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