide shade and fodder, reduce heat and wind stress and improve animal productivity
- Protection of riparian forests and forest fragments within agricultural landscape to ensure water availability, reduce erosion and stabilize hillsides
- Restoration of degraded areas through natural regeneration, planting or adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices
- Diversification of farm crops, agricultural systems and landscapes to reduce the risks of crop failure due to extreme weather events.
Such practices also “help ensure the continuous delivery of ecosystem services which underpin agricultural productivity”, increase biodiversity and can provide alternative income to farmers through the sale of fruits, timber, firewood or medicines.
Read the full story: Small Farms, Large Stakes: Climate Change and Smallholder Farmers
