Sahelian sheep look for food before the mosque at Djenne, in Mali (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

A new research program on ‘Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security’ (CCAFS) was launched this week.

It will link much of the best climate-related agricultural research for development work going on at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and 14 other centres in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) with the best global environmental change research being undertaken within the global Earth System Science Partnership.

This new program is the most comprehensive to date seeking to ensure that food security is not crippled by climate change. The leaders of the new program say that urgent action is needed to help poor people adapt to climate shifts that have ominous implications for Africa and Asia.

For more information, visit the press room on the website of Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.

Listen to a news conference with the leaders of the CCAFS program.

Visit the CCAFS website and blog.

See news reports on this new initiative at:

San Francisco Chronicle: World Bank aims to cut poverty by 10% adapting to climate shifts, 16 November 2010.

Reuters, World farming to get $200 mln in climate aid, 17 November 2010.

Reuters AlertNet, Climate shifts will produce food ‘winners and losers’ – scientists, 17 November 2010.

Bloomberg, World Bank aims to cut poverty by 10% adapting to climate shifts, 17 November 2010.

Businessweek: World Bank aims to cut poverty by 10% adapting to climate shifts, 17 November 2010.