By Jesus Quintana
ASUNCION, Paraguay, Oct 21 2024 (IPS)

Climate change has thrown our food systems into chaos. Extreme weather events and dramatic climate variations are hammering food production and supply chains across the world. As global leaders gear up for COP29, there’s plenty of buzz about climate action. But can we really expect these slow-moving, bureaucratic negotiations to deliver tangible and swift results to decarbonize and insulate our agri-food systems? Most likely not. But do not despair. While the COP29 talks unfold, crucial climate solutions for transforming food systems are already taking root on the ground.

Jesus Quintana

Urgent action is needed. Where do we turn? COP 29 will likely be stuck in slow-paced discussions. Meanwhile, transformative solutions are taking shape on the ground. Across the globe, communities, farmers, sponsors and innovators are quietly building resilience in their food systems, demonstrating that true progress often emerges from the margins, not the center of chaos. Just like in the metaphoric film, finding purpose and action amid disorder is where meaningful change begins.

Grassroots solutions for climate-resilient food systems

While world leaders talk and officials try to turn decisions into workable policies, local communities are already acting. Across the Global South, where the effects of climate change are being felt most acutely, smallholder farmers and grassroots organizations are implementing innovative practices that build resilience to climate shocks.

In regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Latin America, agroecology is gaining traction as a powerful tool for both mitigating and adapting to climate change. This farming approach, which draws on traditional knowledge and emphasizes sustainable, low-emission methods, is helping communities adapt to changing weather patterns while improving food security. Agroecology promotes biodiversity, improves soil health, and reduces dependency on chemical inputs, all of which enhance the resilience of agricultural systems to climate impacts and helps decarbonize them.

The private sector’s role in transforming food systems

Community movements and local governments are playing a vital role, but the private sector is also increasingly driving climate solutions in food systems. Market forces are pushing companies to innovate in ways that reduce agriculture’s climate footprint. The plant-based food revolution is an example of how the private sector is responding to the need for more sustainable diets that lower greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, alternative protein food-tech startups are leading the way towards a sustainable and tasty food future. These unconventional substitutes for traditional livestock farming offer a glimpse of how innovation can drive systemic changes in food production.

In addition to product innovation, there is growing corporate investment in regenerative agriculture—a practice that rebuilds soil health, captures carbon, and improves biodiversity. Large food companies, driven by consumer demand for sustainable products, are making commitments to source ingredients from regenerative farms, contributing to both climate mitigation and long-term food security.

Climate finance outside the COP processes

One of the most significant barriers to transforming food systems in the face of climate change is the lack of adequate financing. While COPs have made important commitments, such as the creation of the Green Climate Fund, the flow of funds has been slow and insufficient to meet the needs of vulnerable communities. In response, philanthropy and private finance are stepping in.

Some patrons and foundations are funding initiatives that help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change, while impact investors are supporting agri-tech innovations that boost productivity in a sustainable way. These efforts, although outside the COP framework, are critical in scaling climate-resilient food systems and achieving global net-zero targets.

Real solutions are happening now

While COP29 will no doubt produce important global agreements, the truth is that many of the solutions to the climate crisis—especially when it comes to food—are already in motion. Farmers, local communities, philanthropies and private companies are building a food system that is more resilient, sustainable, and low-carbon.

Global leaders must take notice. Yes, we need ambitious targets and international commitments. But we also need to support and scale the grassroots movements and private-sector innovations that are already leading the way. Real food security in a climate-challenged world will not be achieved through top-down solutions alone—it will come from empowering those on the frontlines.

As COP29 approaches, let’s not lose sight of what is happening beyond the negotiation tables. The future of food security depends on action today, led by those who can’t afford to wait.

