Climate change is a global issue which brings together individuals and communities across the world. Some individuals and communities are better equipped and prepared to respond to the challenge while others will suffer the consequences more.

Agriculture, along with forestry, can play a key role in tackling climate change because planting forests and improving land management and farming practices can help lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Many studies have focused on how resilient to climate change communities around the world are, while a new UN report urges world leaders to focus on the long-term resilience of the planet and its people, individuals and communities. Sarah Best of Oxfam commented on the report saying "The emphasis on women's rights and the call for an 'ever-green' revolution in agriculture, so it is more resource-efficient and productive, is helpful but concrete recommendations on reforming the food system are thin". Oxfam has been in the forefront of tackling global issues by involving local communities into shaping solutions through suggesting practical 'smart solutions' which people can take to lessen the impact of climate change.

Many other organisations look at local situations to find solutions and a way out of the poverty cycle. IFAD for example emphasises smallholders' resilience to adjust to environmental change and climate variability. Their aim is to scale up investments in sustainable agricultural intensification, focusing on risk and resilience, promoting value chains that drive 'green growth', supporting better governance and policies on natural assets, and promoting knowledge-intensive and community-led responses.

In Brighton & Hove, the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership has been helping people in the city to take actions in relation to food production and consumption, to live in a more sustainable way and to cope with the impacts of climate change. Community allotments have sprung up all over the city, places where people learn how to grow vegetables, exchange ideas and meet like-minded individuals. For example a community allotment in Coldean  has brought together a group of local residents who start to reap the well-deserved products from it.

Maybe, after years of green revolution where the focus was on intensive use of land and chemicals, that 'small is beautiful' is proving more and more the right solution?

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