Tag Archive for: Impact of Agriculture on Climate

Zimbabwe: Climate Change Changes Face of Urban Agriculture

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Author: Chipo Masara | Published: November 13, 2016

Rain is something that Zimbabweans very much look forward to. For years, many have looked up to their rain-fed agricultural projects to bring them food relief in the face of gnawing hunger that has resulted from the country’s economic collapse. The unpredictable pattern that now characterises the rainy seasons, however, has lately been rendering people’s effort useless.

Urban agriculture is part of Zimbabwe’s urban landscape and in Harare; frantic efforts by the city council to put an end to it came to naught — to the extent of the authorities seemingly throwing in the towel. It would seem they finally realised how unreasonable their push was to destroy an activity that brought food relief for many food-insecure urban households, most of who have been left to scrap for a living after their breadwinners lost jobs following either company closures or retrenchments.

Today, however, the council authorities do not pose as much a threat to urban agriculture as does the no-longer-reliable rainfall.

While traditionally, by mid-November the maize crop would be at knee-height, with people at that point simply worrying about the insistent weeds and getting money to purchase fertiliser, today’s mid-November paints a very different picture. Going around most high-density suburbs in Harare on Tuesday afternoon, this writer witnessed people, mostly the elderly, clearing the land and readying it for planting in the sweltering heat. Other fields, however, had already been cleared and people now only await the proper onset of the rainy season so they can plant.

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Organic Agriculture Can Help Address Climate Change, Feed the World

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 Published: November 11, 2016

The role organic agriculture can play in fighting climate change effects and in boosting food security was the main theme of a debate held in the COP22 Green Zone by the federation of Moroccan organic agriculture professionals (known by its French acronym FIMABIO.)

Speaking on this occasion, Andre Leu, President of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), underscored that organic agriculture can reverse climate change.

He highlighted the global momentum towards adopting organic agriculture to counter climate change, notably through the “4 for 1000” initiative, which aims to increase the amount of organic matter in soil by 4 per thousand (0.4%) each year, which would be enough to compensate for all global greenhouse gases emitted due to human behavior.

Organic agriculture practices are conducive to the global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before the point of no return, he said.

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Moroccan Vault Protects Seeds from Climate Change and War

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Author: Samia Errazzouki | Published: November 14, 2016

Should a doomsday agricultural crisis hit the world’s driest environments, scientists and farmers will turn to an up-and-coming research center and seed bank in Morocco to restock their harvests.

Tucked away in the university hub of Irfane in Rabat, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, or ICARDA, hosts the largest collection of seeds in North Africa.

“If for any reason, a particular community lost all their resources, we are capable of providing them with the seeds for restoration and rehabilitation,” says Ahmed Amri, head of ICARDA’s Genetic Resources Unit.

The crucial role of seed banks in protecting biodiversity is receiving increasing attention because of climate change, which threatens to wipe out crops as dry areas of the world get even hotter and drier. The impact on African agriculture is among the topics being discussed at U.N. climate talks taking place through next week in Morocco.

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France’s 4 Per 1000 Initiative Makes Important Advances

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Published: November 14, 2016

France’s innovative 4 per 1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate has made significant progress over the past year in preparation for the COP22 climate change conference taking place now in Marrakesh, Morocco.

As a reminder, the 4 per 1000 Initiative was launched by France in 2015 to bring together all willing partners (national governments, local and regional government, companies, trade organizations, NGOs, research facilities, and others) to commit together in a voluntary action plan to implement farming practices that maintain or enhance soil carbon stock on as many agricultural soils as possible and to preserve carbon-rich soils. Scientific studies have found that an annual increase of 0.4% of carbon stored in soils would make it possible to stop the present increase in atmospheric CO2, which is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change.

The aim of the Initiative is to demonstrate that agriculture, and agricultural soils in particular, can play a crucial role where food security and climate change are concerned. Some ways that agriculture can achieve this is by using innovative techniques such as no-till farming practices, which increase the amount of microorganisms present in soils and increase soil fertility and carbon sequestration. Other examples include the promotion of agroforestry, introducing more intermediate crops, restoring soil quality in places with poor conditions, and better landscape management. Increasing carbon sequestration in soils enhances soil fertility and combats land degradation aiming to improve food security.

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Implementing Climate Smart Agriculture up for Discussion at COP22

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 Published: November 10, 2016

The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) will join partners to discuss African agriculture at the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) meeting in Morocco, currently underway. COP22 will look at adaptation, mitigation, transparency, and technology transfer to combat increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

SACAU CEO Ishmael Sunga is one of the several high-profile African speakers who will be speaking on Africa Day Side Events at COP 22 on 16 November 2016. The day will open with a high-level panel discussion on Implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Africa: Moving from Commitment to Action with speakers from the African Union Commission (AUC), UNECA, African Development Bank (AfDB), President of African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN), and the Pan-African Parliament.

Sunga will be speaking during a panel discussion on the Implementation of regional climate smart agriculture approaches: the case of East and Southern Africa at a side event.

The session will look at the barriers preventing smallholder farmers from improving their livelihood in the face of negative climate change impact, how systems in which they operate can be strengthened to facilitate transformative change, and how to address youth involvement and gender parity.

