Washington, D.C.—This summer, record temperatures and limited
rainfall parched vast areas of U.S. cropland, and with Earth’s surface
air temperature projected to rise 0.69 degrees Celsius by 2030, global
food production will be even more unpredictable, according to new
research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute (
www.worldwatch.org).
Although agriculture is a major driver of human-caused climate change,
contributing an estimated 25 to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions, when done sustainably it can be an important key to
mitigating climate change, write report authors Danielle Nierenberg and
Laura Reynolds.
Because of its reliance on healthy soil, adequate water, and a
delicate balance of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the
atmosphere, farming is the human endeavor most vulnerable to the effects
of climate change. But agriculture’s strong interrelationships with
both climatic and environmental variables also make it a significant
player in reducing climate-altering emissions as well as helping the
world adapt to the realities of a warming planet.
“The good news is that agriculture can hold an important key to
mitigating climate change,” said Reynolds, Worldwatch’s Food and
Agriculture Research Associate. “Practices such as using animal manure
rather than artificial fertilizer, planting trees on farms to reduce
soil erosion and sequester carbon, and growing food in cities all hold
huge potential for reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint.”
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that
the global agricultural sector could potentially reduce and remove 80 to
88 percent of the carbon dioxide that it currently emits. By adopting
more-sustainable approaches, small-scale agriculture in developing
countries has the potential to contribute 70 percent of agriculture’s
global mitigation of climate change. And many of these innovations have
the potential to be replicated, adapted, and scaled up for application
on larger farms, helping to improve water availability, increase
diversity, and improve soil quality, as well as mitigate climate change.
This report,
Innovations in Sustainable Agriculture: Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production,
discusses six sustainable approaches to land and water use, in both
rural and urban areas, that are helping farmers and other food producers
mitigate or adapt to climate change-and often both. They are:
- Building Soil Fertility: Alternatives to
heavy chemical use in agriculture, such as avoiding unnecessary tilling
or raising both crops and livestock on the same land, can help to
drastically reduce the total amount of energy expended to produce a crop
or animal, reducing overall emissions.
- Agroforestry: Because trees remove carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere, keeping them on farms whenever possible can
help mitigate climate change. Agroforestry also keeps the soil
healthier and more resilient by maximizing the amount of organic matter,
microorganisms, and moisture held within it. Agroforestry also provides
shade for livestock and certain crops, and creates habitats for animals
and insects, such as bees, that pollinate many crops.
- Urban Farming: Growing food in cities can
mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions released from the transport,
processing, and storage of food destined for urban populations. Urban
agriculture also increases the total area of non-paved land in cities,
making urban landscapes more resilient to flooding and other weather
shocks, while improving the aesthetic value of these landscapes.
- Cover Cropping/Green Manure: Cover
cropping, also known as green manure, is the practice of strategically
planting crops that will deliver a range of benefits to a farming
system, and often plowing these crops into the soil instead of
harvesting their organic matter. Planting cover crops improves soil
fertility and moisture by making soil less vulnerable to drought or heat
waves. Cover crops also serve as a critical deterrent against pests and
diseases that affect crops or livestock, such as corn root worm or Rift
Valley fever, particularly as warmer temperatures enable these
organisms to survive in environments that were previously too cold for
them.
- Improving Water Conservation and Recycling:
Innovations in water conservation, including recycling wastewater in
cities, using precise watering techniques such as drip irrigation rather
than sprinklers, and catching and storing rainwater, all help to reduce
the global strain on already-scarce water resources.
- Preserving Biodiversity and Indigenous Breeds: Growing
diverse and locally adapted indigenous crops, such as yams, quinoa, and
cassava, can provide a source of income and improve farmers’ chances of
withstanding the effects of climate change, such as heat stress,
drought, and the expansion of disease and pest populations. Preserving
plant and animal biodiversity also reduces farmers’ overreliance on a
small number of commodity crops that make them vulnerable to shifts in
global markets.
By tapping into the multitude of climate-friendly farming practices
that already exist, agriculture can continue to provide food for the
world’s population, as well as be a source of livelihood for the 1.3
billion people who rely on farming for income and sustenance.If
agriculture is to play a positive role in the global fight against
climate change, however, agricultural practices that mitigate or adapt
to climate change will need to receive increased research, attention,
and investment in the coming years.
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