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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Promoting climate-smart agriculture
  • Date: Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:10:21 -0700


(seems like I've heard this before - but better late than never)

"The most important technical options for climate change mitigation from
agriculture are improvements in cropland and grazing land management and the
restoration of organic soils and degraded lands. Nearly 90 percent of the
technical mitigation potential of agriculture comes from soil carbon
sequestration. These options involve increasing the levels of organic matter,
of which carbon is the main component, in soil. This can translate into
better plant nutrient content, increased water retention capacity and better
structure, eventually leading to higher yields and greater resilience.
Agricultural mitigation options that sequester carbon can include: low
tillage, utilizing residues for composting or mulching, use of perennial
crops to cover soil, re-seeding or improving grazing management on
grasslands."

Promoting climate-smart agriculture
from http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/36894/icode/
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Report explores mutual benefits, trade-offs in tackling hunger and climate
change
Farmers can contribute to mitigate global emissions.

5 November 2009, Rome - The twin battles to improve food security for a
growing world population and contain climate change can be fought on the same
front—the world's farmland, FAO said in a new report released today.

Agriculture not only suffers the impacts of climate change, it is also
responsible for 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But
agriculture has the potential to be an important part of the solution,
through mitigation—reducing and/or removing—a significant amount of global
emissions, FAO says. Some 70 percent of this mitigation potential could be
realized in developing countries.

"Many effective strategies for climate change mitigation from agriculture
also benefit food security, development and adaptation to climate change,"
said FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Müller. "The challenge is to
capture these potential synergies, while managing trade-offs that may have
negative impacts on food security."

The report, Food Security and Agricultural Mitigation in Developing
Countries: Options for Capturing Synergies was launched during the Barcelona
Climate Change Talks.

Down to earth

The most important technical options for climate change mitigation from
agriculture are improvements in cropland and grazing land management and the
restoration of organic soils and degraded lands.

Nearly 90 percent of the technical mitigation potential of agriculture comes
from soil carbon sequestration. These options involve increasing the levels
of organic matter, of which carbon is the main component, in soil. This can
translate into better plant nutrient content, increased water retention
capacity and better structure, eventually leading to higher yields and
greater resilience.

Agricultural mitigation options that sequester carbon can include: low
tillage, utilizing residues for composting or mulching, use of perennial
crops to cover soil, re-seeding or improving grazing management on grasslands.

Balancing benefits, risks

Other options involve difficult trade-offs, with benefits for mitigation but
potentially negative consequences for food security and development. In some
cases, there are synergies in the long-run, but trade-offs in the short-run.

Biofuel production provides a clean alternative to fossil fuel but can
compete for land and water resources needed for food production. Restoration
of organic soils enables greater carbon sequestration, but may reduce the
land available for food production. Rangeland restoration may improve carbon
sequestration but involves short-term reductions in herder incomes by
limiting the number of livestock.

Some trade-offs can be managed through measures to increase efficiency or
through payment of incentives or compensation.

Many of the technical mitigation options are readily available and could be
deployed immediately. But while these actions often generate a net positive
benefit over time, they involve significant up-front costs.

Other barriers, such as uncertain property rights, lack of information and
technical assistance or access to appropriate seeds and fertilizer, also need
to be overcome. "Linking to ongoing agricultural development efforts that
address these same issues is one cost effective way of doing this," said
Kostas Stamoulis, Director of the FAO Agricultural Development Economics
Division.

Financing mechanisms needed

The report outlines possible design features for financing mechanisms that
could help unlock agriculture's potential benefits for climate change
mitigation, food security and agricultural development.

A range of financing options—public, public-private and carbon markets—are
currently under negotiation for climate change mitigation actions in
developing countries. These could be future sources of finance for
agricultural mitigation actions, the report says, as could a dedicated
international fund to support agricultural mitigation in developing countries
and coordination with financing from official development assistance for
agricultural development.

Capturing agriculture's multiple benefits

Despite its significant potential, agricultural mitigation has remained
relatively marginal within the climate change negotiations.

To capture the multiple benefits of agriculture. the report recommends a work
programme on agricultural mitigation within the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice to help address methodological issues
related to implementation. It also proposes country-led piloting of action
and field testing, using a phased approach linked to national capabilities
and supported by capacity building and financial/technology transfers.




  • [Livingontheland] Promoting climate-smart agriculture, Tradingpost, 12/08/2009

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