Food market in Addis Ababa. Photos: Kopin

For the first time since World War II, forced displacement of people globally has topped 50 million. The impact on migration of environmental refugees is a growing worry.

A Maltese non-profit organisation by the name of Kopin (Kooperazzjoni Internazzjonali) recently held two workshops on climate change and agriculture in Malta. They came at a timely moment, in the wake of recent studies confirming the intensity of climate change and the EU’s push on local adaptation strategies.

Kopin has been highlighting the importance of small-scale farming while supporting co-operation in international development. The aim is to relieve global poverty and social injustice by empowering communities and engaging in sustainable projects.

Populated parts of our planet could be rendered uninhabitable as a consequence of changing climatic patterns, according to the world’s leading body of climate scientists in their latest UN report. Among wars, natural disasters and the ravages of a warming world, one of the less talked about factors that has played a part in destabilising the Middle East and North Africa is water.

Kopon is also active in giving people a better chance in increasingly hard conditions. It provides services to vulnerable populations in Malta with a focus on migrant women and children and does much to highlight the importance of small-scale farming all over the world.

Growing crops or rearing animals on a small piece of land can be the main source of food and income for a family selling their produce at local markets. Despite global expansion of industrial-scale agriculture, this type of subsistence farming still makes up around 70 per cent of the food grown worldwide.

Good practice in small-scale farming which helps reduce the impact of climate change is the aim of an EU-funded project known as ‘eClimate eChange’. This initiative aims to enhance civil society competence in Malta, Italy, Germany and Poland. The approach combines two Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the world while ensuring environmental sustainability as an effective approach to meet both goals.

It is natural that we in Malta should identify with the scale of this problem. Parts of the Mediterranean region are drying out because of climate change. Our islands lie toward the severely stressed end of the spectrum for water resources.

Aimed at agribusiness students and farmers but also open for the public, the workshops looked at adaptation of agriculture to climate change through the use of sustainable resources. The sessions, which focused on problems encountered by Maltese farmers, particularly related to water scarcity and funding, were moderated by activist Eric van Monckhoven. Calling himself a ‘social educator’, Monckhoven works with groups struggling for local sustainability, ecological and social regeneration, justice and mutual understanding.

Change is in the air. Speakers discuss the need for farmers to adapt to climate change at a Kopin workshop.

Agriculture can affect the climate, through the production and release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, but also through land use changes that affect the earth’s ability to absorb or reflect heat and light. In turn, changes in climate patterns have already started having significant impacts on conditions affecting agriculture, such as temperature, carbon dioxide and rainfall.

Improving the chances of surviving in a difficult environment is a skill we would all do well to develop

The workshops discussed the ways in which these processes are affecting agriculture in Malta and elsewhere. Influencing the debate on Maltese and European policies by monitoring political processes and engaging in policy dialogue is another function of Kopin.

Case studies on energy conservation in Ethiopia and adapting to a changing climate in Nicaragua were also presented. Kopin is directly involved in a project to develop biogas digesting systems for severely impoverished communities in Ethiopia.

William Grech from Kopin explained what is being done to help Nicaraguan farmers increase resilience to climate change through the construction of anti-erosion ditches, the diversification of crops and afforestation.

A group of six, including project managers, scientists and a film team led by Kopin will be back in Ethiopia in August to visit the project sites, hold meetings with Ethiopian partner organisations, meet the people benefitting from the project and conduct scientific studies.

The idea behind these projects is to eradicate poverty in a sustainable way. This goes beyond the environmental aspect to look at how long-term stability can be achieved by empowering small-scale farmers and their communities.

The extent to which Gozitan farmers are aware that the climate is changing and what they need to do about it was investigated. A presentation by Charles Galdies of the Institute of Earth Systems dealt with local farmers’ perceptions and willingness to adapt to the changing climate.

The second workshop on alternative approaches and resource management techniques in agriculture, focused on the future of Maltese agriculture. The Malta Organic Agriculture Movement was represented by Mario Salerno, who spoke on the principles and values of sustainable agriculture.

The water situation in Malta and measures that can be taken to adapt to climate change were addressed by engineer Marco Cremona. He highlighted the necessity for Malta to do its utmost to preserve its limited water resources. Malta is one of the 10 poorest countries in terms of water resources per inhabitant according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Participants looked at the challenges facing local farmers as they prepare to adapt to a changing climate and which systems can best preserve or manage essential resources such as soil and water. They also considered which areas require more research and what kind of funding can be tapped into.

Speaking on past experiences and future opportunities for EU rural development policy, Donald Aquilina from the Ministry for European Affairs said that measures taken so far have included training of farmers. This has led to some reductions in the use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers and a drop in water/energy consumption on farms, although take-up had not been as good as hoped and more needs to be done.

Restoring, enhancing and preserving ecosystems dependent on agriculture is one of the programmes in the EU 2014-2020 rural development framework.

A presentation on soil and water conservation through permaculture systems was given by Peppi Gauci of the Permaculture Research Foundation, Baħrija Oasis.

Malcolm Borg from the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology’s Agribusiness Institute focused on alternative approaches and resource management techniques in agriculture.

Improving the chances of surviving in a difficult environment is a skill we would all do well to develop.

www.kopin.org