AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER 5 THE WAY FORWARD: REALIGNING POLICIES, BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY
» action. Moreover, climate change will increase
the potential for movements of pests and
diseases, as well as movements of products,
from one country to another. This calls for
strengthened regional and international
cooperation to facilitate exchanges of
knowledge, manage common resources, and
exchange and value plant and animal
genetic resources.
Many resources upon which the agriculture
sectors depend – such as water, fish stocks and
ecosystems – are transboundary in nature.
Changes in the environment will lead to
changes in the availability of these resources
and to the migration of species, people and
human activities as they seek to adjust to these
changes. In addition, extreme events, such as
forest fires, species invasions, and pests and
diseases, reach across national boundaries.
Policies and institutions dedicated to the
prevention and management of specific risks
and vulnerabilities that are being affected by
climate change are mainly local and national,
but they can be effectively supported by
international cooperation and tools.
Multicountry and regional action to
monitor and manage changes in natural
resources, as well as risks to the agriculture
sectors and food security, is thus crucial to
addressing climate change. Important
examples of transboundary cooperation in
the agriculture sectors include:
Regional fisheries bodies, institutions and
networks, which work together in the
adaptive regional management of
transboundary fisheries stocks and the
regional control of fish diseases. For example,
the management of industrial fisheries for
skipjack and yellowfin tuna in the equatorial
waters of the western Pacific Ocean keeps
catches within sustainable bounds and
optimizes the distribution of economic
benefits.
Regional forestry commissions, which
coordinate actions that have transnational
implications and which benefit from
collaboration among countries in the regions.
Examples of joint action include regional
initiatives on forest fires and invasive species,
as well as regional collaboration on forest
resource assessments.
Institutions for transboundary water
resource management, such as the Nile Basin
Initiative and the Mekong River Commission,
which help develop a shared vision of demands
on water resources within regional water
basins.
Regional projects, such as the Great Green
Wall initiative to combat desertification in
Africa.
Regional and global early warning
systems, such as FAO’s Global Information
and Early Warning System and its Emergency
Prevention System for Animal Health.
The FAO Desert Locust Control Committee,
which consists of 64 countries, and
strengthens national capacities in desert
locust monitoring, control, contingency
planning, training and environmental safety
in nearly 30 countries.
The role of trade in
adaptation and mitigation
An efficient international trading system is
important for both climate change adaptation
and mitigation. Climate change may have farreaching
impacts on global production
patterns and patterns of international trade in
food and agricultural products. Trade may be
part of adaptation strategies for regions
adversely affected by climate change. Trade
restrictions, such as tariff and non-tariff
barriers, which limit the response of global
agricultural production to changes in demand
and supply under climate change, should be
minimized. However, since impacts are
expected to be worse in low-latitude regions
(see Chapter 2), climate change is likely to
exacerbate existing imbalances between the
developed and developing world. Climate
change underscores the need to help
developing countries deal with food and
energy price increases, as well as volatility in
food supplies.
| 102 |