Climate-Smart Agriculture: Climate change, agriculture and food security
1. Climate-Smart Agriculture
Climate change, agriculture and food security
Aslihan Arslan
EPIC – FAO
Centre for Development Innovation, WUR – September 17, 2014
2. Outline
I. Agriculture
II. Climate Change
III. Food Security
IV. Overview of Climate-Smart Agriculture
(CSA)
V. Evolution of CSA
VI. CSA at various levels
VII. References
3. Population & Agriculture
• World’s population will
reach 9 billion by 2050
•FAO estimates that
agricultural production will
have to increase by 60%
by then
•Agriculture should
undergo a significant
transformation to feed the
growing global population
•Climate change adds
extra challenges in
reaching this goal – esp.
developing countries
where food insecurity &
poverty are prevalent
8. Climate Change
Four potential yield outcomes for maize in 2045 under RCP 8.5†
Source: Müller and Robertson (2014).
Source: Müller and Robertson (2014). Excludes CO2 effects
9. Climate Change
Simulated impacts for the four climate scenarios:
global average for major crops in 2050 wrt reference
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
Wheat Rice Coarse grains Oil seeds Sugar CR5
IPSL/LPJ HADGEM2/LPJ IPSL/DSSAT HADGEM2/DSSAT
Source: Shocks from IFPRI as interpreted for use in the ENVISAGE model, Nelson et al. (2014).
10. Food Security
“Food security exists when all people, at all
times, have physical, social and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food which meets their dietary needs and
food preferences for an
active and healthy life.”
-World Food Summit, 1996
11. Food and Nutrition
Security
Food Availability
Food production
Storage and processing
of food
Transport and distribution
Food trade
Food Access
Intra-household distribution
of food
Income
Markets
Food Utilization
Food preparation
Nutrition knowledge
Cultural traditions
Health care
Child care
Illness management
Clean drinking water
Sanitation & Hygiene
Stability Energy saving cookstoves
In food availability:
Natural and man-made disasters
Accumulation of stocks
Diversification
In food access:
Seasonal vs. constant job
Diversification
Livelihood & coping strategies
Safety nets
In food utilization:
Constant access to health care
Clean drinking water & sanitation
Burchi et al., 2011
Food Security
14. Overview of CSA
CSA seeks to…
Enhance
food
security
Mitigate
climate
change
Preserve natural resource base
and vital ecosystem services
Transition to agricultural
production systems
15. Overview of CSA
CSA seeks to…
Enhance
food
security
Mitigate
climate
change
Preserve natural resource base
and vital ecosystem services
Transition to agricultural
production systems
More
productive
16. Overview of CSA
CSA seeks to…
Enhance
food
security
Mitigate
climate
change
Preserve natural resource base
and vital ecosystem services
Transition to agricultural
production systems
More
productive
Use inputs
more
efficiently
17. Overview of CSA
CSA seeks to…
Enhance
food
security
Mitigate
climate
change
Preserve natural resource base
and vital ecosystem services
Transition to agricultural
production systems
More
productive
Use inputs
more
efficiently
Less
variability and
more stability
in outputs
18. Overview of CSA
CSA seeks to…
Enhance
food
security
Mitigate
climate
change
Preserve natural resource base
and vital ecosystem services
Transition to agricultural
production systems
More
productive
Use inputs
more
efficiently
Less variability
and more
stability in
outputs
More resilient
to risks, shocks
and long-term
climate
variability
19. Overview of CSA
Addresses the complex interrelated challenges of food
security, development and climate change, and identifies
integrated options that create synergies and reduce trade-offs
Recognizes that these options will be shaped by specific
country contexts and capacities as well as socio-economic
and environmental situations
Assesses the interactions between sectors and the needs
of different stakeholders
Identifies barriers to adoption (esp. for farmers), and
provides appropriate solutions in terms of policies,
strategies, actions and incentives
20. Overview of CSA
Seeks to create enabling environments through a better
alignment of policies, investments and institutions
Strives to achieve multiple objectives with the
understanding that priorities need to be set and collective
decisions made on different benefits and trade-offs
Prioritizes the strengthening of livelihoods (esp. those of
smallholders) by improving access to services,
knowledge, resources (including genetic resources),
financial products and markets
Addresses adaptation and builds resilience to shocks,
especially those related to climate change
21. Overview of CSA
Considers climate change mitigation as a
potential secondary co-benefit, especially in
low-income, agricultural-based populations
Seeks to identify opportunities to access
climate-related financing and integrate it with
traditional sources of agricultural investment
finance
22. Evolution of CSA
2009
Food Security and Agricultural
Mitigation in Developing
Countries: Options for Capturing
Synergies
2010
“Climate-smart” Agriculture: Policies,
Practices and Financing for Food
Security, Adaptation and Mitigation
2013
Climate-smart
Agriculture Sourcebook
2014 FAO Success Stories on
Climate-smart Agriculture
23. Links to
Previous Approaches
CSA contributes to the
achievement of sustainable
development goals:
economic, social and
environmental
Uses green economy’s need
for more resource efficiency
and resilience
Sustainable intensification:
focuses on availability
dimension of food security
(CSA covers also accessibility,
Sustainable
development
Sustainable
intensification
Green
Economy
Climate-Smart Agriculture utilization and stability)
24. Evolution of CSA
So what’s new about it ?
