Te Green Climate Fund was formally established and awaits contributions from member coun- tries. A second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol was approved with the reduction targets to be determined at a meeting in 2012. However, Canada, one of the important countries to sign on to the first commitment period, announced it would not join the second period, and other devel- oped countries have suggested that they may follow suit. Finally, although the negotiators did not adopt an official work program on agriculture, they did approve a process for developing a work program for approval at the next negotiating session, to be held in Qatar beginning in late November 2012.
GOING IT ALONE: INCREASING PROGRESS OUTSIDE FORMAL NEGOTIATIONS
Although progress remains extremely slow in the official negotiating process, countries around the world are beginning to devote substantial resources to agricultural adaptation and mitigation activi- ties that could have high payoffs today and lead to increased resilience tomorrow.
India India continues to launch adaptation programs at both the national and state levels. Adaptation activities in different areas of the country include efforts to improve and diversify crops, conserve soils, develop watersheds, manage irrigation water, and improve disaster management through, for example, drought and flood proofing. An example of one of these activities is a community water- shed project designed to explore low-cost water conservation solutions to improve crop yields in the face of drought in the community of Kotha- pally in Andhra Pradesh, India. Tis long-term project, developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics at the request of the government of Andhra Pradesh, was designed with and managed by the community. A recent impact study showed that the project’s water management practices improved infiltration and water-holding capacity of the soil, increasing water availability by 10 to 30 percent and raising
42 MODEST ADVANCES, STARK NEW EVIDENCE
crop yields. Te study suggests that implement- ing agricultural water interventions on a large scale can significantly raise agricultural productivity and increase farmer livelihoods.3 Still, more needs to be done to increase the adaptation of agricultural systems in India because climate change threats to productivity are expected to grow. Additional adaptation strategies—such as more efficient use of water, promotion of eco-friendly technologies, shiſts in cropping paterns, and agricultural insur- ance—should be considered, and adaptation and mitigation programs should be mainstreamed into national agricultural strategies.
China Te government of China, which launched a national Climate Change Program in 2007, has explored several strategies and activities to help the agricultural sector adapt to climate change.4 Some of the efforts include improvements to agri- cultural infrastructure and increased investment in research and development of new technologies. To improve agricultural infrastructure, the govern- ment has, for example, accelerated the construc- tion of water-saving irrigation projects. As part of special funding arrangements established for climate change adaptation, China has invested in new technologies such as cloud seeding to pro- mote reliable rainfall. Te government has also increased pilot projects on different types of insur- ance policies. Because these efforts were initiated recently, their effectiveness has not been assessed and documented.
Kenya A recent study of four agroecological zones in Kenya shows there are win-win-win agricultural practices that can pay off in terms of adaptation, mitigation, and profitability. For example, when poor smallholder producers use sustainable agri- cultural management practices, they not only increase their resilience to climate change and variability, but also contribute directly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing agricul- tural productivity and profitability. In particular, soil nutrient management—applying combina- tions of inorganic fertilizer, mulch, and manure—is
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