Climate Agreement and Agriculture

Everywhere you look in the media lately you see news on the new agreement coming out of Paris regarding climate change. This will no doubt have an impact on farmers and agriculture around the globe. Review the linked article and use the discussion points provided below to guide your conversations in your classrooms and communities around the world.

Can the Paris agreement protect farmers?

Discussion Points

• What is the African farmer, Purity, doing to overcome and battle climate change on her farm?
• What can agriculture success and improvement mean to small farm families in developing countries?
• What are the expected ramifications of climate change on the Philippines in the coming years?
• Traditionally why has agriculture been left out of climate negotiations? 
• Why is the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) welcoming this recent agreement in Paris?
• Why are small farmers (especially those in developing countries) more at risk to climate change than larger farmers (in developed countries)?

Additional challenge:

We often hear the doom and gloom projections of climate change and it's impact on agriculture and food production. On my recent trip to Nicaragua I was told that it is projected that by 2050 no coffee would be grown in the region I was visiting, that heavily relies on coffee production, due to a warming climate. I am an optimist. This statement is assuming that everything will stay constant and no change/adaptations will be made. My first thought is what can we do to change this trend? And this is my question for you to think about, discuss, and take action. What can we do to change this trend?