Harmonization
and
synchronization
of practices and
policies
Objective of
avoiding
contradictory
and conflicting
policies by
internally
managing trade-offs
and
synergies
CSA is a new
approach to
guide the needed
changes of
agricultural
systems to
address food
security and
climate change
Not a new agricultural system or a set of practices
25. Overview of CSA
How to address the multiple demands placed on
agriculture?
Create synergies between food
security, adaptation and
climate change mitigation
Main objective:
Pathway towards enhanced
food security and
development goals
ALL AGRICULTURAL
SECTORS
CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE
Adaptation
Mitigation
Synergies
Productivity &
income increase
27. CSA & Synergies
Concepts of mitigation and adaptation
Mitigation Adaptation
I attack the
problem
I act in response to
the impacts of the
problem
…can and should be both
implemented
Decrease
GHG sources
Increase sinks
of GHG
Risk management
Strenghtening
institutions
Trainings
Investments in rural
economy
Decrease sources Increase sinks
28. CSA & Synergies
Main differences between adaptation and mitigation
Longer-term
effect
Shorter-term
effect
Especially motivated
with countries less
vulnerable to CC
“victims” not always
responsible for
causing CC
Global
Local
Causes of
climate change
Effects of
climate change
Mitigation
Objectives
Spatial
scale
Time scale Equity
Adaptation
Same final common target: Sustainable development
29. Various levels of CSA
Farm level
Landscape
Markets
Regional, national global
policies
30. Farm Level
At farm level, CSA can aim at improving:
Crop Management
Soil
Manage
ment
Water
Management
Livestock
and
Pasture
Manage
ment
31. Conventional Agricultural
Conversion of energy sources from
human to fossil fuel dependent
machinery.
Increased use of fertilizer, pesticides
and herbicides (dependent on fossil
fuels) generally very inefficiently
applied.
Expansion of agricultural land area
through deforestation and conversion
from grasslands to cropland.
Increased specialization in ag
production and marketing systems.
Emphasizing improved and hybrid
crop varieties
• Use of energy efficient
technologies for agricultural power
(irrigation or tillage).
• Increased efficiency of fertilizer
/inputs and wider use of organic
fertilizer.
• Intensification on existing land
as main source of production
increase rather than expansion to
new areas.
• Greater diversification in
production, input and output
marketing systems.
• Valuing the resilience of
traditional varieties
•Energy
•Inputs
•Land use
•System
•Varieties
Intensification
Climate Smart Agriculture
32. Farm Level
Crop Management: Conservation Agriculture and Soil-Water Conservation
improved and sustained productivity, increased profits
and food security while preserving and enhancing the
3 main principles of CA:
“approach to managing agro-ecosystems for
minimal soil disturbance,
permanent soil cover, and
crop rotations/associations
• Ongoing international debate on
the effects of CA on yields and
resilience.
• Need to customize & modify the 3
principles to various agro-ecological
systems
• Need to explicitly account for
climate change impacts
resource base and the environment”
Conservation agriculture
(e.g cover crops, intercropping,
fallowing, alley cropping,no till, legume
rotation)
Other soil and water conservation
(e.g. ridging, shelterbelts, terracing, bunding, agro-forestry,
woodlots, taungya, stone lines, strip
cropping, vetiver, animal traction, drainage ditches)
89.7-90.9 % 61.4-70%
Source: Knowler, 2003. Positive net present values (NPV) for
conservation agriculture and other soil and water conservation practices
at the farm-level from a total sample of 130 studies.
