The long road of advocacy

Tuesday, July 16, 2024
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It is often said that public policy work requires playing the long game, aiming to influence changes over many years, even decades. It demands patient persistence, as a way of working and measuring effectiveness. The Foodgrains Bank’s policy work on climate change and hunger is a fitting example of this.

In the early 2000s, our international partners began to underscore climate change as an increasingly important cause of hunger. They told us stories about the impacts of changing weather patterns and extreme events on small-scale farmers’ ability to grow food. They also urged us to consider how Canada could improve its response to these challenges.

As a response to these requests, we determined that advocating for quality climate finance – money that helps developing countries adapt to climate change – would be an effective way to do that.

A group photo of the Hunger on the Hill Young Voices participants 2024.

It takes a collective effort to make policy moves towards a world without hunger. Since 2016, over 300 individuals have attended our Hunger on the Hill events in Ottawa to dialogue with decision makers about the importance of this work – including this group of 2024 participants. (Photo: Supplied)

At that time, the Foodgrains Bank played a key role in forming a coalition of Canadian organizations devoted to climate change and development (C4D). This coalition is still growing and is a trusted resource for the Canadian government.

Our efforts yielded further results when Canada’s first, full climate finance package was announced in 2015, with new, separate, substantially increased commitments for adaptation funding. And five years later, it became evident that the government valued our policy expertise when they asked Foodgrains Bank and other leading Canadian organizations to provide input into the 2020 climate finance package. The core of our asks — an even stronger commitment to adaptation, with agriculture as a central priority — are reflected in Canada’s commitments, due to expire in 2026.

The need for a patient, long-term approach to public policy work, and its connection to our mission overseas, became especially clear in November when we received a $35.5 million grant for our Nature+ program. This funding from climate adaptation finance will help revitalize food systems and landscapes in rural areas of four African countries, working directly with 75,000 women and men.

To join us at Hunger on the Hill in October, visit foodgrainsbank.ca/hoh to register your interest.

This story was originally published in the 2024 Spring edition of Breaking Bread. 

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