Role of agriculture in climate change

Role of agriculture in climate change

World Population: Who’s Going Up and Who’s Going Down?

By 2050 we expect to touch the 9 billion people mark. To meet population growth and economic demand in places like China, India, and Brazil as well as the developing world, global food output must double within the next fifty years.

This map shows projected changes in agricultural yields by the year 2050. Climate change can have a negative impact on food production, especially in emerging countries.

The changes are a result of changing temperature and evaporation, altered rainfall and runoff patterns, reduced soil moisture, increased frequency of outbreaks of pests and diseases, as well as damage from extreme weather events.

Increasing demand for food combined with resource scarcity is posing a global food security challenge.

On the other hand Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) is the second-largest emitter after the energy sector and is responsible for almost a quarter of the GHG emissions.

Of this amount, approximately 50% is from Agriculture, and the remaining 50% is from the forest and other land-use changes.

The emissions are mainly due to deforestation, land degradation, and unsustainable livestock and agricultural practices. Therefore, the AFOLU sector can play a major role in mitigating climate change through both reducing GHG emissions as well as increasing carbon sequestration.