Climate Change Mitigation through Technology Innovations in Agriculture

1
Climate Change Mitigation through Technology
Innovations in Agriculture

• Bettina Hedden-Dunkhorst
• and Paul Vlek
• Center for Development Research,
• University of Bonn

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Outline

• 1 Background
• 2 Technology Development in Agriculture
• 3 New Technologies for Climate Change
  Mitigation
• 4 Adoption Constraints
• 5 Suggestions for Policies and Instruments

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Background

• Agriculture causes about 25 global
  anthropogenic CO2 emissions, 65 of CH4, and 90
  of N2O emissions.
• GWP CH4, 21times higher than CO2 N2O 310
  times higher
• Largest source of emissions transformation of
  forest to agricultural land
• But, agriculture is also affected by climate
  change
• through increased climate variability
• (Modest) mitigation options are available that
  could result in win-win solutions
• Productivity increases are necessary to guarantee
  adoption

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Technology Development in Agriculture

• Research
• Scale
• International (16 IARCs - CGIAR)
• National (NARS)
• Local (NGOs, local knowledge)
• Policy directions for research
• Economic policies
• Trade export crops
• Social policies
• Appropriate technologies, low input technologies
• Environmental policies
• Reduced GHG emissions, anti soil erosion
  technologies, water saving technologies

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• Focus of Research
• still top down
• but more focus on participatory approaches
• Capacity for Manufacturing or Multiplication of
  Technology
• Examples
• Mulching machine (Eastern Amazon Region)
• Seed multiplication (Zimbabwe)

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New Agricultural Technologies for Climate Change
Mitigation - Rice-Wheat Systems

• 24-27 million ha in South and East Asia
• Rice flooded fields Wheat well-drained soils
• Rice
• Emissions
• methane and nitrous oxide
• (carbon dioxide straw burning)
• Mitigation strategies
• proper management of organic inputs
• temporary (mid-season) field drainage
• direct seeding (-18 CH4)

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• Wheat
• Emissions nitrous oxide (emitted after
  fertilization, irrigation and heavy rains or
  during fallow periods)
• Mitigation strategies
• Emissions less sensitive to
• management practices
• Problem
• Antagonism between methane and nitrous oxide
  emissions, hence targeting one gas alone is
  inappropriate.

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New Agricultural Technologies for Climate Change
Mitigation - Pastoral Ecosystems of the Tropics

• Worldwide grazing land covers ¼ of earths land
  surface - twice the area under crops
• Savannas greatest storage capacity for
  belowground carbon
• Soil carbon losses through land conversion
  (pasture crop land) grazing management
• Methane emission derive from grazing animals
• Nitrous oxide emissions (low in developing
  countries) fertilizer use, land conversion,
  manure application

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• Pastoral lands will lose above and belowground C
  when they become drier due to climate change.
• Mitigating strategies - Carbon dioxide
• Improved grazing management (0.5 t C ha-1)
• Reduction in grazing intensity
• and biomass burning
• Improvement of degraded land
• Reduction of soil erosion
• Changes in species mix to deep-root grasses
• (Substitution of renewable biological products
  for fossil fuels commercial ranches LA)

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• Implementation Requirements
• Policies
• Government regulations, taxes, subsidies
• Incentives for Carbon market development
• Strengthen institutional linkages between
  countries selling/buying
• Strengthen pastoral networks of communication
• Information through extension services
• Functioning and accountable community governance
  structures
• Monitoring systems for carbon stocks

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New Agricultural Technologies for Climate Change
Mitigation - Other Systems

• Alternatives to Slash and Burn
• Managed forests
• Agroforestry
• Wheat, Maize, Soybean, etc.
• No-tillage (accumulation of soil Carbon, less
  fossil fuel use)
• Reduced N fertilization

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Adoption Constraints Farmers Perspective

• Lack of
• Information
• Capital
• Transportation
• Incentives (low potential to increased returns)
• Temporary land tenure and water rights
• Unreliable supplies
• Risk aversion and vulnerability of farmers

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Suggestions for Policies and Instruments
Policies
Instruments
Payments for environmental services, provide
market opportunities
Rural poverty reduction
Media support, free education
Information and Education
Legal instruments contract enforcement
Property rights
Participation in policy design, subsidiarity,
decentralisation
Policy coordination and linking by
sector (environmental, agricultural) and level
(national, local)
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• International Level

Policies
Instruments
Targeted funding
Research

• Enabling environment
• patents,
• technology advice

Technology exchange
Generation of data base and dissemination of
findings
Information
Enabling environment WTO negotiations,
labeling (climate change mitigation)
Trade
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On Balance

• Agricultural technologies for modest climate
  change mitigation exist.
• More needs to be known about their effects and
  interactions (all GHG) under different
  conditions.
• Mechanisms to support technology adoption need to
  be developed.