UNCTAD urges stronger action to help least developed nations tap into carbon markets
The United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) urged during the 29th United Nations Climate Change ...
Desert Research Center recommends climate smart crops for Egypt’s Nile Delta
The Desert Research Center has recommended a range of climate smart crops based on their climate-resilient characteristics.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Accelerator Lab team collaborated with the Desert Research Center, which is a public research-centre working together with UNDP Global Environmental “Small Grants Program”, on “climate smart” crops.
The center selected crops which are most resistant to heat, wind, and salinity, while taking into consideration the amount of water needed for different crops and the marketing opportunities of these products. In addition, it identified which crops had the most value chain opportunities.
Recommended crops are Pearl millet and panicum:
Pearl millet is a ‘climate smart’ resilient summer crop currently grown mostly in African countries and in India as a flour substitute. Growing this crop could generate almost twice the income that farmers get from wheat. The market for pearl millet has further potential on account of being a gluten-free product.
Panicum is a climate smart feed crop that could solve the problem of the lack of cattle fodder crops in the Delta, especially in summer, potentially increasing farmers’ day-day incomes by 50%. Panicum, or panic grass, is a year-long crop with yields sufficiently high to meet the demand for fodder, as well as creating a surplus for contract farming opportunities.
Having identified these two climate-smart crops, those most interested in the potential for contracts with panicum-growing farmers included the owners of cattle farms, silage traders, and concentrated feed factories.
Those most interested in buying from pearl millet-growing farmers, meanwhile, included large private sector companies in the niche sectors for pasta and bakeries, with many start-ups keen to enter this market being interested in using pearl millet instead of wheat in their products.
Compared to more commonly known cereals, millet consumes little water and can be grown without irrigation even in drought conditions.
Millet can help contribute to tackling several major challenges at once, including the need for adaptation to climate change, the poverty of smallholder and marginalized farmers in dry zones, as well as contributing to nutrition and health needs.
As such, these crops can help some of the toughest areas achieve the sustainable development goals.
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