How membership of a farmer organization can support farmers in adapting to climate change in the Pacific Island region

Abstract

Climate projections for the Pacific Island region serve to emphasize the climate unpredictability, variability and intensity that farmers will have to adapt to in the future. The impact that climate change is having on agriculture in the Pacific is evident from the data around agriculture loss and damage from extreme weather events such as flooding and cyclones. It is clear that food systems will have to be resilient and farmers will have to adapt, if food security in the region is not to be seriously threatened. The factors considered as essential for building adaptive capacity are: (a) social capital; (b) ability of communities to engage effectively with external agents; (c) access to knowledge including how knowledge is generated, shared and exchanged; (d) merging of local and external knowledge; (e) space for farmers to interact, communicate, experiment and learn from each other; (f) trust in the adaptation measure(s)being promoted; (g) effective capacity building; (h) decentralized research; and (i) supportive policy. This article explores these factors and proposes that membership of a farmer organization (FO) provides an enabling platform for the effective and efficient delivery of these conditions, thereby providing farmers with the tools essential for adaptation to a changing climate. Examples illustrating how farmers around the Pacific Island region are working together to put in place measures that will strengthen the resilience of their farming systems are provided from national and regional farmer organizations in the region.