33. Farm Level
Crop Management
Diversify crop types and varieties, including crop
substitution,
Develop new crop varieties, including hybrids, to increase
the tolerance, resistance and suitability (research)
Promote seed banks so as to help farmers diversify crops
and crop varieties
Increase livelihood diversification, including off-farm income
sources
34. Farm Level
CSA can also involve changing a production system
entirely:
Maize System
Livestock system
or
Integrated Crop &
Livestock system
35. Landscape Approach
Objective: Need to achieve food security and climate change
mitigation and adaptation goals without compromising environment
DEFINITION
integrated multidisciplinary process where trade-offs
and synergies are carefully assessed and
appropriate landscape-scale management
interventions are identified and implemented.
recognizes that the root causes of problems may not
be site-specific and that a development agenda
requires multi-stakeholder interventions to negotiate
and implement actions.
combines natural resources management with
environmental and livelihood considerations
places human well-being and needs at the centre of
the land use decision-making process, respects rights
and cultural values
36. Landscape Approach
Example: Ecosystem services of peatlands of the
Ruoergai Plateau
The Ruoergai
peatland
pastures on
the Tibetan
Plateau:
a major milk
and meat
producing
area in China
FAO, CSA Sourcebook, Module 2, p 68, 2013
37. Landscape Approach
• Herders fenced parts of the winter pastures near their
winter houses to create hay meadows to supply
supplementary fodder to animals and decrease grazing
pressures on the peatlands in spring.
Farm level
• Pilot projects by national and international organizations
supported peatland restoration by replanting vegetation
(forage cultivation), rewetting (ditch blocking) and
establishing co-management systems.
Community
and local level
• The Provincial People’s Congresses of Gansu and
Sichuan approved Wetland Conservation Regulations in
2007 and 2010 to promote the conservation of biodiversity
and enhance the livelihood of local communities.
Regional level
• The government of China has encouraged the ecological
restoration of degraded rangelands and forage cultivation
in winter pastures to reduce grazing pressure on peatlands
in winter and spring.
The national
level
FAO, CSA Sourcebook, Module 2, p 68, 2013
38. Market Approach
CSA can also be a market approach:
Such as introducing sustainable value chains to help
farmers in a competitive sector.
39. Policy level
Example: Disaster Risk Management
Develop early warning systems
Invest in infrastructure to protect against asset loss
Protect equipped areas from flood damage and maintain drainage outlets
Support the meteorological department in collecting, analysing &
disseminating weather/climate info
Strengthen community and municipality capacities in disaster
management
Align national development, climate change and agricultural policies to
minimize contradictions and harness synergies
40. Key Messages
Climate-smart agriculture is not a new agricultural system,
nor a set of practices.
It is a new approach, a way to guide the needed changes of
agricultural systems, given the necessity to jointly address
food security and climate change.
CSA brings together practices, policies and institutions that
are not necessarily new but are used in the context of climatic
changes.
Addresses multiple challenges faced by agriculture and food
systems simultaneously and holistically, which helps avoid
counterproductive policies, legislation or financing.
43. References
Burchi, F., Fanzo, J. & Frison, E. 2011. The role of food and nutrition system
approaches in tackling hidden hunger. International Journal Environ. Res. Public
Health.
Grainger-Jones, E. 2011. Climate-smart smallholder agriculture: what’s different?
IFAD occasional paper No.3. Rome. (available at http://www.ifad.org/pub/op/3.pdf).
FAO. 2009. Profile for Climate Change.
FAO. 2013. Climate-smart agriculture sourcebook.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2010. Assessing the
environmental impacts of consumption and production: priority products and
materials.
UN-Water. 2010. Climate change adaptation: the pivotal role of water. UN-Water
policy brief. (available at http://www.unwater.org/downloads/unw_ccpol_web.pdf)
Nelson et al., “Climate change effects on agriculture: Economic responses to
biophysical shocks” PNAS, 2014. Vol 111(9): http://www.pnas.org/content/111/9/3274
44. CSA among other concepts of
`green‘ agriculture
From farm-based to comprehensive
development concepts
Conservation agriculture
The EX-Ante Carbon balance Tool
EX-ACT Training Workshop
www.fao.org/tc/exact
Sustainable land
management
Agroecology
Organic farming
Macro
Micro
Farming
technics
Area - based
management
Climate smart agriculture
Multi-function
planning and policies
Value
chain
Notes de l'éditeur
The agriculture, intended in the FAO sense of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, is under duress from a variety of sources that can be classified as be socio-economic trends and environmental challenges.
