Alternative agricultural practices reduce GHG emissions, bolster yields

The contributors are critical of the separate discussions being held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), saying the separate discussions are obscuring opportunities for a sector such as agriculture.

Alternative agricultural practices, tailored to different regions, show promise for reducing the net greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and maintaining or improving yields, despite extreme weather. According to Engineering News Online, this can reduce the threats to food security posed by climate change and aid in mitigation efforts. "In Niger," the group writes, "five-million hectares has been regenerated by using agroforestry, which has benefited more than 1.25-million households, sequestered carbon and produced an extra 500 000 t of grain a year."

South African systems ecologist Dr Bob Scholes from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is a contributing team member. Scholes says that scientists can provide the evidence required to rapidly generate new investments and policies and ensure that agriculture can adapt to the impact of climate change. Meanwhile, he adds, the world is already outside a safe operating space for agriculture, climate change and food security. The groups writes that - in order to mobilise increased investment, "scientists must document ways that farmers, industry, consumers and government can move toward [...] and achieve multiple benefits from sustainable farming practices." Scholes says that scientists can also motivate for the inclusion of agriculture in discussions about national action-plans for climate change.

Read the full article on www.engineeringnews.co.za.