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Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production
New Worldwatch Institute report examines the role that sustainable agriculture can play in mitigating the effects of climate change
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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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