Jesus Quintana is Senior Advisor on Sustainable Food Systems and former Director General, CIAT

IPS UN Bureau

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Group of Afro-Colombian women in Guapi, Cali, showing the area where they will start a new banana plantation. Credit: IFAD

By Jesus Quintana
LIMA, Peru, Oct 14 2019 (IPS)

Rural poverty and inequality continue inflicting large swaths of population in Colombia, especially in rural areas. This situation, endemic since at least the beginning of the twentieth century, was at the root of the 50-year long conflict that shattered the country, leaving 220,000 deaths and 5.7 million displaced persons, and devastating a significant part of the rural areas, where government services and infrastructure vanished.

The effects of the civil war were particularly damaging for rural people, who suffered the worst kinds of violence and whose well-being was disproportionately affected. Illicit crops and criminal activities in rural areas, which boomed as a result of the conflict, have seriously compromised Colombia’s ability to sustain legal economic activities. This in part explains the great inequalities that exist between urban and rural areas in today’s Colombia.

Jesus Quintana. Credit: A. Prado/MADR

However, three years after the signing of the Peace Agreement, the situation in the rural areas has barely improved. Poverty affects one-third (36.1%) of the rural population, more than double the poverty rate in urban areas (16.2%), according to the World Bank. Colombia still has one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world – in 2018, the country’s Gini coefficient increased to 52, ranking second in Latin America. More remote rural areas experience higher poverty levels. Social exclusion, mortality and food insecurity indicators are also significantly higher among rural women, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant populations.

To revert this situation, the Colombian government has presented its strategy – the National Development Plan 2018-22, “Pacto por Colombia, Pacto por la equidad” [Pact for Colombia, Pact for Equity] which is organized around three axes, aiming to boost equality, entrepreneurship and legality. The objectives for entrepreneurship include an alliance to enhance the development and productivity of rural Colombia, promoting a productive transformation with more innovation, increased labour and business formalization, and better public goods and services.

Framed within this overall response, the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has launched a new program, “El Campo Emprende” [Rural areas are enterprising], that benefits small producers, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, female heads of household, young people, and in general vulnerable families in the rural sector of the country, promoting economic ventures to reduce extreme poverty.

Beneficiaries of El Campo Emprende in Santiago de Quilichao, Cauca, presenting details of their Association for textile manufacturing. Credit: J. Quintana/IFAD

El Campo Emprende, with a total cost of US$ 70 million over six years, assists more than 36 000 families living in 134 rural municipalities of 20 departments, including the worst affected areas by the armed conflict, where trust and social capital have been destroyed, basic services are scarce, and where vulnerability is high.

The program seeks to strengthen associative processes around productive initiatives – agricultural production, handicrafts, tourism, green businesses and other rural services carried out by poor rural families, promoting and financing the creation of rural businesses that can improve the quality of life and generate employment in Colombian rurality.

El Campo Emprende has also a view to global commitments, helping to fulfil the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially objectives 1 (ending poverty), 2 (zero hunger) and 8 (decent work and economic growth).

The program was launched last 15 August by President Duque and Minister Valencia in Caucasia, Antioquia, one of the areas that most suffered the violence during the conflict, with the participation of IFAD, the Spanish Cooperation and the European Union (both agencies cofinance the program) and was attended by more than 1,500 guests.

Official launching of El Campo Emprende in Caucasia, Antioquia, last 15 August 2019. Credit: Presidencia de Colombia

IFAD has been present in Colombia since the early 80s, and is supporting national priorities for the rural sector, especially those regarding entrepreneurship and productivity, to create greater opportunities for small-scale agricultural producers and rural entrepreneurs, and improve their well-being through creative, solid solutions that work.

With IFAD’s support, small-scale rural agricultural producers and entrepreneurs are being assisted to increase their productivity, competitiveness and incomes by enhancing their asset base, strengthening their organizational capacity, and promoting their access to markets and to inclusive financial and public services.

El Campo Emprende will be a key contribution to development and the consolidation of peace in the countryside, creating a brighter future for many poor families that placed their hope for progress and prosperity in this new Colombia era – and helping heal the wounds.

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