'We got to manage risks, not disasters.' Development cooperation in times of climate change: Focus on mitigation, on adaptation and food systems is needed. Martin Frick, chief of the World Food Programme (WFP) Bureau in Berlin, on the future of the global fight against hunger.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian organization in the world, supporting around 80 million people in more than 80 countries each year with food, money and vouchers.
How does the WFP assess COP26? Gradual progress: not the big breakthrough the world really needs to stay below 1.5 degrees, but a step in the right direction. One of our criticisms at the WFP is the continuing lack of focus on adaptation, and that there’s not enough discussion of food systems on the whole. Nor did it really emerge what the OECD countries have to implement in relation to climate-positive agriculture, for example through better soil management.
What did the countries of the Global South get out of it? A very sobering result: the promised compensation for losses suffered from climate change is still up in the air. In Madagascar, for example, 1.4 million people are on the verge of famine – not because of any conflicts, which are the usual cause of starvation, but mainly because of climate change.
Why has this obligation not been established so far? It is due to a great fear that the OECD countries could face huge demands for money, but also to a lack of understanding of what is actually meant by this compensation: the climate is an accelerant for existing crises.
We are already paying for climate damage in the form of humanitarian aid.
I hope that we will consider the whole thing in a more integrated way. Any great efforts we make today will alleviate the problem we will have to face in the future, anyway.
You speak of the gradual progress made at COP26: that won't be enough for Madagascar and other countries, will it? Absolutely not. That's the short response. The long response is: we are faced with an environmental problem that we can’t solve quickly, like we did with the acid rain we had in the past. We have been accumulating CO2 emissions in the atmosphere over decades, and this has the property of staying there for a very long time. Even if we step on the climate brakes now, the climate will continue to heat up. So, if we are now making a great effort to stay below global warming of 1.5 degrees, then that’s a limit that we must not exceed. Otherwise, we risk the collapse of entire ecosystems.
If we allow global warming of 2.0 degrees, that will mean 189 million more starving people.
And that in a situation in which a tenth of the entire world's population is already affected by hunger.
Do you remember when you first heard about climate change? I don’t remember. However, I can remember one moment very well, from the first half of 2007, when Germany held the EU Council Presidency. At the time, I was the EU's chief negotiator for the creation of the Human Rights Council. The Maldives was already calling for human rights and climate change to be included in the resolution for the Human Rights Council. Then I understood: climate change isn’t just about polar bears; it’s also affecting human rights.
Since when has climate change been on the WFP’s agenda? For a long time. We didn't call it climate change at the time, but the southward expansion of the Sahara, for example, was a longstanding concern for the WFP. Or the weather phenomena El Niño and El Niña, which have preoccupied us for years, and with ever increasing vehemence.
How much money is the WFP currently mobilising to help combat and adapt to climate change? It is difficult to put a figure on that because we basically want to take climate change into account in all of our programmes. And we are planning some comprehensive packages: in the Sahel zone, for example, infrastructure measures go hand in hand with food security, school meals, etc. This holistic approach combines humanitarian aid with development cooperation and peacekeeping.
Does climate change mean that development cooperation needs to be rethought? It works just as it always has. But climate change must always be taken into account; above all, we have to create greater resilience. It can anticipate impending disasters so that we can then buffer the effects with relatively little money. It also ensures that long-term development successes are not jeopardised.
Will climate become the most important trend in fighting hunger? What interactions are there with other trends, such as conflicts and governance?
These other drivers of poverty and hunger are not reducing in strength – on the contrary.
With intelligent politics and anticipation, we can prevent climate shocks from turning into climate catastrophes.
The point is to prevent them from becoming accelerants. We have to manage risks, not disasters.
How might that happen? For example, in July 2020, four days before the severe flooding that had been forecast, we gave cash to 120,000 people in Bangladesh. This enabled them to bring property and cattle to safety. This kind of joined-up thinking, long-term development and the ability to act quickly and in the short term help immensely. It creates crisis resilience.
