Achieving food security for all is at the heart of the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation's (FAO) efforts. The objective is to ensure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. FAO's three main goals are: the eradication of food insecurity & malnutrition; the elimination of poverty; and the sustainable management of natural resources.
Global efforts to reach those objectives are already undermined by the impacts of climate change on agriculture - including crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries. In particular, water scarcity will intensify with climate change and population growth. FAO therefore says that food systems must be put at the centre of climate change action in order to become more productive, sustainable and resilient.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, represents a new beginning in the global effort to stabilize the effects of climate change. The Agreement recognizes the importance of food security in the response to climate change. Indeed, over 90% of the signatory countries focus prominently on the agriculture sector in their planned contributions to adaptation and mitigation. To help put those plans into action, FAO has recently published the "2016 State of Food & Agriculture" report that puts forward strategies, financing opportunities, and key data as well as describing transformative policies that can overcome barriers to implementation.
In Mongolia, FAO has been assisting in the implementation of programmes focusing on enhanced rural development. This includes developing sustainable natural resources techniques for climate change adaptation and mitigation, including forestry management, irrigation systems and actions against desertification.
South Korean photographer Daesung Lee's "Futuristic Archeology" project documents the desertification of certain parts of Mongolia and how it is affecting the nomadic lifestyle of 35% of the population. In these photos, he attempts to recreate a museum diorama by blending together printed billboard images and the actual dried up landscape. The series won various awards including first prize at the Cortona on the Move International Photography Festival 2015, the Barcelona International Photography Awards 2015 and the 2016 Voies off festival in Arles.
