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Implementing adaptation under the Paris Agreement: how can comprehensive climate risk management (CRM) support National Adaptation Planning (NAP) processes and NDC implementation

Agricultural biodiversity (or agrobiodiversity) includes all components of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture, and all components of biological diversity that constitute the agricultural ecosystems. The main challenge for the agricultural sector is to simultaneously secure enough high-quality agricultural production for global food and nutrition security, conserve biodiversity and manage natural resources, as well as improve human health and wellbeing, especially for poor people in developing countries.

This sample of factsheets covers the following topics:

Factsheet 1: Understanding agrobiodiversity

Factsheet 2: Agrobiodiversity - plant genetic resources

Factsheet 3: Agrobiodiversity – animal genetic resources

Factsheet 4: International agreements on agrobiodiversity

Factsheet 5: Incentives for agrobiodiversity conservation

Factsheet 6: Adding value to agrobiodiversity

Factsheet 7: Agrobiodiversity for survival

How can we transfer natural risks out of rural livelihooods to empower and protect people?

Le manuel cible les acteurs de l’IP, notamment les services techniques, projets et programmes, qui peuvent s’inspirer éventuellement des pratiques utilisées par d’autres intervenants. Il sert d’orientation aux nouveaux acteurs leur permettant d’identifier les pratiques utilisées avec succès. Ce manuel devra aussi orienter les services de l’État et les PTF dans la conception de nouveaux projets et programmes. Finalement, le manuel des bonnes pratiques permettra aux acteurs du Mali de partager leur savoir-faire avec les autres pays à l’intérieur et au-delà de la sous-région.

In this article the term ‘African leafy vegetables’ was adopted to refer to the collective of plant species which are used as leafy vegetables and which are referred to as morogo or imifino by African people in South Africa. Function is central in this indigenous concept, which is subject to spatial and temporal variability in terms of plant species that are included as a result of diversity in ecology, culinary repertoire and change over time. As a result, the concept embraces indigenous, indigenised and recently introduced leafy vegetable species but this article is concerned mainly with the indigenous and indigenised species. In South Africa, the collection of these two types of leafy vegetables from the wild, or from cultivated fields where some of them grow as weeds, has a long history that has been intimately linked to women and their traditional livelihood tasks. Among poor people in remote rural areas the use of these types of leafy vegetables is still common but nationwide there is evidence of decline, particularly in urban areas. Cultivation of indigenous or indigenised leafy vegetables is restricted to a narrow group of primarily indigenised species in South Africa. Seven groups of indigenous or indigenised African leafy vegetables that are important in South Africa were given special attention and their local nomenclature, ecology, use and cultivation are discussed.

The manual is targeted at small-scale irrigation actors – particularly technical services, projects and programmes with the potential to develop their own good practices for use by others in the sector. e manual o-ers guidance to newcomers, helping them to identify existing successful practices. It will also serve to guide state and TFP services in their development of new programmes and projects. Lastly, this good practice manual will enable Malian actors to share their know-how with other countries within and beyond the sub-region.

Le cinquième rapport d’évaluation (AR5) récemment publié par le Groupe d’experts intergouvernemental sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC) souligne une nouvelle fois les risques omniprésents liés aux changements climatiques. La vulnérabilité à la variabilité actuelle du climat et aux changements climatiques futurs menace particulièrement le développement des populations pauvres et marginalisées. Les conclusions du rapport soulignent qu’il sera nécessaire de reconnaître l’adaptation de manière adéquate lors du futur accord sur le changement climatique en 2015, afin faire face à la vulnérabilité climatique de façon efficace.

Biodiversity Community Network  (BCN) project promoted landrace crops and varieties that are drought tolerant, and resistant to common pests and diseases, which also survive in the harsh environment and heat stress of the Zambezi-Gwembe valley and the Luangwa valley. The crops that the project focused on were Sorghum, Pearl millet, Cowpea, Bambara groundnut, Cassava and Sweet potatoes.

In many parts of southern Africa, agricultural production is stagnant or even in decline, particularly in subsistence and smallholder agriculture. The reasons are many and debatable, but include lack of suitable inputs for production, environmental constraints and degradation, inadequate agricultural infrastructure, external shocks including volatile markets, and social stresses such as the impacts of HIV/AIDS and growing poverty. As an additional stressor, increasing climate variability and climate change are impacting on agricultural livelihoods since resource-poor farmers are unable to cope with multiple stressors or adapt to climate-related risks. The Kingdom of Lesotho is a typical example of a country considered highly vulnerable to climate-related challenges: as one of the least developed countries (LDCs), it is over-reliant on rainfed agriculture for food production and has a large poor rural population engaged in subsistence farming, which is relatively undiversified.

The Adaptation Network will be offering a series of training courses during 2016 that aim to cater to for different levels of adaptation knowledge and practice. The courses provide a broad foundation that  enable practitioners, officials and activists to gain greater insight into climate science and facilitate effective adaptation processes for members of vulnerable communities.