You have extensive experience as a diplomat. Once a military conflict takes hold as a starvation driver, it is difficult to resolve. It’s much easier to be proactive when it comes to climate change: you know what’s to be done. So, why are we still playing catch-up? On the one hand, there are very strong interests at play, for example the argument of historical emissions, which developing countries bring in. I think it will be very important to create perspectives that are not based on realising the same development model, but on using new technologies directly. Let me give you an example: The almost comprehensive network coverage for mobile phones on the African continent – without a significant number of households ever having had a landline connection. These possibilities are huge; photovoltaics, for example, will play an incredibly important role.
The WFP wants to work increasingly with early warning systems in the fight against hunger in the shadow of climate change. What role will they play? We now have very detailed knowledge of the climate. We have built incredible capacities, for example satellite observation, sensor technology and communication channels, so that we can predict exactly how situations will develop. We are also seeing long-term trends – in Afghanistan, for example, periods of drought occur more and more frequently and last longer. There’s an opportunity to combine the new technologies with traditional techniques, such as in the Sahel: there, old planting practices are being revived and crescent-like depressions are being created in the ground – they are better at absorbing the often very sudden heavy rainfalls and offer a good basis for planting trees; this is monitored by drones and satellites.
It all costs money. It cannot be ruled out that international funds for the fight against hunger will not increase. If they now also have to support measures to respond to climate change, could this risk devaluing other areas of hunger control? There will always be classic humanitarian aid, just as there will always be situations in which people need food quickly and their lives must be saved.
On the other hand, we realise that we cannot save the same people every year.
That is why we and our donors are investing in prevention, in models that create resilience.
You just touched on Afghanistan. Since the Taliban came to power, the WFP has been one of the few organisations that has stayed in the country to support the growing number of starving people. What are the staff on the ground reporting? How do you assess the development of the situation? It is a very worrying development at the moment. The number of starving people has skyrocketed across the country, across all segments of the population. The federal government has helped us to increase aid significantly, and we’ve already reached 13.7 million people this year. That’s four million more than in 2020. We’re currently expanding our logistics so we can help almost 23 million people in the coming year. The need is enormous.
Because of the political situation? Not only: it’s also because of the droughts and the economic impact of the pandemic. The logistical aspect will become even harder when the winter sets in.
The number of people in need in Afghanistan is the highest we have ever seen.
Half of all children under five, i.e., 3.2 million children, are at risk of acute malnutrition.
How is dealing with the Taliban government going? So far, humanitarian access has been secured in all 34 provinces. Our Executive Director personally campaigned for this in Kabul. Fortunately, we have been able to reach people.
Have there been any restrictions since they came to power? Not for humanitarian aid. However, access was not equally rapid in all provinces.
Do you also see an opportunity for development cooperation in Afghanistan? That is also a political question, which is currently on pause.
We are currently trying specifically to alleviate the suffering of the people by supporting them with nutritional aid that is essential for survival.
Is Afghanistan a paradigm for the fact that humanitarian aid will be needed more and more and that this will replace development cooperation more and more often in the future? I wouldn't see that in black and white terms. But the fact is: if we don’t provide intelligent, forward-looking and climate-sensitive development cooperation, humanitarian needs will continue to grow. That’s the problem we need to solve. It speaks in favour of a very strong network of different communities, including different funding circuits, from emergency aid to crisis prevention and development cooperation, including all the transitions in between – we have to think together and shape it dynamically.
The WFP is mostly active in the Global South. What does the North have to do to address climate change? Up to now, in the climate debate, we have often had to consider whether to reduce more or to adapt more. Aggressive mitigation is an absolute imperative.
Each tenth of a degree of atmospheric warming translates into human suffering.
