Agricultural alliance releases report calling for efforts to prevent climate change from affecting global food security

The "food-security arm of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research [CGIAR], a global alliance of agricultural experts," launched a report Friday at the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen that "calls for an intensive effort to speed the implementation of dozens of agriculture-related technologies in developing countries, which are the most vulnerable to climate change," the Globe and Mail reports. The strategy aims to reduce climate change's anticipated effect on global food supply.  

"Agriculture is one of the areas that is most suitable for early action because there are certain agricultural practices that not only suck up carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the soil, but those same practices increase agricultural productivity and resilience," said Wendy Mann, a senior adviser with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. "They're very crucial to food security and development." The CGIAR strategy makes several recommendations for more efficient use of water, including "water harvesting, better storage, use of wastewater and drip irrigation." It also addresses use of soils, livestock and fish, and discusses ways to combat pests and diseases, which thrive in hotter temperatures (Leeder, 12/11).