As natural disasters multiply across the world, the race to fix our broken climate is proclaimed far and wide. Climate change turns up on the agenda of most international fora. And for no small reason: weather and natural disasters directly related to the climate crisis caused USD $232 billion of economic losses across the world in 2019.1 Asia and Oceania alone accounted for nearly half of that total, with USD $107 billion in losses.2 But, as urgent as the situation is, some of the solutions to the climate crisis being promoted from above are misleading. Not only are they not putting us in the right track, they are also exacerbating an array of other problems ranging from poverty to loss of biodiversity – but bringing financial gains to privileged corporate sectors along the way. Climate Smart Agriculture is one such example.
Fortunately, a number of farmers across Asia, on the front lines of climate disaster for the last several years, are putting forth a solution that is working and that is also adapted to their socioeconomic circumstances and farming traditions. Their approach is withstanding climate change, minimising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and strengthening
— source grain.org | GRAIN | 10 Mar 2021