In particular, the population increase concomitant with climate change calls for a transformation of the agricultural system in order to provide a basis for economic growth, spearhead poverty reduction and achieve food security. It is important to note that population and income growth will drive an ever- increasing demand, especially in developing countries
870 million people are estimated to be undernourished. Billion are malnourished lacking essential micronutrients. 60% of the malnourished are actually food producers, smallholders and pastoralists with 20% living in cities and 20% landless rural people. For poor producers food, and hence agriculture, is more than just a basic need, but it is the single support they have for maintaining their livelihood. This is all reflected in the macroeconomic level. In many of the countries suffering undernourishment, agriculture is an important, if not the major, part of the economy.
Therefore, Agricultural policies are the basis for achieving food security and improving livelihoods.
An effective combination of sustainable agriculture and climate change policies can boost green growth, protect the environment and contribute to the eradication of hunger and poverty.
The footnote 4 is needed here
Water is the prime channel through which the impacts of climate change on the world’s ecosystems and on the livelihoods of societies will be felt. Climate change will have an impact on every element in the water cycle (UN-Water, 2010). Agriculture will be affected by increased evaporative demand, changes in the amount of rainfall and variations in river runoff and groundwater recharge, the two sources of water for irrigation.
GCMs and GGCM operate at detailed spatial aggregation. More differences between crop models than across the two GCMs.
GCMs and GGCM operate at detailed spatial aggregation. More differences between crop models than across the two GCMs.
The four dimensions of food security. CSA takes into account the four dimensions of food security, availability, accessibility, utilization and stability.
Still, the entry point and the emphasis is on production, on farmers, on increasing productivity and income, and on ensuring their stability. As such it is centered on the key dimension of food security, availability, which is associated with stability. It also has much to do with raising and stabilizing incomes of smallholders, and thus with accessibility to food. Diversification of production is a powerful way to increase efficiency and resilience; it is also an essential path towards more balanced and nutritious diets.
Source: Adapted from Gustavsson et al. 2011
FAO CSA 2010 definition:
Agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes GHGs (mitigation), and enhances achievements of national food security and development goals.
CSA integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) by jointly addressing food security and climate challenges. It is composed of three main pillars:
1. sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes;
2. adapting and building resilience to climate change; and
3. reducing and/or removing greenhouse gases emissions, where possible.
The magnitude, immediacy and broad scope of the effects of climate change on agricultural systems create a compelling need to ensure comprehensive integration of these effects into national agricultural planning, investments and programmes.
Developing policies & insts
Mobilizing finance
CSA, which seeks to enhance food security while contributing to mitigate climate change and preserving the natural resource base and vital ecosystem services requires the transition to agricultural production systems that are more productive, use inputs more efficiently, have less variability and greater stability in their outputs, and are more resilient to risks, shocks and long-term climate variability.
More productive and more resilient agriculture requires a major shift in the way land, water, soil nutrients and genetic resources are managed to ensure that these resources are used more efficiently. Making this shift requires considerable changes in national and local governance, legislation, policies and financial mechanisms. This transformation will also involve improving producers’ access to markets. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land and/or agricultural product and increasing carbon sinks, these changes will contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change.
CSA, which seeks to enhance food security while contributing to mitigate climate change and preserving the natural resource base and vital ecosystem services requires the transition to agricultural production systems that are more productive, use inputs more efficiently, have less variability and greater stability in their outputs, and are more resilient to risks, shocks and long-term climate variability.
More productive and more resilient agriculture requires a major shift in the way land, water, soil nutrients and genetic resources are managed to ensure that these resources are used more efficiently. Making this shift requires considerable changes in national and local governance, legislation, policies and financial mechanisms. This transformation will also involve improving producers’ access to markets. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land and/or agricultural product and increasing carbon sinks, these changes will contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change.
CSA, which seeks to enhance food security while contributing to mitigate climate change and preserving the natural resource base and vital ecosystem services requires the transition to agricultural production systems that are more productive, use inputs more efficiently, have less variability and greater stability in their outputs, and are more resilient to risks, shocks and long-term climate variability.
More productive and more resilient agriculture requires a major shift in the way land, water, soil nutrients and genetic resources are managed to ensure that these resources are used more efficiently. Making this shift requires considerable changes in national and local governance, legislation, policies and financial mechanisms. This transformation will also involve improving producers’ access to markets. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land and/or agricultural product and increasing carbon sinks, these changes will contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change.
CSA, which seeks to enhance food security while contributing to mitigate climate change and preserving the natural resource base and vital ecosystem services requires the transition to agricultural production systems that are more productive, use inputs more efficiently, have less variability and greater stability in their outputs, and are more resilient to risks, shocks and long-term climate variability.
