Strategies for Combating Climate Change in Drylands Agriculture: Synthesis of dialogues and evidence presented at the International Conference on Food Security in Dry Lands, Doha, Qatar, November, 2012.

Pedrick C. 2012. Strategies for combating climate change in drylands agriculture: Synthesis of dialogues and evidence presented at the International Conference on Food Security in Dry Lands, Doha, Qatar, November, 2012. Aleppo, Syria and Copenhagen, Denmark. The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

The aim of this report is to examine the problem of changing climate patterns in dry land areas and its effect on rural populations and offer some practical solutions, as input the Conference of Conference of the Parties (COP18) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It has been prepared to inform government policy makers and agricultural planners in dryland countries, and development partners, of the issues at stake and present options available to reducing risk and increasing productivity of agriculture in drylands agricultural systems. The information presented here comes from discussions at the International Conference on Food Security in Dry Lands, held in Doha, Qatar, on Nov 14-15, 2012. It is informed by the body of agricultural research produced by three authors of this report: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); ICARDA – The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas; CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems. The Doha conference brought together a large number of dryland government ministers with researchers, policy makers, donors, NGOs, farmers’ unions and private agribusiness enterprises to explore the challenge of increasing agricultural production in dry countries, under conditions of severe water scarcity and climate change. The ministers’ recommendations, resulted in the Doha Declaration (see Annexe), which is taken forward on behalf of the Dry Lands to the 18th session of the Conference on Parties of the UN Conference of Parties of the Convention on Climate Change (COP 18), which opened in Doha in November 2012.