As the global leaders prepare to strike a new deal to fight climate change during the Conference of Parties 21 (CoP21) meeting at Paris, villagers from drought affected districts of Nuapada and Bargarh organised a march to the crop field asking the world leaders to make a definitive climate deal that reduces global warming and greenhouse gases and support small and marginal farmers in adapting to negative impacts of climate change.
The march was organised at two places, Kharamal village in Bargarh district and Kushmal in Nuappada district, where about 300 villagers, including women and children, participated to send out their message to the world Governments to save small farmers from vagaries of climate change by signing a strong climate deal in Paris.
The villagers demanded that the Governments at CoP21 finalize a deal that arrests global warming and helps small farmers to fight the impacts through schemes and programmes suitable for the small farmers; support local agro-ecology based farming projects and programmes; decentralized water harvesting and management systems; end corporate control of the farm sector including their control of our seeds; promote organic farming; ensure local farm based enterprises owned and operated by small and marginal farmers with all kinds of support; provide best remuneration to farmers for their produces and insure all crops and farmers irrespective of land ownership with adequate and dignified insurance amounts; provide assured irrigation, cold storage facilities and ensured marketing of farm produces to the farmers; help the farmers fight with all sorts of disasters such as droughts, floods and cyclones and support farmers in their coping and resilience efforts; strengthen climate change adaptation programme like the MGNREGA.
Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) and Mahanadi River Waterkeeper facilitated the programme along with Vikash, Khariar, CANSA and Action 2015 India.