The global hunger crisis is irrefutably linked with rampant climate change, where increasingly turbulent and destructive weather events contribute to growing challenges in the agriculture sector. Rising global temperatures and sea levels lead to droughts, unpredictable rain patterns, floods, and other extreme weather events, leading to widespread displacement of populations and damaging the durability of global food production systems. NGOs worldwide work every day to develop and implement versatile solutions to the growing impacts of climate change on the agriculture industry, and on food access as a whole.

The following GWA members are active in developing a robust response to climate change affecting agriculture, investing in innovative solutions to build an adaptable and sustainable future for food production.

Leading technological advances

Broad-spectrum digital innovation is vital to the deployment of solutions for climate change. Microsoft’s AI for Earth initiative is leading digital innovation in climate change, with 950 projects deploying 20 solutions across the world, working with 50 established partners. Their premiere cumulative work, the Planetary Computer, has built an elite and comprehensive database for climate data across every sector of study, an invaluable tool for any enterprise seeking to pioneer new solutions for the climate crisis and its impact on world hunger.

The importance of reuse

Recycling waste material is an essential pillar of sustainability, as some members demonstrate through their projects. Heifer promotes the importance of recycling as a crucial step toward agricultural resilience. Working with farmers across the world, Heifer teaches pit composting and vermicomposting to revitalize and enrich soil, and the utilization of dung and water in biodigesters to create biogas, a methane-based clean energy source usable in cooking. In the Indian state of Bihar, for instance, the distribution of biodigesters via Heifer’s partnership with Sistema.bio has improved agricultural efficiency, reduced emissions from conventional fuel usage as well as from discarded animal waste, and drastically lowered household expenditure on conventional fuel.

Instruction and accessibility

Teaching vital skills and providing access to resources for farmers is essential groundwork for building a sustainable future for agriculture. Strengthening capacity for climate change resilience has been a priority for The Hunger Project (THP). Their approach includes sustainable farming, promoting access to modern agriculture technology, raising awareness of climate change and the necessity to adapt, and driving reforestation efforts to build back ecosystem resilience.

Multi-sector engagement

Several GWA members are approaching the same complex problem with unique angles, such as Landsea. Landesa’s mission to secure autonomy and land rights for farmers in rural communities contributes to developing a resilient agricultural model in the face of climate change. Landesa states that if land rights are granted to local farming communities with full autonomy, it opens the way for them to invest in sustainable farming techniques, improve their irrigation practices and implement developing technologies in agroforestry and terracing at a faster pace – thereby strengthening adaptability in agriculture from the ground up.

Read the full article about rebuilding agriculture by Aneesh Chatterjee at Global Washington.