Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Call to adapt to climate change

Thiruvananthapuram: Extreme climatic events could threaten livelihoods and increase vulnerability to food insecurity all over the world in future. Adaptation strategies should focus on protecting local food supplies, assets and livelihoods, efficient management of land, water and livestock and energy-efficient agro industrial technologies, according to Vijay Pratap Singh of the New Delhi-based Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD).

In a paper titled ‘Climate Change and Food Security’ that was presented at a seminar held here in connection with the Annam National Food and Agro Biodiversity Festival, Mr. Singh called for more efforts to protect ecosystems through using degraded or marginal lands, afforestation, protection of watersheds and coastal areas and preservation of mangroves.

In another paper presented at the seminar, K.P. Prabhakaran Nair, former professor, National Science Foundation, Royal Society, Belgium stressed the need for states like Kerala to review their land use policy in view of the food crisis. “Many years ago, the Central government advised Kerala to concentrate on cash crops. Now, when the State is on the fringe of a very serious food shortage, New Delhi is reluctant to release enough rive from the central pool to meet the needs of Kerala, thus pushing the State into a crisis”.

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