Agriculture is somewhat of a “double-edged sword”, in that its activities can both contribute to the negative impacts of climate change as well as mitigate these impacts.
IICA’s Flagship Project on Resilience and Comprehensive Risk Management in Agriculture’s main objective is to increase resilience of agricultural systems in the member countries to address the multiple risks posed by climate chang by strengthening the institutional framework for innovation and risk management based on the principles of sustainable adaptation.
Renaud De Plaen, Program Leader Agriculture and Food Security at IDRC
The Government of Canada has made clear its commitment to addressing Climate Change and the attendant issues relating to mitigation and adaptation in various national and international fora. In this regard, Canada is a leader in the hemisphere.
The newly appointed leader of IICA’s Flagship Project, Dr. Katia Marzall, recently paid a visit to Ottawa, where she was able to share a proposal for developing a collaborative action plan for agriculture and climate in the Americas, as well as gain Canadian insights and recommendations. The Action Plan aims to establish concrete and strategic actions, together with priorities, responsibilities, resources and strategies that will contribute to the capacity of agriculture to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Meetings coordinated by the Delegation in Canada sought to involve a diverse group of actors in discussions towards collective and harmonized strategies in the hemisphere. Representatives of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), International Development & Research Centre (IDRC), International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) were very open and engaged in their interventions, providing Katia with key perspectives for consideration in the action plan.
Deemed a successful mission, the Delegation anticipates further interactions with Canadian stakeholders as IICA prepares a white paper on Agriculture and Climate in the Americas.
