One of the biggest concerns of the agroecology promoters I met with during my short research trip this summer was the problem of climate change. The promoters work with farmers and they talk about climate change and the movement is trying to figure out how to work on this because there could be climate change related events (such as drought or at the other end of the spectrum, hurricanes) that could wipe out their crops and the seeds that they have been cultivating.One of the most immediate concerns was pests. They have seen warmer weather each year and with it more pests in the fields and in their storage facilities.
In my conversations with the lead agroecology promoter in Oventik, I learned that they are trying to establish a seed bank to protect against this; simultaneously they are working towards the “vital improvement of corn” through looking at varieties from other climates and doing experiments between climates (that is, testing highland varieties in lowland areas etc), which show that adaptation is very slow.
While they look inwards to craft local responses to climate change, a delegation is attending the COP 16 in Cancun to make demands on the global players.
No comments:
Post a Comment