FAO RECCOMMENDATION FOR CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE

 FAO RECOMMENDATION FOR CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE

1.     Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is an international organization at the forefront of driving sustainable agriculture and food security among numerous other goals. Every year, they review policies and identify practices that will aid sustainable agriculture.

2.       In the Era of climate-smart agriculture, they have also taken a key advisory role. Here are some recommendations on how to locally apply climate-smart agriculture. These climate-smart practices have been identified through participatory consultations with agricultural producers and policymakers. Here are snippets from their official articles.

 

INTEGRATED SYSTEMS

3.      Integrated farming systems demonstrate diverse features and include elements from crops, livestock, or forestry that can be integrated at various scales, on-farm and area-wide, to enhance the efficiency and environmental sustainability of the different production methods. In the case of integrated livestock systems – crops, livestock, sylvopastoralism, rice-fish farming – animals play a key role in providing additional adaptation options for the agricultural producers by providing meat, milk products, eggs, or fiber, but also manure and energy that are useful for crop production. Agroforestry systems include both traditional and modern land-use systems where trees are managed together with crops and/or animal production systems in agricultural settings. They are dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management systems that diversify and sustain production in order to optimize social, economic, and environmental benefits for land users at all scales.
Why is it climate-smart?

4.     Various combinations of timber, fuelwood, fruit, cash crops, nuts, edible oils, medicines, and livestock fodder production diversify income sources, so risks are distributed. Soil shading, windbreaks, and erosion prevention reduce exposure. Leguminous trees fix nitrogen from the air, enriching the soil and reducing sensitivity to shocks. Nutrient recycling from deep in the soil by roots, returning them to the topsoil in the form of leaf litter builds capacity and resilience. Leaves act as mulch and help build up organic matter, reducing exposure to erosion and evaporation. Removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide and storage in the form of wood or soil organic matter sequesters carbon. Crop residues can be used for animal feed. Properly processed manure can fertilize crops and tree production (FAO, 2016b; OECD 2015; Soussana, Dumont and Lecomte, 2015).

CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE

5.      Conservation agriculture is an approach to agricultural management based on three core principles:

a. Minimum soil disturbance: no till or minimum tillage.

b. Keeping the soil surface covered with mulch or cover crops.

c. Use of crop rotations.

6.        Conservation agricultural approaches:

    a.   Manual. Instead of burning or clearing the previous season’s crop residue, farmers leave it on the surface to act as mulch. They may grow a cover crop to avoid leaving the surface bare in the off season. Before planting, they slash the cover crop and any weeds, and leave them to cover the surface. Between rows, they weed or plant an intercrop. The next season they rotate crops to maintain soil fertility. A dibble-stick or special hand-planters can be used to sow seed.

     b.   Animal draught. As with manual cultivation, except that farmers use animals to pull a chisel plough or ripper to open up a narrow furrow for sowing seed.

    c.    Mechanized. Farmers use special equipment that can handle large amounts of residue on the surface. They may use a tractor-drawn ripper and planter to sow seed. They may control weeds using herbicides.

Why is it climate-smart?

7.      Conservation agriculture can reduce carbon losses caused by plowing, add to the organic matter in the soil, and reduce erosion. It also reduces the use of fossil fuels since avoiding plowing saves fuel. It can offer several benefits, including the provision of stable yields, drought buffering, reduced field preparation costs, reduction of soil erosion and contributions to climate change mitigation (FAO, CYMMYT and CCAFS, 2014).
8.       Climate-smart agriculture does not necessarily have a greater cost implication when compared to regular agriculture. The cost is competitive and reduces climate and ecosystem damage. It is smart work as compared to hard work, which is what modern-day agriculture should be about.
 

References

FAO. 2016b. The State of Food and Agriculture. Climate change, agriculture and food security. Rome, FAO. (also available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6030e.pdf).

FAO, CCAFS & International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). 2014. Conservation agriculture. Implementation guidance for policymakers and investors. (also available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4066e.pdf).

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2015. Toolkit to enhance access to adaptation finance: for developing countries that are vulnerable to adverse effects of climate change, including LIDCs, SIDS and African states. Report to the G20 Climate Finance Study Group prepared by OECD in collaboration with GEF. Paris.

Soussana, J.-F., Dumont, B. & Lecomte, P. 2015. Integration with livestock. Agroecology for food security and nutrition. Proceedings of the FAO International Symposium, 18–19 September 2014, Rome, Italy.