CLIMATE CAMPAIGNERS CALL FOR BIODIVERSITY

A civil society organisation in the climate space has urged government and stakeholders to promote agroecology as a pathway to building resilience among farming communities to support a sustainable food system.

FIAN Zambia Country Coordinator Vladimir Chilinya explained the need to align biodiversity and food security policies with international human rights standards.

“Aligning biodiversity and food security policies will ensure an inclusive and democratic participation of all communities in environmental decision making,” Mr Chilinya said.

Speaking during the commemoration of the International Day for Biological Diversity under the theme, “Harmony with nature and Sustainable Development,” Mr Chilinya noted with concern the destruction of biodiversity as a result of industrial, agricultural, and human activities.

He urged all stakeholders and communities to honour this year’s theme by putting food systems and biodiversity at the centre of the country’s development priorities, as that is the premise of the future of health, environment, and dignity.

Mr Chilinya pointed out that biodiversity is the foundation of food systems, from the seeds farmers plant to ecosystems that support farming and nutrition.

“Biodiversity is under threat due to mining activities, climate change, agriculture, and human activities. These activities are undermining the sustainability of the country’s food systems, especially for small-scale food producers who depend on their land and environment,” Mr Chilinya reiterated.

He expressed sadness at the rapid loss of biodiversity and destruction of the ecosystem, which are presently undermining the sustainable production of food and the realisation of the Right to Food and Nutrition.

This assertion is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), which states, “75 percent of plant genetic diversity has been lost since the beginning of the 20^th century, as farmers have increasingly abandoned their traditional seeds in favour of genetically uniform commercial varieties.”

FAO further asserts that only nine out of 6,000 cultivated plant species account for 66 percent of the total crop production, while 90 percent of cattle reared in the global north belong to only six breeds, and 20 percent of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction. This genetic erosion is a serious threat to agricultural resilience and food sovereignty.

And FIAN Zambia Monitoring and Accountability Officer Adrian Zulu explained that the organisation advocates for capacity building and raising awareness among target farmers in centres of excellence on the integral part biodiversity plays in the ecosystem.

“We have centres of excellence such as the Centre of Excellence in Mumbwa, where one of the farmer’s practising agroecology was able to practise organic farming on a large scale,” Mr Zulu revealed.

He disclosed that FIAN Zambia is also one of the civil society organisations in the climate space on the technical committee, engaging with the government in terms of policy formulation.

“As FIAN Zambia, we are closely working with the government towards the development of the agroecology strategy,” Mr Zulu said.

So far, these are some of the strides being made to contribute to the protection of biodiversity, which is rooted in human rights, as augmented by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), which assures rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, and food sovereignty.

FIAN Zambia is an organisation that works closely with farmers and supports the agroecology space. It is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA). -NAIS