April 27, 2014 – A report that makes a very thorough
assessment of the environmental gains to be made by reshaping our farming
methods was issued last Friday. The study was authored by scientists at two
consulting firms: Climate Focus (CF) and California Environmental Associates
(CEA). It was funded by the
Climate and Land Use Alliance, a coalition of major U.S. foundations. Strategies studied were numerous; they
include managing soil nutrients, halting deforestation, reductions in animal
husbandry, using less fertilizer, storing carbon in croplands, and converting
manure into compost and biogas through anaerobic digestion. Consumers, for their part, need to eat
less meat and reduce food waste. A
“demitarian” – a term I’d never heard before - is someone who cuts their
consumption of red meat in half.
Countries poised to make the biggest contributions in this
area are, no surprise, big ones: Brazil, China, India, the EU, and the United
States. According to the report,
yearly greenhouse gas emissions for which agriculture is responsible could be
reduced by 50 to 90 percent by 2030 if redirected policies are put in
place. Agriculture produces 20
percent of all greenhouse gases.
A major portion of these gases is produced by
livestock. This is where Americans
have an especially important role to play, since, even after reducing our beef
consumption, we still lead the world in that dietary habit. China must also find a way to curb rampant
increases in beef eating. Amy
Dickie, of CEA, pointed out that “Steering the Chinese diet in a more climate-friendly
direction would yield enormous benefits for the country’s health and food
security, as well as the global climate.”
(Anything the Chinese undertake is magnified in effect by their huge
population.)
Elsewhere, great advances can be made in food storage and
cooling. Refrigeration is not
commonly available in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where it is –
plainly – badly needed. Farmers in
Southeast Asia must also learn about reducing methane emissions given off in
their rice fields. China, once
again, has an important role to play by changing the way they grow their
food. Chinese farmers use too much
fertilizer, and could easily cut its use by 30 to 60 percent without damaging
production.
There is yet another part to be played by agriculture in
reducing the likelihood of climate chaos, and that is the storage of carbon in
farmland, pastures, and agroforests.
Brazil, for example, could adopt silvopastoral systems (combining crops,
trees, and livestock) and improve the quality of its pasture grass, thereby
sequestering carbon and limiting deforestation. You may know this approach to farming as permaculture.
Whatever you call it, it’s time to get busy!
With thanks to the Thomas Reuters Foundation and science20.com.
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