8th APAN Forum - Planning for Adaptation and Resilience: Scaling up Climate Ambition for Resilience of Land Use and Agriculture Systems
Context
In the face of climate change, building resilient food systems demands holistic approaches, considering shocks, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Regional countries have devised specific plans, including nationally determined contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and Sectoral Climate Change Action Plans, bolstered by evidence and assessments. These processes strengthen agriculture, influence climate policy, and set climate change goals. Monitoring and evaluation systems refine plans, fostering shared insights for food systems resilience.
How do countries align with international commitments like NDCs/NAPs? What are effective ways to track progress and improve plans? How can support actors and initiatives contribute?
To address these questions, FAO and UNDP, through the SCALA programme, organized a side event, "Planning for Adaptation and Resilience: Scaling up Climate Ambition for Resilience of Land Use and Agriculture Systems," at the 8th edition of the Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation (APAN) Forum during the Korea Global Adaptation Week (KGAW) 2023.
Objectives
The main objective of this event was sharing lessons on the enabling role of planning processes, such as NAP processes in Nepal and Mongolia, and sectoral planning processes in Thailand and Cambodia for resilient food systems.
This event allowed participants a unique opportunity to explore collective learning on the effectiveness and scaling challenges/barriers of transformative adaptation. It delved into the processes countries followed to formulate their current plans, best practices for translating planning into implementation, and the policy and governance requirements for operationalizing food systems resilience strategies. Additionally, it highlighted the significant role of support initiatives, such as the SCALA programme, in advancing these efforts.
This event was tailored to regional resilience practitioners from governments, academia, civil society, and partners. The format included a short keynote presentation, followed by a moderated panel discussion and an interactive Q&A session with the audience.
The presentation of the session can be found at this link.
Main outcomes of the session
Highlights of the session
- With a limited timeframe to meet the Paris Agreement goals, there's a need for action that goes beyond past incremental approaches. Climate impacts are significant, so innovative thinking is crucial.
- To prevent getting tangled in complexity, countries are pursuing ambitious climate actions through NAPs, NDCs, and sector-specific plans. These actions aim to strengthen food systems and achieve national goals.
Issues and challenges outlined in the session
- Boost planning like NAPs in Nepal and Mongolia, plus sectoral plans in Thailand and Cambodia for stronger food systems.
- Overcoming hurdles in going from planning to action, including policy and governance for food system resilience.
- Meeting needs and facing challenges in monitoring progress to speed up transformative changes on the ground.
Key recommendations
- In the government sector, it's important to involve communities and vulnerable groups in planning and programs at all levels. Local governments should be trained to work effectively with different stakeholders. Government purchasing from small farmers and fishers can support these communities. Gender and social inclusion should be part of planning to address the needs of women, small-scale farmers, and vulnerable communities. Engaging more domestic and international stakeholders in government planning can help increase resilience in land use and agriculture systems.
- In the funding institutions and academia/research community, supporting Civil Society Organizations is crucial. They can effectively represent and engage with government entities to help vulnerable communities, including through farmers' organizations, advocate for their needs and concerns.
Agenda
The session was moderated by SCALA UNDP team.
| Time | Description | Speakers |
10min | Opening remarks/ Keynote speech | Mr. Beau Damen, Natural Resources Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific |
| 5min | Introduction | Moderator, SCALA UNDP team |
| 45min | Moderated discussion | Ms. Sairak Chailangar, Director, Economic, Technology, Agricultural Resources and Environment Research Division, Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand Mr. Sanjeev Karn, Joint Secretary, Food Safety and Food Technology Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD), Nepal Mr. Am Phirum, Deputy Director, Department of Agricultural Land Resources Management, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodia Mr. Ts. Bolorchuluun, Head of Department, Policy Implementation and Planning Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry (MOFALI), Mongolia Ms. Hazel Tanchuling, Executive Director, Rice Watch Action Network |
| 10min | Mentimeter exercise with the audience | Moderator, SCALA UNDP team |
| 15min | Audience Q&A | Moderator, SCALA UNDP team |
| 10min | Summary / Wrap-up and closing | TBC |
SCALA engagement during other events at KGAW
The SCALA program also participated in various events at the NAP Expo for Asia and the Pacific and the APAN forum during KGAW.
Monday, August 28, SCALA, in collaboration with Climate Resilient Food Systems (CRFS) Alliance, hosted a session titled "Transformation in key systems: Agrifood systems resilience in NAPs" at NAP Expo. This session featured speakers from SCALA country representatives in Cambodia, Nepal, and Mongolia. More details and presentations are on this link.
Tuesday, August 29, the SCALA team participated in the UN4NAPs session on the “Needs for technical assistance in climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and fisheries”. Presentations were made by SCALA countries Nepal and Mongolia. More information about this session is available on this link.
Thursday, August 31, the SCALA Hackathon winning team presented their project, a "mobile phone application for data collection of livestock for better herd and livestock planning and monitoring," during the regional SIF satellite session. You can check out their presentation here.