More productive and more resilient agriculture requires a major shift in the way land, water, soil nutrients and genetic resources are managed to ensure that these resources are used more efficiently. Making this shift requires considerable changes in national and local governance, legislation, policies and financial mechanisms. This transformation will also involve improving producers’ access to markets. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land and/or agricultural product and increasing carbon sinks, these changes will contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change.
CSA, which seeks to enhance food security while contributing to mitigate climate change and preserving the natural resource base and vital ecosystem services requires the transition to agricultural production systems that are more productive, use inputs more efficiently, have less variability and greater stability in their outputs, and are more resilient to risks, shocks and long-term climate variability.
More productive and more resilient agriculture requires a major shift in the way land, water, soil nutrients and genetic resources are managed to ensure that these resources are used more efficiently. Making this shift requires considerable changes in national and local governance, legislation, policies and financial mechanisms. This transformation will also involve improving producers’ access to markets. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land and/or agricultural product and increasing carbon sinks, these changes will contribute significantly to the mitigation of climate change.
As seen in the previous slides, CSA has many components. It is not a single specific agricultural technology or practice that can be universally applied. It is an approach that requires site-specific assessments to identify suitable agricultural production technologies and practices.
This approach does the following main 10 tasks listed here.
In essence, CSA brings together practices, policies and institutions that are not necessarily new but are used in the context of climatic changes, which are unfamiliar to farmers, herders and fishers.
As seen in the previous slides, CSA has many components. It is not a single specific agricultural technology or practice that can be universally applied. It is an approach that requires site-specific assessments to identify suitable agricultural production technologies and practices.
This approach does the following main 10 tasks listed here.
In essence, CSA brings together practices, policies and institutions that are not necessarily new but are used in the context of climatic changes, which are unfamiliar to farmers, herders and fishers.
As seen in the previous slides, CSA has many components. It is not a single specific agricultural technology or practice that can be universally applied. It is an approach that requires site-specific assessments to identify suitable agricultural production technologies and practices.
This approach does the following main 10 tasks listed here.
In essence, CSA brings together practices, policies and institutions that are not necessarily new but are used in the context of climatic changes, which are unfamiliar to farmers, herders and fishers.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has launched a brand new Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Sourcebook, which aims to address knowledge gaps and support countries in the implementation of climate-smart approaches. The Sourcebook, which is a collaborative effort from various agencies and includes contributions from the Global Mechanism, was unveiled in Bonn at a side event focusing on the synergies between adaptation and mitigation in agriculture during the Thirty-eighth session of the Subsidiary Body for Sc
The Sourcebook aims to help decision makers at a number of levels (including political administrators and natural resource managers) to understand the different options that are available for planning, policies and investments and the practices that are suitable for making different agricultural sectors, landscapes and food systems more climate-smart.
The CSA is a reference tool for planners, practitioners and policy makers working in agriculture, forestry and fisheries at national and subnational levels. It indicates some of the necessary ingredients required to achieve a climate-smart approach to the agricultural sectors, including existing options and barriers.
ientific and Technological Advice of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
CSA shares the objectives and guiding principles of sustainable development, green growth and sustainable intensification.
Sustainable development: According to the Brundtland Commission in Our Common Future– Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) it is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Recognizing the value of the environment, extending the time horizon and emphasizing the role of equity. The CSA approach is designed to identify and operationalize sustainable agricultural development within the explicit parameters of climate change.
2012 Rio+20 needed more concrete expression on sustainable development, making it more operational and guiding on how to integrate its three dimensions: economic, environmental and social. Therefore, the concept of green economy was developed. Definition is according to UNEP’s Green Economy Report:“An economy that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.”
Sustainable intensification: encompassed in “Save and Grow” concept. Productive agriculture that conserves and enhances natural resources. Uses ecosystem approach that draws on nature’s contribution to crop growth and applies appropriate external inputs at the right time in the right amount to allow crop varieties resilient to climate change use nutrients, water and external inputs more efficiently.
CSA is also tied to accessibility dimension of food security since it has to do with raising and stabilizing incomes of smallholders. CSA adds a more forward-looking dimension than sustainable intensification with more concern about future potential changes and the need to be prepared for them, which reflects CSA’s tie to sustainable development.
While to address climate change and food security through CSA would depend on practices, policies and institutions that are not new, the harmonization and synchronization needed of practices and policies to address these challenges is new.
What is also new is the fact that the multiple challenges faced by agriculture and food systems are addressed simultaneously and holistically, which helps avoid counterproductive policies, legislation or financing.
