Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders and its Peruvian partners are present at COP20 in Lima from 1st to 12th December 2014 to highlight the fundamental role of family farmers against climate change.
Family farming in the South emits few greenhouse gases but is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It also plays a fundamental role in local food security, land planning, resource management, job creation and social stability. With nearly 500 million farms, it represents the most widespread type of farming in the world.
Smallholders have always had to develop strategies to face the vagaries of climate and to manage sometimes difficult agricultural conditions, and have succeeded in doing so. The scale and speed of climate change are such, however, that it is now urgent and essential for the international community to provide far more support to family farmers in favour of innovation and greater investment in the more resilient types of agriculture.
Read the Coordination SUD recommandations on climate change.