Farmers, foresters, fishers and graziers generate one-fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in its annual State of Food and Agriculture report. FAO says the chief message of the 2016 edition is, “Agriculture must both contribute more to combating climate change while bracing to overcome its impacts.”
Without action, says FAO, millions of additional people will be at risk of hunger: “Most affected would be populations in poor areas on sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, especially those who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Future food security in many countries will worsen if not action is taken today.”
Key to the overhaul of agriculture will be support for smallholders — there are half a billion smallholder families in developing nations — to adapt to climate change. Given the huge range of conditions for smallholders, solutions must be tailored to local settings. Climate-smart practices, such as the use of nitrogen-efficient and heat-tolerant crop varieties, zero-tillage and integrated soil fertility management would boost productivity and farmers’ incomes, said FAO. Its report estimates that widespread adoption of nitrogen-efficient practices alone would reduce the number of people at risk of undernourishment by more than 100 million.