Farming community discusses climate smart technology, food security |26 January 2023
Guests and participants in a souvenir photograph
A two-day citizen engagement workshop entitled ‘Net-Zero Food System and Building Resilience through Climate Smart Technology’, which is targeting the agriculture industry, got underway yesterday morning at the University of Seychelles cafeteria, Anse Royale.
Thirty (30) citizens from the farming community attended the launch in the presence of main workshop facilitator Guy Morel, the general manager of the division of science technology and innovation Xavier Estico, and Rachel Brisley and M Niamh Neale, two British delegates from Ipsos, a consulting firm with global reach, headquartered in Paris, France.
The programme is being organised by the Global Science Partnership Initiative in collaboration with Ipsos and the division of science, technology and innovation (DSTI) of the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry. The partnership is founded on the premise that when people are engaged in climate science, they are empowered to influence the climate agenda which leads to more effective climate action.
The Global Science Partnership is a global science and public engagement partnership which brings academic and research communities, policymakers, civil society and the public’s perspectives together to spark effective and more inclusive climate action.
During the two days the 30 participants will explore and discuss the subject of climate smart technology and practices that are available to support an integrated approach that addresses the interlink challenges of food security and climate resilience. Furthermore, this consultation is part of a greater initiative involving policy makers, climate scientists and citizens to form a more inclusive and participatory approach to climate action.
When launching the seminar, Ipsos representative, Rachel Brisley, expressed how climate change is one of the biggest challenges that the world faces, and that failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change is the biggest risk to the world.
“Food production system has been globally impacted by climate change, this is going to get worse and has an impact on our food security, which is what we see in Seychelles and other island states,” she said.
It was Mr Estico, a co-author and signatory of the COP26 opening statement, who secured Seychelles’ participation in the Global Science Partnership pilot project led by the UK government. In his speech he outlined the mission of this workshop and what they are aiming to achieve at the end of the two days.
He expressed how this workshop, with the involvement of climate scientists and local citizens, better and effective actions can be taken to tackle the issue of climate change.
“When climate scientists are engaged in policy-making, evidence gaps can be identified and additional evidence can be produced; this requires the involvement of local citizens and farmers in a dialogue about the various climate smart technologies and practices,” he said.
Mr Estico also congratulated Seychelles as a small island developing state to have reached this far in the participation in the global effort in combating the greatest challenge facing mankind.
Other than Seychelles, there are three pilot studies currently underway in Colombia, India and Kenya.
The seminar ends today.
Photo by Louis Toussaint
