Climate Action for Zero Hunger
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Goal 2: Zero hunger Rapid economic growth and increased agricultural productivity over the past two decades have seen the number of undernourished people drop by almost half. Many developing countries that used to suffer from famine and hunger can now meet the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable. Central and East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have all made huge progress in eradicating extreme hunger. These are all huge achievements in line with the targets set out by the first Millennium Development Goals. Unfortunately, extreme hunger and malnutrition remain a huge barrier to development in many countries. 795 million people are estimated to be chronically undernourished as of 2014, often as a direct consequence of environmental degradation, drought and loss of biodiversity. Over 90 million children under the age of five are dangerously underweight. And one person in every four still goes hungry in Africa. The SDGs aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure all people – especially children – have access to sufficient and nutritious food all year round. This involves promoting sustainable agricultural practices: supporting small scale farmers and allowing equal access to land, technology and markets. It also requires international cooperation to ensure investment in infrastructure and technology to improve agricultural productivity. Together with the other goals set out here, we can end hunger by 2030. Climate change is altering age-old farming traditions, affecting livelihoods in local communities, and small producers who bring healthy food to our tables. It is also triggering massive droughts and floods that put our global goal of zero hunger at risk. Even a 2°C global temperate increase will be devastating for farmers and the 2 billion extra mouths we will need to feed by 2050. The cost of corn – the backbone of much of the world’s diet – could jump by 50 percent, and crop production could decline by as much as 22 percent in sub-Saharan Africa. Droughts, floods and other large-scale climate disasters would put more lives at risk of malnutrition, starvation and uncertain futures. Local policy makers and farmers alike need new skills, tools and technologies to better respond to climate change. These ingredients go beyond solar-powered irrigation pumps and drought-resistant seeds; they include eco-friendly farming practices, better linkages to markets, and policies and plans to support farmers in building productive food systems to feed our growing population. Ending world hunger remains an ambitious goal, but we can help reach it, farm by farm. Let's start by giving our farmers the seeds, policies and support they need to adapt to climate change.
The Integrating Agriculture in NAPs Programme supports partner countries to identify and integrate climate adaptation measures for the agricultural sector into relevant national planning and budgeting processes. It is a multi-year initiative funded by the German Government that responds to country driven needs. The Integrating Agriculture into National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) programme, coordinated by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), aims to integrate climate change adaptation concerns related to agriculture-based livelihoods into the existing national planning and budgeting processes of eight developing countries and LDCs. The initiative will enhance these partner countries’ existing processes and improve their prospects of accessing climate finance, such as the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund. Learn more at http://adaptation-undp.org/naps-agriculture.

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