Bhubaneswar: To ensure food and nutrition security for all, it is imperative that we move towards climate-resilient practices, Deputy Chief Minister of Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo said while inaugurating ‘Climate Resilience Cell’ (CRC) at Krushi Bhavan here Tuesday. “There is a critical need for adopting climate-resilient agricultural practices in the current scenario,” he said. “International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), the knowledge partners, have been roped in to work closely with the department and support the CRC in implementing sustainable agricultural food systems, building capacity, advocating for effective policies, Green House Gases (GHGs) emission reduction, efficient irrigation techniques and support in institutional capacity building for sustaining the climate smart practices in future,” Deo said. “The CRC of Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE) has been constituted for implementation and monitoring of the state action plan on climate change (SAPCC),”he said. “DAFE, in collaboration with international institutional partners, wishes to create a carbon sensitive policy framework for collaborative research, policy analytics, institutional capacity building and policy engagement and outreach in the backdrop of climate change in the state,” Deo added. DAFE principal secretary Arabinda Kumar Padhee said, “This is a unique opportunity for us to meet the larger carbon goals collectively. The centre defines our collaboration and understanding of multipronged effort with policies, programmes from all domains for meeting the sustainable food system goals.”
The initiative shall be funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation without any financial implication to the state government, Padhee said. Director for South Asia at IFPRI Shahidur Rashid said, “IFPRI is glad to support DAFE’s endeavours by bringing its globally recognised expertise in agriculture, climate, and natural resource resilience-related policy research.” “We aim to help build capacities, introduce new innovations, and foster sustainable practices through our network of global centres of excellence,” he added.