Analyzing the greenhouse gas impact potential of smallholder development actions across a global food security program

Uwe Grewer; Julie Nash; Noel Gurwick; Louis Bockel; Gillian Galford; Meryl Richards; Ciniro Costa Junior; Julianna White; Gillian Pirolli; Eva Wollenberg

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aab0b0

Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2018)

Analyzing the greenhouse gas impact potential of smallholder development actions across a global food security program

Uwe Grewer,
Julie Nash,
Noel Gurwick,
Louis Bockel,
Gillian Galford,
Meryl Richards,
Ciniro Costa Junior,
Julianna White,
Gillian Pirolli,
Eva Wollenberg

Affiliations

Uwe Grewer: ORCiD; Agricultural Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla , 00153 Rome, Italy; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
Julie Nash: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America
Noel Gurwick: Office of Global Climate Change at the US Agency for International Development , 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, United States of America
Louis Bockel: Agricultural Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla , 00153 Rome, Italy
Gillian Galford: ORCiD; Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America
Meryl Richards: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America
Ciniro Costa Junior: Institute of Forestry and Agriculture Management and Certification , Road Chico Mendes 185, Piracicaba 13426-420, Brazil
Julianna White: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America
Gillian Pirolli: Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America
Eva Wollenberg: Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security , 617 Main Street, Burlington, VT, United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aab0b0
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 4
p. 044003

Abstract

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This article analyses the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact potential of improved management practices and technologies for smallholder agriculture promoted under a global food security development program. Under ‘business-as-usual’ development, global studies on the future of agriculture to 2050 project considerable increases in total food production and cultivated area. Conventional cropland intensification and conversion of natural vegetation typically result in increased GHG emissions and loss of carbon stocks. There is a strong need to understand the potential greenhouse gas impacts of agricultural development programs intended to achieve large-scale change, and to identify pathways of smallholder agricultural development that can achieve food security and agricultural production growth without drastic increases in GHG emissions. In an analysis of 134 crop and livestock production systems in 15 countries with reported impacts on 4.8 million ha, improved management practices and technologies by smallholder farmers significantly reduce GHG emission intensity of agricultural production, increase yields and reduce post-harvest losses, while either decreasing or only moderately increasing net GHG emissions per area. Investments in both production and post-harvest stages meaningfully reduced GHG emission intensity, contributing to low emission development. We present average impacts on net GHG emissions per hectare and GHG emission intensity, while not providing detailed statistics of GHG impacts at scale that are associated to additional uncertainties. While reported improvements in smallholder systems effectively reduce future GHG emissions compared to business-as-usual development, these contributions are insufficient to significantly reduce net GHG emission in agriculture beyond current levels, particularly if future agricultural production grows at projected rates.

Published in Environmental Research Letters

ISSN: 1748-9326 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences; Science: Physics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/1748-9326

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