Media Home
UN Web TV
UN PhotoUnifeed
ROME / WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ADVANCER
STORY: ROME / WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY ADVANCER
TRT: 2.23
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / MINA / NATS
DATELINE: 25 MAY 2013, ROME, ITALY / FILE
SHOLIST:
25 MAY 2013, ROME, ITALY
1. Wide shot, IFAD building
2. Close up, IFAD sign
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Director: IFAD Environment and Climate Change Division:
"Through their activities, they hold the key to a significant amount of future emissions which will depend on how they manage that land and whether the carbon is kept in the soil or if it is released from the soil through unsustainable farming practices and uncontrolled deforestation. So we can't forget these people."
FILE - DECEMBER 2011 - TERRITÓRIO DO SERTÃO DO APODI, BRAZIL
4. Wide shot, deforested land with farmer working behind
5. Close up, farmer working
6. Med shot, farmer working on deforested land
7. Wide shot deforested land, tree stumps at sunset
FILE - OCTOBER 2012 - BOIRAM, THE GAMBIA
8. Close up, woman pulling bucket out of bore hole
9. Wide shot, woman watering crops from bucket
10. Med shot woman picking okra
FILE - JUNE 2011 - LAKE AHIME, BENIN
11. Wide shot, fishing boats
12. Wide shot, fisherman casting net
13. Close up, small catch of fish
14. SOUNDBITE (Mina) Rose Mensah, Fish Seller:
"Before there was a lot of money to be made in fish but now the fishermen come back with small fish or none at all."
FILE - DECEMBER 2011 - NATIO, IVORY COAST
15. Wide shot, women harvesting rice
16. Close up, women harvesting rice
17. Close up, pouring rice into sack
18. Wide shot, men putting sacks on to truck
FILE - JULY 2012 - EAST MOUNT KENYA, KENYA
19. Wide shot, farmers planting seedlings in misty landscape
20. Med shot, farmers planting seedlings
21. Close up, farmers planting seedlings
22. Close up, water in river
23. Tilt down, from tree tops to logs and deforested land
24. Wide shot, man carrying firewood
25. Med shot, man planting tree
26. Wide shot, man planting tree
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Nestry Ndichu, River Basin Management Officer, Mount Kenya East Pilot Project:
"You can see the vegetation cover has improved. The farmers have changed their way of farming and as well the pollution in the river has lessened and the volumes of the water in the river has improved."
FANTALE, ETHIOPIA AUGUST 2011
28. Wide shot, emaciated cows walking on arid land
29. Wide shot, herder with cows on arid land
30. Wide shot, herder checking water levels
31. Close up, herder writing information
32. Wide shot, herder writing information about water levels
Ahead of World Environment Day, celebrated on 5 June, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says that financing climate change adaptation for smallholder farmers in the developing world is critical.
These rural farmers provide up to 80 per cent of the food in developing countries, feeding more than a third of humanity. And as the global population grows so will the pressure on natural resources.
Investments in these farmers can ensure that they become custodians of natural resources and of carbon emissions, says Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Director of IFAD's Environment and Climate Change Division: "Through their activities, they hold the key to a significant amount of future emissions which will depend on how they manage that land and whether the carbon is kept in the soil or if it is released from the soil through unsustainable farming practices and uncontrolled deforestation. So we can't forget these people."
The developing world may rely on these farmers to grow their food, but they are the ones hit hardest by weather and environmental changes, with little ability to adapt to new conditions. They are located in some of the world's most ecologically and climatically vulnerable areas, and most of them rely on weather-dependent natural resources. For example, about 95 per cent of African agriculture depends on rainfall for its water needs.
These farmers are not only affected by climate change, but their unsustainable farming practices also cause further environmental degradation. For example, seventy per cent of fisheries are in danger of collapse from overfishing. Fish-seller Rose Mensah from Benin has witnessed these changes: "Before there was a lot of money to be made in fish but now the fishermen come back with small fish or none at all."
But, says IFAD, there does not have to be a trade-off between feeding people and protecting the environment. In fact, rural smallholder farmers must be recognised as part of the climate change solution.
For example, on the slopes of Mt Kenya, excessive logging and unsustainable farming practices reduced forest cover by more than 5000 hectares, which affected the water flow in the rivers and caused soil erosion. But now farmers are part of a project to plant and protect trees in the water catchment areas and they have been made responsible for protecting the area's water resources. Not only is the environment healthier, but the farmers now have reliable access to water.
The Project's River Basin Management Officer, Nestry Ndichu is impressed with the outcome: "You can see the vegetation cover has improved. The farmers have changed their way of farming and as well the pollution in the river has lessened and the volumes of the water in the river has improved."
IFAD is also aiming to help 8 million rural people prepare for climate change impacts through its Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP), launched in October 2012. To date about US$340 million has been pledged and committed to ASAP from the governments of the UK, Canada, Belgium, among others. It is now the largest global fund dedicated to assisting smallholder farmers to adapt to the shocks of climate change, enabling them to continue to feed the world's growing population.
Download
There is no media available to download.