Other panelists include Hon Oppah C.Z. Muchinguri (Minister, Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate, Republic of Zimbabwe) and Golden Mahove (Deputy Team Leader and Agricultural Development Facility Lead, Vuna).

“Farmers in southern Africa are at the front-line of this catastrophe, and are arguably the worst affected,” said Sunga before his departure for COP22.

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Regenerate, Like Boudhira

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Author: Elena Day | Published: November 4, 2016

On October 29, The New York Times published an article titled “Doubts About the Bounty of Genetically Engineered Crops” by Danny Hakim. It compared yields of genetically engineered (GE) corn, rapeseed, and soy in the United States and Canada with yields of these crops (non-GE) in Western Europe. Twenty or so years ago, Europe rejected the “brave new world” of genetically engineered seeds in spite of the promise of higher yields.

According to the article, which used United Nations data, the U.S. and Canada have not reaped an advantage in yields when compared to modernized Western European agricultural producers like France and Germany.

Western Europe led Canada over rapeseed production, before and after Canadian rapeseed became GE. Rapeseed is used to produce canola oil. The cost of a 50,000 seed bag of conventional rapeseed is $85. A 50,000 seed bag of GE is $153.

No difference in corn yields was noted between U.S. and Western Europe. Higher yields for non-GE sugar beets (source of “granulated” as opposed to cane sugar) continue in Western Europe. GE sugar beets have supplanted conventional sugar beets in the U.S. within the last ten years.

A study in 2013 comparing trans–Atlantic yields by Jack Heineman, professor at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, found that Europe hasn’t been penalized in any way by not making genetic engineering one of its biotechnology choices.

The article also points out that in the U.S. the use of toxins that kill insects and fungi has fallen by one-third, while in France it has fallen by 65 percent. Herbicide use in France has fallen 36 percent while in the U.S. it has risen 21 percent. Monsanto, which is in negotiations to merge with Bayer, has more powerful herbicides coming on line as U.S. and Canadian farm weeds develop resistance to Roundup. By 2025 U.S. corn is projected to have 14 GE traits and it will survive spraying by five different herbicides. Monsanto is already building a factory in Louisiana to manufacture Dicamba, even though GE Dicamba-resistant corn has yet to be approved by the EPA.

Note that the agrochemical giants sell farmers both seeds and herbicide sprays. Expensive “designer” seeds need ever more costly and environmentally questionable herbicide(s). The AgChem companies claim that only by their methods can we hope to feed the projected 10 billion humans who might reside on the planet by 2050.

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Carbon Sequestration Potential on Agricultural Lands: A Review of Current Science and Available Practices

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Author Daniel Kane: | Published: November 2015

Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that even if substantial reductions in anthropogenic carbon emissions are achieved in the near future, efforts to sequester previously emitted carbon will be necessary to ensure safe levels of atmospheric carbon and to mitigate climate change (Smith et al. 2014). Research on sequestration has focused primarily on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and reforestation with less attention to the role of soils as carbon sinks. Recent news reports of melting glaciers and ice sheets coupled with a decade of record-breaking heat underscores the importance of aggressive exploration of all possible sequestration strategies.

Soils have the potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere with proper management. Based on global estimates of historic carbon stocks and projections of rising emissions, soil’s usefulness as a carbon sink and drawdown solution appear essential (Lal, 2004, 2008). Since over one third of arable land is in agriculture globally (World Bank, 2015a), finding ways to increase soil carbon in agricultural systems will be a major component of using soils as a sink. A number of agricultural management strategies appear to sequester soil carbon by increasing carbon inputs to the soil and enhancing various soil processes that protect carbon from microbial turnover. Uncertainties about the extent and permanence of carbon sequestration in these systems do still remain, but existing evidence is sufficient to warrant a greater global focus on agricultural soils as a potential climate stability wedge and drawdown solution. Furthermore, the ancillary benefits of increasing soil carbon, including improvements to soil structure, fertility, and water-holding capacity, outweigh potential costs. In this paper, we’ll discuss the basics of soil carbon, how it can be sequestered, management strategies that appear to show promise, and the debate about the potential of agricultural soils to be a climate stability wedge.

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Prince Charles Joins Clean Soil Project to Combat Climate Change

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Author: Fiona Harvey | Published: October 28, 2016

Prince Charles urged governments, individuals and businesses to take greater care of the world’s soils as part of an initiative aimed at keeping carbon locked in soil, rather than escaping into the atmosphere and causing global warming.

The “4 per 1000” project is a pledge to reduce the amount of carbon leaked from soils by 0.4% a year, which would be enough to halt the rise of carbon dioxide levels in the air. Nearly 180 countries have signed up to the initiative that was set up by the French government as part of its efforts to make the Paris agreement on climate change, signed last year, a success.

At a ceremony this week to celebrate the initiative, the prince said that the preservation of farmland, forests and soils were of “absolutely critical importance – for, in my experience, the fertility and health of the soil is at the heart of everything”. Drawing on his own work as an organic farmer, he contrasted organic methods with the “previously conventional” farming systems which he called “toxic”.

