Peer-to-peer exchange held on climate change adaptation metrics in agriculture and food security with LAC countries
In October 2019, Guatemala, Uruguay and Colombia came together for a productive exchange at the regional level on their progress towards the development of national M&E systems. The meeting is part of a series of NAP-Ag peer-to-peer exchanges that facilitate the exchange of ideas amongst country representatives in order to remove potential bottlenecks in adaptation planning processes.
Participants in this regional exchange agreed that clear national adaptation objectives, priorities and targets were necessary conditions for advancing the development of a national M&E system for adaptation. For example, in Uruguay, as part of the conceptualization of the National Adaptation Plan to Climate Variability and Change for the Agriculture Sector (PNA-Agro and the Action Plan for 2025), a matrix of 32 indicators was elaborated through the identification of synergies with the PNA-Agro and other existing indicators with the objective to reduce indicators to the 4 dimensions identified in the plan.
Supported by the NAP-Ag programme, Guatemala’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) is following up on their commitments of the Paris Agreement to review, update and communication on their NDCs in compliance with the first five-year planning cycle (2015-2020). Through a participatory internal consultation process, the MAGA is consolidating a Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting system for adaptation in the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security sector, to be included in the Sistema de Información, Planificación, Seguimiento y Evaluación (SIPSE).
The presentation from Colombia focused on institutional arrangements and the development of indicators. The intersectoral commission on climate change, composed of actors from various sectors, is taking the lead in decisions on how to incorporate climate change into their development plans, NDC goals and the 2050 strategy. There are also technical committees for different topics, including M&E, which is led by the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM). A recent risk and vulnerability analysis for the agriculture sectors was conducted that is informing the definition and selection of indicators to measure sensitivity and adaptive capacity of food security, water resources, biodiversity, as well as selected crops and farm animals. The study demonstrated that 42% of the production in the country with an agricultural component is highly sensitive to climate change. This allows for the generation of alert systems in each municipality and quantify the investment risk.
The discussion highlighted on some common insights. One, mapping within countries was useful for identifying existing M&E systems, methods, tools, indicators and metrics that are already being applied and recorded in the agriculture and land-use sector. Two, a detailed climate vulnerability assessment for specific dimensions (e.g. ecosystem services, crops, forest resources, and aquaculture) is essential in the identification of indicators for hazards, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Three, a budget estimate should be created upfront to address the challenge for the lack of data and data collection, and key actors in government should endorse M&E systems to ensure their long-term sustainability. Countries should establish baseline data for their indicators to enhance the consolidation of targets in M&E systems.