First Person

Sowing the seeds for small farmers

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An Oxfam activist in Belgium holds a plant pot bearing a photo of Flemish Environment Minister, Joke Schauvliege. Photo credit: Tineke D'haese / Oxfam
An Oxfam activist in Belgium holds a plant pot bearing a photo of Flemish Environment Minister, Joke Schauvliege. Photo credit: Tineke D'haese / Oxfam

We’re counting the days… and the actions leading up to the international climate change conference, COP 16, in Cancun. At this important summit, members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), international government officials, media and civil society leaders will come together to find solutions to climate change – and it’s urgent that we remind them about the ripple effect that our increasingly unpredictable climate has on poor and vulnerable communities – especially those dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.

We’re adding up all of the online actions, Facebook ‘likes’, tweets, and pledges and tracking them right here and on the Sow the Seed website so that you can see the progress we’re making towards our goal!

The sum of all the actions makes a statement: That world leaders have the power to protect food supplies and save lives.

In my last post, I pointed out one example: Siriaco, a Guatemalan farmer who lost an entire year of crops due to erratic rainfall. It’s people like Siriaco that we need to take a stand for. With proper strategies, technology, and training, subsistence farmers can protect their harvests and have a greater chance of lifting themselves and their families out of poverty.

Join Oxfam and plant the seeds for climate change action. Be the voice for small farmers who are struggling to grow their crops in the face of unpredictable growing seasons and extreme changes in the climate. Take action and remember to check back here to see how your seeds and growing a movement of change!

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