Govt, WFP to address climate risk to agri sector

Proposed joint study will asses climate impacts on food security and livelihoods.

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Climate Change (MOCC) and World Food Programme (WFP) have agreed to work together to address climate change-related risks to agriculture sector and issues of escalating food insecurity and malnutrition in the country.

The understanding came after a meeting between Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan and WFP Country Director Lolo Castro on Thursday.

“Boosting agriculture productivity cannot be achieved as long as the sector is not climate-resilient and able to sustain climate-induced disasters, such as floods, heavy rains, hailstorms and shifting weather patterns,” Castro said at the meeting.



Castro said that rapidly changing weather patterns and erratic rains pose a serious threat to farmers’ ability to grow more crops, majority of whom have already abandoned farming and shifted to other sources of livelihoods, particularly cattle and poultry farming.

Meeting emphasised on government to play its role for improving farmers’ ability to produce food in today’s changing climate by enabling them to adapt with shifting weather patterns.

The minister told the WFP delegation that the present government was fully acquainted with the impacts of climate change on country’s agriculture and water resources, which were being addressed on war-footing grounds through different policy measures.

“New and climate-resilient crop varieties are being introduced. They will help in enhancing cultivation area of different crops and reduce their climate vulnerability,” the minister highlighted.

Castro said WFP was interested in carrying out Climate Risks and Food Security Analysis (CRFSA) study jointly with the climate change ministry. The study would aim to boost climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector in the light of recommendations of the study.

“Though the study would basically aim to assess climate impacts on food security and livelihoods, the overarching objective of it was to quantitatively and qualitatively assess climate impacts on food security and livelihoods,” she explained.

Climate Change Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan observed that the ways in which livelihoods and other vulnerabilities are linked to climate in the country have not been well studied. He hoped that the WFP’s proposed CRFSA study would help bridge the gap.

“Majority of farmers in the country are small and marginal landowners, who are resource-poor. They are most affected due to their low adaptive capacity and risk-taking ability,” the secretary said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2015.