Kopin, in collaboration with the Malta Water Association and Koperattiva Rurali Manikata, produced a short video on water scarcity in the framework of the ClimATE Change project. Malta is currently experiencing one of its driest winters, with less than half the average yearly rainfall. Climate change is known to exacerbate drought, making adaptation a crucial requirement. This video looks into potential solutions to this life threatening problem. Watch the video (in Maltese with English subtitles) here.

In order to reach even wider audience in Poland with the message of the ClimATE Change project, Polish Green Network published a book titled "Climate-Friendly Food". The book was written by the invited expert, Marcin Gerwin, PhD, who specializes in sustainable development and participatory processes. He majored in political sciences and is a co-founder of the Sopot Development Initiative (Sopocka Inicjatywa Rozwojowa). He is also a columnist and the author of the book "Food and Democracy: Introduction to Food Sovereignty" which was published by Polish Green Network in 2011. Our new book, "Climate-Friendly Food (And Other Solutions to Protect Climate)", deals with various aspects of climate change mitigation and climate protection. It presents such solutions to climate problems as renewable energy sources which lower emissions, organic agriculture which allows to store more carbon dioxide in soils, sustainable economy which is people- and environment-friendly, but most of all efficient democracy which…

As a part of the ClimATE Change project activities in Poland, Polish Green Network organized a series of free and open webinars titled "Food - Climate - Cooperation". The webinars were directed at everyone interested in learning more about the problems caused by the currently dominating model of food production and consumption as well as the possible ways for farmers, consumers and citizens to create a food system which is more climate-, environment- and people-friendly. The event consisted of 6 online lectures in Polish which were held between 14th December 2015 and 20th January 2016. They were given by some of the leading Polish experts and practitioners and covered the topics of climate change, permaculture, renewable energy in agriculture, cooperation between farmers and consumers, system changes needed to protect climate. Each lecture was followed by an online discussion during which participants could ask questions to our experts. The topics of…

Climate change is increasingly becoming a serious threat to the global food security. Since agriculture and food production are especially prone to the consequences of the changing climatic conditions and growingly unpredictable weather, the state of soils should be an essential part of the debate on combating climate change. Healthy soils can play an important role in climate change mitigation through storing carbon, the so-called carbon sequestration, as well as by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. However, when soils are managed poorly or cultivated using unsustainable agricultural practices, carbon stored in soil can be exceedingly released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), which together with other greenhouse gases can have negative impact on climate. In the last 50 years greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and fisheries have almost doubled. It is estimated that without more decided actions aimed at reducing these emissions they could increase until…

Knowledge of agricultural genetic resources needs to grow faster because of their critical importance in feeding the world in the context of climate change. This is one of the key conclusions of the recent publication of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The book, titled "Coping with Climate Change: The Roles of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture", points out the urgent need for much more decisive efforts aimed at studying, preserving and utilizing the biological diversity as a way to cope with the climate change consequences for the global food production. "Time is not on our side", the authors of the publication warn. "In the coming decades, millions of people whose livelihoods and food security depend on farming, aquaculture, fishing, forestry and livestock keeping are likely to face unprecedented climatic conditions." These people are going to need crop plants and farm animals which are able to give…

In the context of changing, and thus growingly unpredictable, climate, the access to appropriate information becomes crucial for implementation of the effective adaptation strategies in agriculture. Consequently, one of the key challenges is delivering climate information and advisory services to millions of female and male farmers around the world, in particular in the global South countries, in order to help them adapt to increasingly serious consequences of climate change. Climate information services can be a powerful tool in the adaptation of agriculture to the changing climate conditions. They play a very important role especially in protecting farms from droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. Reliable climate and weather information allows also for a more effective use of favorable conditions and helps farmers better manage their crops and increase yields. Farmers can receive different type of information and with varied frequency. The most typical form are daily weather forecasts informing…

Global warming will have far reaching effects on where and how food is produced in the coming decades as well as on the nutritional properties of certain crops. All of this will have serious consequences for the global food trade and the fight against hunger and poverty in the world. A group of scientists and economists have taken a closer look at the climate change impact on agriculture and food production on the global and regional levels over the past two decades. Their findings have been collected in the book "Climate Change and Food Systems", which was recently published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). "The growing threat of climate change to the global food supply, and the challenges it poses for food security and nutrition, requires urgent concerted policy responses," wrote FAO Deputy Director-General, Maria Helena Semedo, in her foreword to the publication. She…

In another series of short videos about small-scale farmers facing the challenges of climate change in various parts of the world we pay a visit to farmers in India who tell about their ways of adapting to the consequences of the changing climate. Ardaman Singh is an experienced farmer who has been cultivating various crops for 35 years. In the video he describes problems posed by climate change, and in particular how the increasingly erratic rainfall and changes in the average temperatures negatively impact yields. He is trying to compensate his income losses by growing vegetables and fodder in addition to the traditional grain crops. Local farmers have also adapted to the changing climate conditions by including in their production rice varieties which have shorter growth period and require less water. Watch the video here. Mohamed Fakir is a dairy farmer in Punjab. In the video he explains how his…

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Water Council (WWC) warn that by 2050 the access to water in many regions of the world could be significantly reduced which would threaten food security and livelihoods of a big number of people. In the face of these predictions it is essential to change policies and increase necessary investments, including climate change adaptation measures. Even though it is estimated that in 2050 world water resources will remain sufficient for the global population, which is supposed to reach 9 billion people by then, the continuing overconsumption, environmental degradation and the impact of climate change will lead to problems with the access to water in many of the planet's poorest regions. This is the main conclusion of the new report prepared by FAO and WWC. The document, titled "Towards a water and food secure future”, was presented in April…

Soil is one of the key natural resources and constitutes the basis for the global food system. Furthermore, as it is a non-renewable resource, its degradation has very serious consequences, which are still too often largely ignored in the discussions about the future of our planet. In the context of the predicted global population increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050, growing pressure on the finite land and water resources as well as the impact of climate change, our current and future food security depends to a great extent on the state of soils around the world. It is estimated that around 95% of our food is directly or indirectly produced on soils. Soils are also indispensable for delivering numerous other key ecosystem services. However, in many regions of the world soils are subjected to the increasing pressure caused by agricultural intensification, competing uses of land by livestock…