2023-12-03 19:44:00
At COP28 taking place in Dubai, an important Declaration on agriculture, food and climate action was adopted on December 1st. This is a significant step forward in reducing world hunger.
134 signatory countries to the Declaration carried by the host of COP28, the United Arab Emirates, have decided to integrate agriculture and food into their climate plans. They engage themselves “to accelerate the integration of agriculture and food systems into our climate action and, simultaneously, to integrate climate action into our policy agendas and actions related to agriculture and food systems” by 2025.
Rethinking agriculture
Agriculture is the sector most exposed to climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), by 2100, 8% to 30% of current agricultural land will be unsuitable. And yet, 70% of the world’s population makes a living from agriculture. Benin, with an estimated population of 12 million, is no exception. According to the National Agricultural Census, nearly one million households practice agriculture.
To face climate change, the Beninese State adopted a National Strategy for Ecological and Organic Agriculture (SNAEB) in 2020. This document creates the conditions for sustainable agriculture to guarantee food security and health for current and future generations. Increasingly, producers are adopting sustainable land management and adaptation to climate change measures to achieve better yields and sustainable income.
This awareness is reflected in a gradual transition towards agroecology. For the first time in Benin, the National Agroecology Week was organized from December 29 to 2, 2023. The objective is to promote agroecology and raise awareness of the risks of using agrochemical inputs.
#COP28 #adoption #declaration #reduce #world #hunger