The 4 per 1000 initiative does not require farmers to adopt organic methods, but does encourage more attention to farming techniques, which are currently contributing to the erosion of soils around the world.

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Latin American Declaration of the Peoples’ Assembly and the Monsanto Tribunal

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[ English | Español ]

Author: Naturaleza de Derechos | Published: October 14th – 16th, 2016

Traducción por: Equipo Regeneration International

We denounce:

That our countries’ current extractive systems are destroying biocultural diversity, putting life on Earth at risk.

Considering:

That agrobusiness, as an expression of the extractive model, has changed the key focus of agriculture by replacing the production of food with commodities. Therefore, the direct consequences for our people are: the dispossession of our lands; the elimination of indigenous peoples and peasant communities; land concentration; the deforestation of native forests; the irreversible degradation of the environment and biodiversity.

That acts of biopiracy over our germ-plasm harm our economic, political, cultural and food sovereignty.

That the majority of the political system remains controlled by economic factors and the interests of huge transnational companies and is therefore unable to fulfill its mission of promoting the common good and protecting life.

We declare:

That we will defend ourselves against agribusiness interests and that we will protect our people and our land. Therefore:

  • We demand each of our governments support the recognition of Ecocide as a fifth crime against peace and security of mankind before the International Criminal Court.
  • We propose the application of a principle of parity by universalizing best practices in health and environment protection standards across regions or continents.
  • We exhort the application of a non-regression principle, as our countries have been subject to legislative processes that have undermined the environmental protection norms fought for and established through grassroots movements.
  • We demand the application of the Intergenerational Solidarity principle and Indubio Pro-natura: if in doubt, nature should take precedence.
  • We maintain that education is a force for societal transformational at the service of the people and nature and not a tool of domination.
  • We urge European consumers to stop buying meat, soy and other Latin American commodities whose production violates Human Rights.
  • We reject Free Trade Agreements as suppressing the autonomy of the people.
  • We defend heritage and native seeds as sources of biological and cultural diversity that inspire both individual and collective creation within communities and are the very essence of life. We claim the right to save, reproduce, multiply, trade, donate, share and freely sell seeds.
  • We declare our promise to defend and promote peasant agriculture, especially agroecological practices.
  • We reject categorizing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and degenerative hybrids as seeds, as they do not comply with the function of generating and sustaining life.
  • We express our solidarity with the Haitian people, victims of a climate catastrophe produced by the current economic model.
  • We reject the illegitimate, patriarchal, racist and plundering government of
  • We endorse the signing of a Colombian Peace Agreement between the government and the FARC as an opportunity for constructing stable, socially just and lasting peace. We support those that have survived the war.
  • We reject the destabilizing policies that threaten the autonomy and sovereignty of Latin America.

We are heirs of Latin America’s history of liberation movements, we trust our ability to recover our sovereignty, and we fraternally embrace the emancipating struggles of peoples around the world.

Young People’s Burden

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Author: James Hansen | Published on: October 4, 2016

Young People’s Burden: Requirement of Negative CO2 Emissions, by twelve of us[1], is being made available as a “Discussion” paper in Earth System Dynamics Discussion on 4 October, as it is undergoing peer review.   We try to make the science transparent to non-scientists.  A video discussion by my granddaughter Sophie and me is available.  Here I first note a couple of our technical conclusions (but you can skip straight to “Principal Implications” on page 2):

1) Global temperature: the 12-month running-mean temperature is now +1.3°C relative to the 1880-1920 average in the GISTEMP analysis (Fig. 2 in above paper or alternative Fig. 1 below).  We suggest that 1880-1920 is a good choice for “preindustrial” base period; alternative choices would differ by only about ±0.1°C, and 1880-1920 has the advantage of being the earliest time with reasonably global coverage and reasonably well-documented measurement technology.

Present 12-month running-mean global temperature jumps about as far above the linear trend line (Fig. 2b in the paper) as it did during the 1997-98 El Nino.  The linear trend line is now at +1.06°C, which is perhaps the best temperature to compare to paleoclimate temperatures, because the latter are “centennially-smoothed,” i.e., the proxy measures of ancient temperature typically have a resolution not better than 100 years.  The present linear trend (or 11-year mean) temperature is appropriate for comparison to centennially smoothed paleo temperature, because we have knowledge that decadal temperature will not be declining in the next several decades.

 

2) The growth of the three principal human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs: CO2, CH4, N2O) are all accelerating.  Contrary to the impression favored by governments, the corner has not been turned toward declining emissions and GHG amounts.  The world is not effectively addressing the climate matter, nor does it have any plans to do so, regardless of how much government bureaucrats clap each other on the back.

On the other hand, accelerating GHG growth rates do not imply that the problem is unsolvable or that amplifying climate feedbacks are now the main source of the acceleration.  Despite much (valid) concern about amplifying climate-methane feedbacks and leaks from “fracking” activity, the isotopic data suggest that the increase of CH4emissions is more a result of agricultural emissions.  Not to say that it will be easy, but it is still possible to get future CH4 amount to decline moderately, as we phase off fossil fuels as the principal energy source.

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