Page 43 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 20

Food Health
Food Health

Women farmer driving locusts away by beating
a metal utensil. Photo: GAON Connection

Agroecology Versus

Climate Chaos:

Farmers leading the battle in Asia

by GRAIN | 10 Mar 2021

s natural disasters multi- the solutions to the climate crisis that is working and that is also
ply across the world, the being promoted from above are adapted to their socioeconomic
race to fix our broken misleading. Not only are they not circumstances and farming tradi-
Aclimate is proclaimed putting us in the right track, they are tions. Their approach is withstand-
far and wide. Climate change turns also exacerbating an array of other ing climate change, minimising
up on the agenda of most interna- problems ranging from poverty to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
tional fora. And for no small reason: loss of biodiversity - but bringing fi- and strengthening their communi-
weather and natural disasters directly nancial gains to privileged corporate ties. Here we want to explore their
related to the climate crisis caused sectors along the way. Climate Smart experiences, highlighting how food
USD $232 billion of economic Agriculture is one such example. systems based on agroecology and
losses across the world in 2019.1 biodiversity from across Asia hold
Asia and Oceania alone accounted Fortunately, a number of farmers the key to successfully taking on
for nearly half of that total, with across Asia, on the front lines of climate change.
USD $107 billion in losses.2 But, as climate disaster for the last several
urgent as the situation is, some of years, are putting forth a solution

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