Climate Justice and Community Resilience
PAN AP strategically focuses on building community resilience to address the issue of climate change in food and agriculture. We find that the urgent need by rural communities and small food producers in particular is how to immediately address the impacts of climate change. Therefore, PAN AP launches a campaign and facilitates through documentation and exchanges in developing community resilience through enhancing local knowledge on biodiversity-based ecological agriculture (BEA) and local food production in the framework of food sovereignty at the ground level. It also builds awareness on the causes and impacts of climate change, the concept of climate justice and alternative energy and mitigation measures at the household and community levels.
PAN AP is currently collaborating with several groups in Asian countries to undertake capacity-building activities, documentation of best practices and other relevant initiatives on climate change. It is also actively participating in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where it aims to promote biodiversity-based ecological agriculture as a way forward in building community resilience to climate change.
PAN AP aims to take the lead in the issue of climate change around Asia, and as such, it was able to convene 22 countries representing peasants, small farmers, agricultural workers, women, indigenous peoples', fisherfolk organisations, and health, environmental and consumers CSOs met in the Conference on Confronting the Food Crisis and Climate Change in 2009 in Penang, Malaysia. Through the conference, PAN AP was able to unify the different organisations in tackling the issue of climate change in the region.
Media Release, 2 December 2011
Farmers groups and advocates nix 'climate-smart agriculture'
Pesticide Action Network Asia-Pacific (PAN AP), Peoples' Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS), Wellspring of Science and Technology (SIBAT), IBON International, Peoples' Movement on Climate Change (PMCC)
The World Bank's 'triple win' solutions of 'Climate-Smart Agriculture' drew heavy flak at a side event organised yesterday by PANAP, PCFS, SIBAT, IBON International and the Peoples' Movement on Climate Change at the ongoing UNFCCC COP17 in Durban, South Africa.
Titled "Weathering the Climate Crisis: The Way of Ecological Agriculture," resource persons from different farmers groups and advocates warned of the World Bank's aggressive moves to push agriculture in the current negotiations at the UNFCCC and said that it is nothing but a scheme to cover up the culpability of big agro-corporations for the GHG emissions of the agricultural sector.
"(The) World Bank promotes the 'climate-smart agriculture' agenda as a smoke screen for the widespread landgrabbing, monocropping, toxic inputs and other unsustainable practices of corporate agriculture that compound the climate crisis," Roy Anunciacion, secretariat coordinator of the People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty said during the discussion.
Helena Paul of Econexus, likewise shared her critique of the UNFCCC negotiations where climate-smart agriculture is gaining pre-eminence, with the endorsement even from South Africa, the host of this year's climate talks.
Teresa Anderson of Gaia Foundation also explained that carbon offset schemes have significant implications for agriculture, especially with regard to food security, culture and peoples' rights. She also added that in areas where projects were implemented, bulk of the funds was spent on high-paid consultants and experts while small-scale farmers received almost nothing.
And to show that farmers have been countering corporate farming through agro-ecological practices, Lawrence of Biowatch shared their practice of agroecology in South Africa without the use of harmful fertilizers, and by creating local seed banks along other methods of preserving biodiversity and the environment. Vicky Lopez of SIBAT stressed that fundamental to farmers' self-reliance is the issue not just of access to, but control of resources such as land, seeds and water.
The panel of speakers are in unison to call for the junking of Climate Smart Agriculture being peddled by World Bank and agro-corporations and to help in exposing the scheme that is now being pushed as the vehicle for the 'triple win' solution to the problems of mitigation, adaptation and food security.
