WEATHERING THE ‘PERFECT STORM’
Addressing the Agriculture, Energy, Water, Climate Change Nexus

12-13 August 2019, Canberra

Dr Bruce Campbell

Program Director
CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change,
Agriculture & Food Security

Dr Bruce Campbell is Program Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) (www.ccafs.cgiar.org), and a staff member of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). He is based at the University of Copenhagen and Wageningen University & Research. The CCAFS team works on adaptation to increased climatic variability and progressive climate change, and on pro-poor climate change mitigation. The program started in 2010 and has a budget of USD 50-60 million per annum involving all the international agricultural research centers (including forestry, fisheries and livestock) as well as university partners; and operates with staff in more than 20 countries. Bruce has been doing inter-disciplinary science for development for more than two decades, championing new approaches to doing applied research on natural resource management. He was previously based in Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Australia, where he has worked in agricultural and forestry research for development, and indigenous natural resource management. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, more than a dozen books, and writes regular blogs on diverse topics.

Weathering and halting the perfect storm: food system solutions

Abstract

While the challenges of achieving the SDGs in low-income countries are immense, there are opportunities for significant advances and transformations, related to rising urban populations and changing food demands, digitalisation of the food sector, new ways of connecting farmers, and creative financial models. Climate risk management will need to be at the core of future initiatives. Several elements will need to come together to achieve the desired transformation, including meaningful policy and governance change, deepened private sector engagement with smallholders, and significant advances in digitalisation. Through such means both adaptation and mitigation in agriculture can be tackled.