Title of the training
Climate Change and Its Effects on Agricultural Production, Solutions, Risks, Opportunities
Duration
1 Day (6 hours).
Purpose and scope
Climate change is a complex problem that threatens the quality of life of present and future generations due to their interactions between sectors, with serious consequences in socio-economic and socio-ecological terms. Therefore, the struggle in this area requires a multi-layered cooperation with all segments of societies.
After Turkey became a party to the Paris agreement, the impact of the new climate regime, food security and carbon trade, and the climate actions of state (party) and non-state (non-party) actors on international and national policies have become evident.
Climate Change should be examined and evaluated differently for all sectors. Among all sectors, agriculture sector differs the most in terms of mitigation and adaptation and where adaptation takes precedence over mitigation. The reason for the different dynamic between mitigation and adaptation is that the agricultural sector is socially linked to food security and its vulnerability is very high.
In the fight against climate change, raising awareness of societies, especially on sustainable agricultural production, and efforts to develop the capacities of stakeholders have become a priority today, even vital by 2022.
In Turkey, unsustainable agricultural practices and land degradation cause crop losses. Again, land degradation and wrong practices, tillage habits, the soil that can work as a carbon sequester for us causes the soil to take part in the enemy ranks by supporting carbon emission instead of being a friend to human beings by holding carbon.
Conservation agricultural techniques such as more superficial treatment of the soil, direct seeding, sowing seizure, permanent soil cover, crop pulp management, mulching, etc. are important keys to combating climate change in both producer and consumer ranks in terms of food security and famine concerns.
The main purpose of this training is to evaluate these techniques in terms of adaptation, especially in the agricultural sector where vulnerability is increasing with climate change, and to gain information and develop perspectives about the possibilities and use of smart agricultural applications and supportive agricultural policies with these methods.
Target audience
While determining the relevant stakeholders in the trainings, it is necessary to evaluate different groups with different characteristics separately. These groups and trainings are formed with completely different needs. Groups expected to benefit from the trainings in terms of awareness, capacity building, institutional or individual capacity building include:
- Industrial agricultural enterprises,
- NGOs related to the subject,
- Small-scale agricultural enterprises,
- Farmers
- Agricultural cooperatives,
- Relevant units of local governments,
The carbon and water footprints of individual consumers in the agricultural products they buy and in their menus, and therefore their awareness of this issue, indicate a significant change. It is clear that one pillar of a planned education on climate change and the vulnerabilities of the agricultural sector and food security is necessarily individual awareness. Changes can occur from the individual to the society and prepare the basis for a correct planning on behalf of policy makers. In this context, the target audience of the training can be defined as all stakeholders who contribute to agricultural production and agricultural consumption.
Trainers
Training on Climate Change and Its Effects on Agricultural Production, Solutions, Risks, Opportunities training is delivered by trainers who have experience in the fields of agricultural and environmental engineering; carried out project studies, developed training programs and provided trainings on issues such as water resources, watershed management and soil pollution, climate change and agricultural vulnerability, drought and food security, climate impacts in the agricultural sector in Turkey, adaptation to climate change, development of institutional capacity for adaptation to climate change at national and/or international level; and have outstanding qualifications with their scientific studies on these subjects, the scientific and administrative duties they carry out and training work in related subjects field.
Objectives and learning outcomes
Those who have completed the training on Climate Change and Its Effects on Agricultural Production, Solutions, Risks, Opportunities are expected to;
- Explain new approaches to assessing the impact of climate change on agricultural production systems,
- Explain the mitigation and adaptation policies of the agricultural sector,
- Evaluate the risks and opportunities of the effects of climate change on the agricultural sector,
- Explain the methods and practices for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector,
- Explain the practices of reducing emissions in agricultural soils and soil management (increasing the carbon sequestration capacity of the soil, etc.),
- Comprehend the relationship between climate and agricultural economy (increase in agricultural prices, decrease in productivity in agricultural products, regional inequalities in agricultural economy, costs reflected to citizens, etc.),
- Evaluate the link of climate change with food supply,
- Explain the management practices of water resources against climate change in terms of food security,
- Explain Turkey’s policies to combat agricultural drought,
- Explain the important sub-elements for agriculture (land use for soil, etc.),
- Explain Turkey’s climate-smart agricultural practices in the fight against climate change,
- Determine the possibilities of water harvesting and reuse of wastewater in agriculture on the land.
The learning objectives and content are adapted according to the needs, educational status and professional qualifications of the group to participate in the training.
Content
Although the content of the Climate Change and Its Effects on Agricultural Production, Solutions, Risks, Opportunities training is adapted to the needs and characteristics of the group to be trained, it generally includes the following topics:
- Conceptual framework on climate change and agriculture
- New approaches to assessing the impact of climate change on agricultural production systems
- Mitigation and adaptation policies of the agricultural sector
- Risks and opportunities of climate change impacts on the agricultural sector
- Reduction of emissions in agricultural soils and soil management
- Climate and agricultural economics
- The relationship of climate change with food supply
- Water resources management practices against climate change in terms of food security
- Turkey’s policies to combat agricultural drought
- In Turkey’s fight against climate change, climate-smart agricultural practices
- Land water harvesting and reuse of wastewater in agriculture
Delivery and method
It is preferable to apply the Climate Change and Its Effects on Agricultural Production, Solutions, Risks, Opportunities training in the form of face-to-face training. However in case of conditions that prevent the face-to-face implementation of this training, especially epidemic diseases, the training may be delivered remotely by using the Me-Learning© online learning platform and the Actio© meeting management tool.
For the trainings to be held directly to the manufacturer, interactive activities and group studies are carried out together with the presentation of general information, taking into account the regional problems of the manufacturer.
In the trainings for managerial groups, the needs, weaknesses and strengths of the region are determined and adaptation planning applications are carried out for climate change and the agricultural sector in regional and administrative terms.
Trainings for consumers focus on the needs of consumers and information, awareness and skills about consumption preferences.
In the trainings for NGOs, the details of the subject are structured in a way to support capacity building in the relevant field of activity within the training module, taking into account the field of activity of the NGO.
Training tools and materials
Along with the training presentation, the effects of climate change on agricultural production, solutions, risks, opportunities, discussions, case studies and worksheets created for group work, exercise and application templates are used as teaching and learning materials.
The teaching materials used in the training vary according to the groups receiving training. For participants other than producers, a presentation enriched with audiovisual elements may be sufficient in awareness capacity building trainings. However, in awareness-raising trainings for producers, application examples related to soil and plants may be carried out by using simple hand tools such as tensiometers and photosynthesis meters. In addition to these materials, drawings, videos and printed materials can be used as teaching and learning materials as deemed appropriate by the trainer, depending on the needs and qualifications of the group trained.
If the training is carried out online, the Actio Event Management System uses the Actio© Event Management System to reduce the use of any paper and waste generation, as well as to ensure the effective management of the training activity, as well as individual registration and entry for the training, management of participation and similar managerial arrangements. In distance education, Me-Learning© learning management system is used.
In accordance with our waste reduction policy, printed materials are not distributed in this training unless it is educationally necessary.
Assessment and evaluation
At the end of the training, the Training Evaluation Questionnaire is applied. All participants who complete the training receive a certificate of participation showing that they have completed the Climate Change and Its Effects on Agricultural Production, Solutions, Risks, Opportunities training, and the name and duration of the training they have received is clearly stated.
Keywords
Climate change and agriculture, agricultural mitigation and adaptation, climate change and food supply, climate change and water security, climate change and smart agricultural practices, sustainable agriculture.