Benefits of interconnectedness: How addressing climate change can foster sustainable land and food security

Third in a series of blog posts exploring IFPRI’s work on climate change and its implications for food systems, land use, gender, and other issues in the runup to the Sept. 23 UN Climate Action Summit 2019. Read the others here, here, and here.

“For all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending; a touch in one place sets up movement at the other end of the earth” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

Atikah Nd’iaye inherited a 2-acre farm in Mopti, Mali, from her father 20 years ago. The farm was almost barren then, since it was on sloped land and all trees had been cleared over the previous 50 years. In addition to low soil fertility, the farm has experienced recurring droughts and strong winds, with the frequency and intensity of both increasing in the past few decades.

Photo Credit:Vincent Bonneaud/CIRAD