Representatives from the research community, civil society, farmers organisations and private sector gathered in London on Thursday, to identify actions the world must take to deliver agriculture growth, jobs and food security in the face of climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released earlier this week, concluded that climate change is already damaging food production and increasing food prices, and will have further impacts in the future.

Responding to this, Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, global risk adviser Willis, the International Sustainability Unit, and the British Department for International Development (DFID) organized this high-level discussion.

"The IPCC assessment shows that the threat to food security is not just a problem for the future, but something that is happening right now and demands immediate attention," said Pramod Aggarwal, who leads adaption work in South Asia for CCAFS and is also a reviewer of the IPCC report.

"The challenges are significant," he added. "But options to adapt abound and innovation has always been a constant feature of agriculture."

The IPCC report indicates that overall crop yields in Africa and South Asia could decline by 8 percent by 2050 and yields from tropical fisheries could decline by as much as 40 percent. Yet during this same period, demand for food is expected to surge as diets change and populations rise in the developing world.

"In the developing world, where 500 million smallholder farms are responsible for up to 80 percent of food production, it is critical that we act now by investing in practical solutions that strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers and improve the sustainability of their livelihoods," said Michel Mordasini, vice-president of IFAD, a specialized UN agency investing in rural people.

Mordasini told Xinhua that as an important food producer, China had been playing an important role in feeding the world population.

"The Chinese government has already realized the importance of taking action to adapt climate change, and enhanced cooperation with other countries in crop production, coping with deforestation and so on, which are very valuable efforts," he said.

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