Secretary of State John Kerry took a turn from international diplomacy to wade into the climate change debate, advising both America and Africa to adopt farming policies that recognize and respond to the “impacts of climate change,” he said.
He called it “climate-smart agriculture,” and said at the U.S.-Africa Summit that the world’s fisheries would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the policy, The Hill reported.
“The impacts of climate change are already being felt everywhere in the world — the Arctic, the Antarctic and everywhere in between,” Mr. Kerry said, The Hill reported. “All you have to do is look at the conditions farmers are dealing with around the world — hotter temperatures, longer droughts, unpredictable rainfall patterns.”
He said the world’s fish stocks, for instance, face “serious trouble,” and that the only way to help bolster the world’s food supply and guarantee food security is to take on climate change, The Hill reported. And for Africa, where 70 percent of those living in Sierra Leone rely on the fishing industry for protein, the issue is of especial importance, he went on, The Hill reported.
“Carbon pollution is making some of the food that we do grow less nutritious than it used to be,” Mr. Kerry said. “Rising carbon translates to lower levels of zinc and iron in wheat and other cereal grains.”
His main point: People are waging fights and even wars over food, and combating climate change could alleviate some of these battles.
The best way to help farmers and fishers farm enough food to provide for the world’s billions of people is to assist them “endure climate impacts” and accept “creative solutions that increase food production and climate-smart agriculture,” Mr. Kerry said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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