Climate change impact on food security
hello everyone
i am sofia lama i was born and raised in
crete but now i’m speaking from cairo
as i’m working here in egypt one year
now
well i’ve spent the past few years
working on
projects on climate adaptation and
mitigation
circular economy and nature based
solutions in creed and now in egypt
these projects address global
sustainability frameworks
standards and initiatives such as the
paris agreement on climate change
and the united nations sustainable
development goals
these 17 goals were adopted by all u.n
member states in 2015
and they are a universal call to action
to end poverty and hunger protect our
environment
and improve our livelihoods
unfortunately
through my work what i see is that the
current estimates
showcase that the world is not on track
to achieve these goals by 2030.
well it is widely known for us that the
mediterranean region is
a very vulnerable region to climate
change
and what i have not noticed the past 10
years
is that in crete extreme weather events
such as
hurricanes floods and wildfires have
been occurring much more frequently
these are living examples of how climate
change
affects our island’s sustainability and
prosperity
as for the local economy and major
economic sectors such as the
agricultural sector
the impact is even bigger the farmers
are confused of what’s happening with
the weather
they were familiar with the specific
methods and practices throughout the
four
different seasons during the year
now they have to deal with intense hits
in october for example that require
extra costs and working hands
as they have to water their crops twice
per day more than before because of the
temperature
rising another example
is the unusual phenomenon in creed of
hailstorms that they cause severe
damage to our olive trees and vegetables
and consequently to the agricultural
productivity
a recent example also is
last week’s floods in crete that they
destroyed everything on their way
in just a few hours including the soil
and the crops
well if you ask me
how i see the future throughout the next
10 years
if no serious action happens
i would say that the situation will
become worse
water availability and soil degradation
due to climate change will have a direct
impact on the
agricultural production
and therefore our food security
so what can we do
how can we help the situation
and tackle global warming and contribute
to climate
action so what i would like
to see in the next 10 years
is vibrant action a decade of
action including everyone because it’s
every
responsibility in crete in egypt
everywhere so i would say that
for example talking about food security
well
it requires a multi-dimensional approach
first of all we need the skills
for example the agri-food businesses
uh and the farmers they
need to raise their capacity in order to
use
new technologies and more sustainable
agricultural practices and methods
number two of course we need the money
we need investments in rural areas
and money for capacity building programs
and number three and it is the most
important i would say
we need the willingness each and
every one of us
from my personal experience i would say
that some best practices
or successful stories in crete or
here in egypt people
are willing if they know if they have
the skills
are willing to contribute to climate
action
i have seen here in egypt an application
and sms let’s say program
that they send their weather forecasts
to the farmers so they will know
how to deal with the weather events
another example that i was really
surprised here in
egypt is that the restaurants
give us take away the remaining food
either you ask for it or not
another example that maybe it’s not very
familiar
to people in crete is that
all restaurants hotels and
other businesses working in their food
supply chain they donate the remaining
food to the local food bank
so they are trying to fight food waste
and save resources
such examples made me be
let’s say more conscious
and i asked myself questions
like how many people are hungry
worldwide
do you know well when i saw the number i
was shocked
690 million people
are in hunger especially in
areas such as asia and africa
and the world food program
forecasts but if we the current
trends continue for the next 10
years the situation will become worse
and we will have an additional number of
more than 100 million people
more in hunger
other than that we can’t forget the
covet 19
crisis now that it puts an additional
threat to food security
so it goes without saying that a
profound
change in the food and
agricultural systems is needed
have you thought like why should you
care
if your fridge is full
and you’re full of supplies at home
why should you care because of your
families
because your your beloved ones you want
a sustainable future
for you and for all of them you want
a sustainable future for everyone in
this planet
well zero hunger will have a direct
impact on the economies
which means a better future for everyone
so how can we achieve this how can we
can we ensure food security
i would say that it requires a
multi-dimensional approach
because we need the skills
we need the money and of course we need
the willingness
let’s take the first point as for the
skills
if any of you
investor regulator
business owner farmer is watching this
video
it’s my personal call to
action to think of ways
of how to raise the capacity and
support our local farmers not only in
crete and egypt but
everywhere we need to support women with
capacity building programs
so they can use new technologies and
innovation and more sustainable
practices
to tackle climate change
adapt to the current climate risks
and mitigate their own footprint
so how can this happen
how can we help through capacity
building programs at a local level
let’s say the local authorities in crete
if they engage
with all the stakeholders of the local
food
supply chain and implement
vibrant stakeholder engagement
consultations
and capacity building programs per
city let’s say per village we have
beautiful villages in crete that they
secure
our food production
and our let’s say heritage
from the cretan cuisine
that we have worldwide
so let’s say that
we have synergies and public and
private collaboration to implement
capacity building programs so the
farmers
will have the skills and the business
owners and hotel
owners to run their businesses in a more
sustainable way
for all of these of course we need the
money we needed investments
and we see that currently
the financial markets globally
they are more concerned of environmental
standards
and they invest on green projects
and green financing on small and medium
enterprises so that’s very good
news and people
should be more aware of that there are
many financing opportunities
to transform your business model into a
more and lower carbon
business as for the willingness
this is an individual matter and
i include myself as well coming to egypt
here
and see the total amount of
people in the streets suffering from
hunger and the prevalence
daily prevalence of undernourishment
made me
more conscious as a person made me made
me understand that i
shouldn’t throw
the remaining food i should start
recycling
i should be more responsible as a
consumer
and more active as a voter to have my
say out loud like now here to you
and call to action each and
everyone that who is watching
this video so
i think that it’s everyone’s
responsibility
to work on climate action
to protect our people to protect our
planet and future prosperity
so let’s see what we can
do and how each and every one of us
can help till the next
10 years to see a brighter and more
sustainable future
here thank you for your time an
invitation and thank you for all that
pioneer work in crete
thank you issa and sharon jackson for
this initiative
have a great evening everyone bye