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Climate Change, Food Security, Agriculture

Involvement of women crucial to fighting global concerns

PM tells roundtable at FAO headquarters

Hasan JAHID TUSHER, From Rome
Prime Minister Sheikh Kasina yesterday stressed the need lor involving women in all lewis of policy and planning of climate change, focal security and agriculture issues to fight these global concerns unitedly.
"They must haw equal access to informa -tion, skills development market linkage and technology and financial resources to effectively participate in climate change initia-tives,* she said.
Kasina said this while co-chairing a roundtable tilted Climate change adaptation and mitigation: Challenges for agriculture and food security' held at FAO headquarters as part of the World Sununit on food Security-2009.
Liter, the prime minister gaw her place to Agriculture Minister Mada Chowdhury who concluded theewnton behalfofBangladesh.
Addressing the roundtable, the premier said women haw knowledge in agriculture and food security. Therefore, they must be involved in all policy and pluming levels, inter alia.
Women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change. Yet they play a major role in adoption and mitigation in agriculture, she said, adding that rural women are responsible for half of the world's food production, producing 60-80 percent of foods in most devel-
oping countries.
MS Swaminathan, president of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. Mahmoud Solh, director general of International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (1CARDA), Florin Vladu, from the secretariat of United Nations Framework (Convention on Climate Change, and Ger Bergkamp, director general ofWorld Water Council, were the panellists in the event.
1 lasina said climate change poses a serious threat to agriculture and food security in the poorest and most vulnerable countries of the world, including Bangladesh, which are already grappling with chronic food shortages and climate change would further aggravate the availability of food.
“With world population growing and expected to cross nine billion by 2050, we would require more food. Moreover, climate change migrants are growing at an unprecedented rate with increased floods, cyclones, droughts, sea-level rise and salinity and other calamities,’' she said.
Tire PM further said that agriculture with choice of crops and effective management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improved agricultural and forestry practices can also create carbon sinks.
“It is important to contain deforestation, land degradation, support improved animal farming, plant productions and assist devel-
oping countries, especially MVt s and LDCs, with eco-friendly technology transfers and capacity building," she said
Sharing agricultural technology can con tribute to saving the environment and increasing agricultural production, Kasina said, adding that green technology, including Indigenous ones, crop varieties attuned to climate change, fertiliser use and water conservation technology, organic agriculture, fislring and livestock breeding suitable under various agro climate conditions need greater attention.
Such innovation must be ecologically sound, environmentally sustainable, low cost and those which can bo easily adopted by rural farmers in developing countries and LDCs, sheobserved.
She went on saying: “Though our greenhouse gas contribution is negligible, Bangladesh has become one of Its worst victims. With increased frequency and erratic pattern of Hoods, cyclones, droughts and weather conditions, tire country's development plans have been frustrated and budgeted resources diverted to humanitarian support."
The premier said Bangladesh recognises the need to adapt to climate change and save agriculture, fisheries and forestry, ensure food availability and stop migration of climate change displaced people to overburden cities.