A few days from COP 26 in Scotland, the International Fund for Agricultural Development pleads for significant investments in techniques, seeds and training.
Le Monde with AFP
Small farmers around the world will have to invest and rethink their cultures in the face of climate change by abandoning maize, gourmet of water, says, Wednesday, October 27, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in a zoom on Eight African countries.
Several “core crops in eight African countries could decrease up to 80% by 2050 in some areas if temperatures continue to increase due to climate change,” warns this specialized United Nations institution. . “This could have disastrous consequences for poverty and food security, unlocking funds to help vulnerable farmers to adapt their cultures and methods,” adds IFAD.
A few days before the opening of COP 26 in Scotland, the organization plaids to significantly increase investments to finance adaptation to climate change in developing countries.
“l Adaptation is vital “
IFAD funded the achievement by the University of Cape Town (South Africa) of eight climate risk analyzes in as many African countries (Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe). These eight states are “very different: without access to the sea, coastal, mountainous or semi-arid”, but the prospects are “dark” for all, is it emphasized. Between 2040 and 2069, temperatures are expected up to 2 ° C or more, up to 2.6 ° C in some places. At the same time, precipitation will become rarer and erratic, “with floods threatening crops and soil stability”.
In this context, “adaptation is vital”. Cultures will get better, like cassava, peanut, beans, sorghum and millet, says the report. “Planting alternative crops, however, is not a quick solution,” especially as homes practicing food agriculture often have “strong preferences” as to the plants they grow and enter into their diet. As for maize, it is better to focus on early maturation varieties to limit the risk of harvesting loss.
All these changes involve significant investments in techniques, seeds and training, is it raised. The report recalls that having tools for transforming harvests, for example in flour or cassava chips, has the advantage of preventing crops from being spoiled, while potentially increasing farmers’ income.