To ensure small-scale farmers and rural populations from developing countries receive the attention and funding they urgently need, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is organising, and will be active in, over twenty events at COP27 to highlight the challenges and solutions that small-scale farmers need to feed a growing population while adapting to the escalating impacts of climate change.
Small-scale farmers are essential to global food security and stability. They produce one third of the world’s food (as much as 80 percent in many developing countries) yet their livelihoods and capacity to feed the planet are threatened by ever-increasing extreme weather events, erratic and changing rain patterns and the deterioration of ecosystems. Solutions to help small-scale farmers adapt exist and provide multiple benefits, but significant investments are urgently required to implement change at a global scale.
WHEN: from 9 to 17 November 2022
WHAT: Events at IFAD Pavilion – opportunity to interact with small-scale farmers and climate experts.
Events will span all aspects of climate adaptation including financing solutions, the role of the private sector, the power of youth and women, the value of carbon markets, and solutions brought by farmers’ organizations and indigenous communities. Consult the full list at the IFAD Pavilion Events.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS
9 November, 16:30-17:30 (Cairo Time): Catalyzing Investments for Resilient Smallholder Agriculture
This event is an opportunity to interact with IFAD experts and Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director of the Climate Policy Initiative. They will present the latest data on climate finance targeted for the agriculture sector, discuss the significant financial gap for climate-smart agriculture, and share some innovative models developed to address existing barriers to channel climate finance to small-scale farmers and agri-SMEs.
10 November, 14:15-15:15 (Cairo Time): 60 Minutes to Change Your Mind About Eating Insects
Eating insects is a common practice around the world. Come to learn and taste how edible insects can contribute to a diversified diet, provide us with a sustainable, nutrient dense, and delicious protein source, and contribute to improved livelihoods. Can our expert panel transform your perception? Chef Joseph Yoon, a well-known advocate for entomophagy will moderate the discussion. There will be an opportunity to taste edible insects.
10 November, 16:00-17:00 (Cairo Time): Harnessing voices of rural youth for a greener future: A multi-sensory game show
Join us in a multi-sensory immersive experience that will connect you with the lives and ambitions of youth innovators, leaders and activists. The game show will interact with the audience and give them a chance to take charge in ensuring a “Just Transition” in greening economies while strengthening social justice. The event is organised in partnership with the Slow Food Youth Network. Find more here. Youth leaders will be available for interviews upon request (see further information below)
Interpretation available in: French
10 November, 17:30 – 18:15 (Cairo Time): Nexus on Water, Food & Energy: Food pillar towards a transformational rural development programme
IFAD and the Government of Egypt will hold an event on the food pillar of Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) Programme which IFAD is leading and will be announced by Egypt during COP27. This event will focus on the flagship programme’s innovative approach, discuss the potential opportunities to replicate the approach in Africa and the modalities that will be applied in blending climate finance.
12 November, 12:15-13.00 (Cairo Time): Recovery. Rebuilding. Resilience. Rural women on the frontlines of the global economic, food and climate crisis
UN IFAD Goodwill Ambassador Sabrina Dhowre Elba will moderate this panel which explores why investing in one of Africa’s most underutilized assets—rural women and girls—is key to winning the fight against food insecurity and climate change.
14 November, 16:30-17:30 (Cairo Time): Virtual Field Visit: How IFAD is building climate resilience by empowering indigenous farming in Peru
Join us on a virtual trip to Peru and discover IFAD’s climate resilience work in the Peruvian Amazon. The Awajun women’s organization “El Bosque de las Nuwas” (“Women’s Forest”) will share their ancestral traditions and experience working with IFAD to reforest and use drip irrigation to overcome water shortages.
Interpretation available in: English, Spanish
16 November, 14:30-15:30 (Cairo Time): Beyond listening in: Bringing Rural Voices to COP27
Small-scale producers feed a third of our planet, yet face significant barriers to participating in decision-making and are often absent from global summits. Leaders at COP27 can hear directly from a young farmer and entrepreneur who will recount how climate change has impacted his life. IFAD will also share the initial data findings of on-air dialogues with farmers organised by Farm Radio International, who polled rural people on what’s impacting them most, from weather patterns to loss of species and biodiversity.
