Philanthropy Sharing Session Eps. 8: Webinars on Adaptation of Farmers to Climate Change
The Environmental and Conservation Philanthropy Cluster held a Philanthropy Sharing Session Eps. 8 in the form of a Webinar entitled Adaptation of Farmers in Facing Climate Change on Thursday 16/09/2021. This activity is a joint activity of the Food Security and Nutrition Philanthropy Cluster with the Environmental and Conservation Philanthropy Cluster to prevent hunger due to the environmental crisis.
This webinar event is the result of a collaboration between the Belantara Foundation, Field Scientific Stalls, University of Indonesia, Wahana Visi Indonesia, Dompet Dhuafa, Farmers Association for Climate Change Response in Indramayu Regency, and Sumedang Regency.
The purpose of this sharing session is to increase public awareness, especially farmers, regarding the climate conditions that are currently experiencing a crisis. The climate crisis that we are currently experiencing globally will have an impact on the agricultural sector and national food security. In addition, this webinar is also an effort to celebrate National Farmers Day which falls on September 24.
“In terms of the involvement of philanthropic institutions in climate change, this has become a program target as a joint contribution to the achievement of the SDGs. But in fact, preparing yourself to prevent food crises is prioritized, while looking for other strategic steps to avoid the threat of other climate disasters,” said Rizal Algamar, Chairman of the Indonesian Philanthropy Board. On the other hand, according to him, many philanthropic institutions have initiated regulations and policies, access to technology, and various funding mechanisms as a commitment to deal with the threat of climate change.
Belantara Foundation as the cluster coordinator added that “Climate change, including extreme weather changes, will greatly affect all aspects of life on earth, including humans. Food crises caused by prolonged crop failures can occur due to unpredictable weather. This is a real threat to us. Therefore, it is very important for all of us to understand the impact of the climate crisis and prevent it from now before it is too late,” said Dr. Dolly Priatna, Executive Director of the Belantara Foundation.
“Warung Scientific Field, University of Indonesia, is an arena for learning agrometeorology for farmers based on a cross-disciplinary approach between agrometeorology and anthropology, as well as transdisciplinary between scientists and farmers, agricultural officers, and related parties. This learning arena is a manifestation of the commitment to sustainable education that is urgently needed by farmers in their efforts to survive in a changing and increasingly diverse climate, with unpredictable risks,” said Prof. Yunita T. Winarto, Ph.D., coordinator of the Field Scientific Stall Team, University of Indonesia.
Besides that, Prof. Yunita T. Winarto also added that a very precise and precise adaptation strategy is needed to avoid or reduce the risk of crop failure. Enrichment of knowledge and literacy on climatic and weather conditions and the risks to their land and crops, as well as increasing the ability to anticipate the consequences of climate change are very necessary. In addition to Indramayu Regency since 2009, Sumedang Regency since 2018, Field Scientific Stalls have also been introduced to farmers in East Lombok Regency since 2014.
The enrichment of this webinar activity is expected to increase farmers' knowledge of the climate crisis and encourage them to be able to adapt for the sake of the nation's food security in the future.