Coordination across agricultural sectors (e.g. fisheries, livestock, forestry, and crops), such as with energy and water sector development, is essential to capitalize on potential synergies, reduce trade-offs and optimize the use of natural resources and ecosystem services. A key component of CSA is the integrated landscape approach that follows the principles of ecosystem management and sustainable land and water use. This approach also aims to strengthen livelihoods and food security, especially of smallholders, by improving the management and use of natural resources and adopting appropriate methods and technologies for the production, processing and marketing of agricultural goods across all sectors.
+ benefices: mitigation expressed in eqco2 while hard to measure in one metric unit adaptation benefits
+ proactive/retroactive
CSA is not just improving a production system for adaptation and mitigation !
THIS IS THE STRUCTURE OF THE FOLLOWING 5 DAYS
Take into account that this are all related, and can be integrated
Ask for each the CSA equivalent of the concept/practice before revealing the right column
Site conservation agriculture de la FAO http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/8.html
UNDERLINE the importance of rigorous analyses to assess CSA in each case!! Knowler
Not just improving practices in crop production= > Diversification to more resilient system is also CSA
If an arid area one switches from a fragile crop to a more resilient and adapted livestock system, it is also CSA.
LA differs from ecosystem approaches in that it may include multiple ecosystems.
CSA provides opportunities, but also presents considerable challenges. To seize these opportunities and meet
these challenges, a more holistic, integrated approach in which all stakeholders participate actively is required.
An integrated approach ensures greater efficiency in the use of resources and more sustainable management
of natural and human-created processes in the landscape. Production systems must be incorporated
into landscapes, in ways that capitalize on natural biological processes, recycle waste and residues and create
integrated and diversified farming systems. This integration can greatly reduce the pressure on the natural
resources and minimize the need for external inputs (e.g. energy, chemical fertilizers and pesticides) and other
management interventions.
Throughout history, the peatlands on the Ruoergai Plateau have acted like sponges. They absorbed and retained
water during periods when water supplies were abundant and slowly released water when it was scarce. In this way, the peatlands slowed down peak discharge, prevented erosion, reduced downstream flooding and guaranteed a steady supply of water to the Huanghe (Yellow) River, a water source that millions of people depend on.
The introduction of livestock grazing 5 000 years ago completely changed the peatlands on the Ruoergai Plateau.
At the same time, herders developed a complex system of land management, which included sharing grazing lands and their rotational use to prevent overgrazing and erosion.
Peatland degradation increased dramatically with the construction of roads in the 1970s and the rising demand for food, fuel and rangeland. Overgrazing and the resulting decrease in the quality of pasture fuelled the demand for new rangeland. This led to increased pressure on untouched peatlands (Wiener et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2006; Gao et al., 2009), of which almost 50 percent were drained (Yang, 2000).
Peatland degradation leads to increased GHG emissions. On the other hand, more moderate grazing may reduce methane emissions and carbon sequestration (Chen et al., 2008 and 2009).
Source: FAO 2012b
The enabling environment dimension addresses the systemic impediments covering
political commitment and vision, policy, legal and economic frameworks: national public sector budget allocations
and processes; governance and power structures; and incentives and social norms. The organizational
dimension includes public and private organizations, civil society and networks of organizations. It addresses
strategic management functions, structures and relationships; operational capacities, human and financial
resources; and knowledge and information resources and infrastructure. The individual dimension refers to
the skill levels and attitudes of individuals. These can be addressed through facilitation, training and competency
development (see FAO, 2010a).
Source: FAO 2012b
The enabling environment dimension addresses the systemic impediments covering
political commitment and vision, policy, legal and economic frameworks: national public sector budget allocations
and processes; governance and power structures; and incentives and social norms. The organizational
dimension includes public and private organizations, civil society and networks of organizations. It addresses
strategic management functions, structures and relationships; operational capacities, human and financial
resources; and knowledge and information resources and infrastructure. The individual dimension refers to
the skill levels and attitudes of individuals. These can be addressed through facilitation, training and competency
development (see FAO, 2010a).
different green conceptions, which follows the same path and in the end raises the same issues and means.
The Green Economy focuses on the concept of sustainability within each sector whilst GEA has a higher focus upon the agriculture greening role in value chain and food security. GEA and Climate smart agriculture both present a lot of convergences and could be considered as targeting quite similar objectives with a small focus divergence towards Green economy for GEA and towards Climate change for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA).
CSA regroups these concepts, having a multi-functional purpose on all levels.