Feb 18, Rome – AFA Secretary General, Esther Penunia, participated as one of the panelists during a round table discussion (RTD) on “ Research and Innovation for smallholder farmers in the context of climate change”, organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), last February 18, in Rome , Italy. The RTD was one of the three concurrent sessions that IFAD conducted that day, as part of the 32nd session of its Governing Council.
Click here for the full presentation entitled “Upscale Sustainable, Integrated, Diversified, Organic Agriculture by Smallholders Farmers To Adapt and Mitigate Effects of Climate Change”
Click here for more information on the “Governing Council Roundtables: Smallholder agriculture and food security in the twenty-first century” at the IFAD website
Other panelists included Dr. Hans R. Herren, President, Millennium Institute, Dr. Michel Griffon, Director General, National Research Agency, France, and Dr, Eija Pehu , Senior Advisor, Agriculture and Rural Development Department, World Bank.
During the RTD, Ms. Penunia firmly stated AFA’s belief that sustainable, integrated, diversified, organic/ecological friendly agriculture which is owned, controlled and managed by small scale men and women farmers, fishers and indigenous peoples, and massively supported by government policies and programs, is a key to the significant reduction of greenhouse gases, a key measure for adapting to and mitigating climate change, and a strategic measure to ensure food security and reduce poverty among small scale men and women farmers.
“In general, we ask policy makers to have a clear, systematic redirection of investment, funding, research and policy focus on sustainable, integrated, diversified, organic farming,“ she stated.
In the presentation, Ms. Penunia also shared what AFA members from Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Cambodia are doing in the area of sustainable, organic agriculture.
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