We have to change our societies now, and we have to act quickly. It is making its way into politics, but slowly. If we get below a limit of 1.5 degrees, we will still be able to manage these crises; beyond that, no more. The peaceful, rules-based coexistence of humanity is also at stake. At the same time, climate change is already affecting millions of people – and we are called upon to rapidly reduce this suffering. A hundred billion dollars in annual funds were promised at the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen, half of which was for adaptation measures. We still don't have that.
You spoke of aggressive mitigation: in your opinion, was it a good idea for the new federal government to integrate climate protection into a strengthened Federal Ministry of Economics under the Green Robert Habeck? I don't want to comment on politics. However, this federal election has also been described as the climate election. Naturally, it’s very promising that climate issues are moving up the political agenda in the new federal government. Together with the new federal government, we hope to be able to use our expertise against hunger and climate change.
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A Contribution of the 'Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains' (INA)
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A Contribution by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
At the network meeting "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future", almost 250 participants from over 20 countries came together to exchange experiences and ideas on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. The final product, joint recommendations to transform agricultural and food systems, can now be read online.
Halfway through the 2030 Agenda, the BMZ invited participants to a network meeting entitled "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future". Experts from around the world developed recommendations in a consultation process and then consolidated them in Berlin. A site visit.
A Contribution by Harry Hoffmann (TMG) & Nathalie Demel (WHH)
At the halfway mark of the 2030 Agenda and two years after the UN Food System Summit 2021, a stocktaking moment was held in Rome to analyze the progress of countries on the commitments to action in transforming food systems. Dr Harry Hoffmann, TMG Think Tank, and Nathalie Demel, Welthungerhilfe, were on site and take stock as well.
A contribution by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
Two years following the UN Food Systems Summit, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate hosted an official side event at the UNFSS+2. The event explored how public donors can increase the impact of their investments.
It takes the joint efforts of diverse actors to achieve a transformative impact on the global food system. Barbara Rehbinder, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN), discusses four people-centred principles to get closer to this goal.
Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Podcast of the Federal Government
At the start of World Food Week around World Food Day on 16 October, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the fight against global hunger will only be successful with international responsibility and solidarity (german only).
The Agriculture and Food Security Cluster of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Zambia shows how synergies among different projects and partner organisations can help people to eat healthier, diversified food. A delegation of the Bonn based Division of Agriculture and Rural Development learned this in a field visit in the Eastern Province of the Southern African country.
In Himachal Pradesh, India, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and climatic conditions are changing – with negative consequences for apple production and farmers' livelihoods. Holistic and multidimensional innovation bundles are required for the entire value chain in order to make the food system more resilient in the future.
In 2025, GIZ and the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) celebrate ten years of successful cooperation. With their joint stand at BIOFACH trade fair in Nuremberg, they were able to introduce over 300 organic companies of partner countries to the European market. And the journey continues – despite challenges on the global market.
Publication of the Heinrich Böll Foundation and TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability.
The global community is failing in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. This is shown in the factsheet "Poverty Makes Hunger" published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability. Read the full report here.
After four years of the Bolsonaro administration, the new Brazilian government is trying to restart its engagement in agroecology, fighting deforestation in the Amazon and protecting indigenous communities and poor families from hunger. An interview with the Vice-minister for Rural Development and Family Farming, Fernanda Machiaveli.
Africa’s largest youth generation has the potential to transform agriculture sustainably. Young entrepreneurs like Febelsa in Mozambique are building agricultural businesses that fuel local growth.
At the Nutrition for Growth 2025 Summit in Paris, Team Europe, comprising the European Commission and Member States, put nutrition at the centre of international politics as a driver for resilience, equality and human rights. There is a consensus on the results of the summit: to turn commitments into concrete progress through strong partnerships and innovative approaches.
The global fight against malnutrition needs more than just words - as demonstrated by the Nutrition for Growth summit in Paris. With comprehensive commitments and clear receivables, a signal has been sent: Healthy nutrition must become a global priority. But what do participants from countries such as Yemen and Timor Leste think?
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