For many years scientists-members of the CST (Committee on Science and Technology) of the UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) have been asking for strong UN-decisions to apply well-known success stories and best practices to mitigate drought, to combat desertification and to alleviate poverty.
Repeatedly they declared that a combination of traditional knowledge and methods with cost-effective modern technologies, adapted to local conditions, should be the basis for programs and projects of the major UN-agencies to limit desertification, malnutrition, hunger, famine and poverty.
It was underscored multiple times at subsequent COPs (Conferences of the Parties) of UNCCD that NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and private initiatives could play an important role in the application of such efficient strategies in the field. National authorities would have a coordinating task in all this.
It was so nice to hear all the wonderful descriptions of success stories in different countries during the meetings of the CRIC (Committee for the Review of Implementation of the Convention) of the UNCCD. Attendants of the COPs always returned home full of hope that a new step was put in the right direction : now that we all got clear ideas on the results obtained with the best practices on all the continents, now that it was shown which good initiatives were leading to dramatic successes, it would become quite easy to take the necessary decisions to set up a worldwide application of those best practices.
The TPNs (Thematic Program Networks) could form the framework for such a global (earth-scale) counterattack against desertification, hunger and poverty.
Years ago, the greatest hit in the corridors of the UNCCD-COPs was entitled “No more talks, time for action has come”.
Now, hear the good news from Rome, formulated in the UNNews :
WAR AGAINST HUNGER, GLOBAL WARMING CAN BE WON ON FARMLANDS; UN REPORT
“New York, Nov 5 2009 11:05AM
The world’s farmlands can be the frontline for the fight against the impact of climate change and the battle to feed the mounting global population, according to a new <“ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/ak596e/ak596e00.pdf”>report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (<“http://www.fao.org/”>FAO) today. The report noted that crop farming not only suffers from global warming, but also contributes 14 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. But agriculture also has the potential to play a critical role in slashing global emissions, with around 70 percent of the possibility of alleviating the effect of climate change coming from developing countries, FAO said. Improvements in cropland and grazing land management as well as the restoration of organic soils and degraded lands are the most significant technical measures to lessen the impact of climate change.
………………….
“Many effective strategies for climate change mitigation from agriculture also benefit food security, development and adaptation to climate change,” said FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Müller. A move that may boost food production would involve increasing the levels of organic matter in soil, leading to better plant nutrition and increased water retention capacity, which will in turn eventually result in higher yields and greater resilience.
…………………..
The report stressed that many of the technical mitigation options are readily available and could be deployed immediately, noting that while these measures often generate a net positive benefit over time, they involve significant up-front costs.
=============================
We couldn’t be happier with the content of the final paragraphs of this Nov. 5, 2009 UNNews-message :
“In a related development, the heads of the UN’s Rome-based agencies – FAO, International Fund for Agricultural Development (<“http://www.ifad.org/”>IFAD) and the World Food Programme (<“http://www.wfp.org/”>WFP) – met today ahead of the World Summit on Food Security in two weeks to determine ways of combining their expertise to better serve the world’s one billion hungry people.
“The sum total of the Rome-based agencies is greater than our individual parts and roles,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze and WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a joint statement.
“To succeed we need to work together. This is the time to put actions ahead of words,” they added.
The meeting brought together top management teams to advance initiatives ranging from joint administrative efficiencies to strategic country-led food security programmes, and to build on progress made over the past two years improving cost-efficiency and cooperation.”
—————–
Today again, I feel extremely happy noticing that FAO, IFAD and WFP will combine their expertise (and tremendous knowledge about success stories and best practices), working hand in hand (and thus more cost-effectively), putting actions ahead of words (here sounds that same greatest hit again) and advancing new initiatives with more efficiencies (not only the administrative one) to execute country-led food security programmes.
The mounting global population has again the highest expectations. A minority of that population, already profiting from the former success stories, can only wish to see more people gaining food security in a very near future. The ball lays is the camp of the UN-agencies.
Share this:
DESERTIFICATION 