The Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Sabrina Dor Elba stressed that the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh highlights agricultural challenges and solutions in the face of climate change, and stressed the importance of the need to help rural people to Building their resilience to extreme weather events and adapting to climate change, noting the importance of supporting small farmers because they provide us with food in difficult circumstances.
According to the United Nations Information Center, small farmers from developing countries produce a third of the world’s food, yet receive only 1.7 percent of climate finance – even when they have to adapt to droughts, floods, hurricanes and other disasters.
The UN official explained that with the start of the COP27 conference, Somalia witnessed the lack of rain for the fourth consecutive season, a climatic event not seen in 40 years. in recent history,” and urged developed countries to mobilize political will and investment.
In turn, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Regional Director Dina Saleh said failure to help rural people adapt could have devastating consequences, leading to increased poverty, migration and conflict.
“This is why today we are calling on world leaders from developed countries to honor their pledge of $100 billion annually in climate finance for developing countries and direct half of that money toward climate adaptation,” the regional director said.
She warned of a “narrow window” to help the rural poor survive and protect their communities, noting that crop yields could fall by as much as 50% by the end of the century, and warned that “the choice is between adaptation or starvation,” and urged COP27 To be a conference of procedures, credibility and justice for the invisible and silent.
