Impacts of intensifying or expanding cereal cropping in sub‐Saharan Africa on greenhouse gas emissions and food security

Previous literature on climate change and human population dynamics has mainly focused on how population growth affects greenhouse gas emissions. Much less research has analyzed how climatic variability influences the size of human populations, despite reasonable expectations of such effects. Evidence of climate-fertility linkages, or lack thereof, is needed to refine understandings of adaptive behaviors. It is also needed to refine models of the demographic drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, which tend to assume climatic changes will not feedback to impact population dynamics. We test this relationship using birth histories from 23 sub-Saharan African countries and high-resolution climate data. Our analyses show that exposure to climatic variability is associated with fertility in sub-Saharan Africa, albeit in complex ways. Women exposed to hot-and-dry spells experience significant reductions in the annual probability of fertility, while exposure to above-average temperatures and precipitation is associated with increased fertility over baseline. These associations vary between demographic and geographic groups, revealing important differences in vulnerability and adaptive behavior.

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Dynamics and influence of environmental components on greenhouse gas emissions in sub-Saharan African rangelands: a review

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an20564 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

L. Mapfumo ◽

V. Muchenje ◽

J. F. Mupangwa ◽

M. M. Scholtz ◽

S. Washaya

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Sub Saharan

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Agricultural productivity and greenhouse gas emissions: trade-offs or synergies between mitigation and food security?

Environmental Research Letters ◽

10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035019 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 035019 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

H Valin ◽

P Havlík ◽

A Mosnier ◽

M Herrero ◽

E Schmid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Agricultural Productivity ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Trade Offs

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Renewable energy as a factor of sustainable development and regulation of ecological problems in Africa

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202016905009 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 169 ◽

pp. 05009

Author(s):

Liudmila Nefedova ◽

Alexander Solovyev ◽

Yulie Rafikova ◽

Dmitriy Solovyev

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Renewable Energy ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Thermal Power ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

African Countries ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Ecological Problems

The analysis of the main directions of renewable energy in Africa, as a factor in sustainable development and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is performed. The ecological problems of the modern and prospective development of the energy complex of African countries are considered. For African countries the issue of ensuring reliable and environmentally friendly access to electricity for the population is extremely acute. It is shown, that the electricity demand for industry in Sub-Saharan Africa the most problematic region is growing on a very large scale. The construction of new large coal-fired thermal power plants in the required volumes will lead to serious environmental and climatic consequences. The study of regional data allowed us to conclude that PV solar systems are of priority importance for increasing people’s access to electricity in rural SubSaharan Africa. Based on numerous materials from international energy structures the estimates and calculations of volumes of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions due to the use of renewable energy sources as an alternative to carbon fuel are carried out. The study has shown that of particularly great importance for reducing CO2 emissions in Kenya is the development of geothermal energy.

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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture without compromising food security?

Environmental Research Letters ◽

10.1088/1748-9326/aa8c83 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 105004 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

Stefan Frank ◽

Petr Havlík ◽

Jean-François Soussana ◽

Antoine Levesque ◽

Hugo Valin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Gas Emissions

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Reviews and syntheses: Greenhouse gas emissions in natural and agricultural lands in sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis of available data and suggestions for further studies

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-12-16479-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (19) ◽

pp. 16479-16526 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

D.-G. Kim ◽

A. D. Thomas ◽

D. Pelster ◽

T. S. Rosenstock ◽

A. Sanz-Cobena

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

N2o Emissions ◽

Ghg Emission ◽

Agricultural Lands ◽

N Application ◽

Application Rates ◽

Sub Saharan

Abstract. This paper summarizes currently available data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African natural and agricultural lands, outlines the knowledge gaps and suggests future directions and strategies for GHG emission studies. GHG emission data were collected from 73 studies conducted in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Soil GHG emissions from African natural terrestrial systems ranged from 3.3 to 57.0 Mg carbon dioxide (CO2) ha−1 yr−1, −4.8 to 3.5 kg methane (CH4) ha−1 yr−1 and −0.1 to 13.7 kg nitrous oxide (N2O) ha−1 yr−1. Soil physical and chemical properties, rewetting, vegetation type, forest management and land-use changes were all found to be important factors affecting soil GHG emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from African aquatic systems ranged from 5.7 to 232.0 Mg CO2 ha−1 yr−1, −26.3 to 2741.9 kg CH4 ha−1 yr−1 and 0.2 to 3.5 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1 and were strongly affected by discharge. Soil GHG emissions from African croplands ranged from 1.7 to 141.2 Mg CO2 ha−1 yr−1, −1.3 to 66.7 kg CH4 ha−1 yr−1and 0.05 to 112.0 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1 and the N2O emission factor (EF) ranged from 0.01 to 4.1 %. Incorporation of crop residues or manure with inorganic fertilizers resulted in significant changes in GHG emissions but these were different for CO2 and N2O. Soil GHG emissions in vegetable gardens ranged from 73.3 to 132.0 Mg CO2 ha−1 yr−1 and 53.4 to 177.6 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1 and N2O EFs ranged from 3 to 4 %. Soil CO2 and N2O emissions from agroforestry were 38.6 Mg CO2 ha−1 yr−1 and 0.2 to 26.7 kg N2O ha−1 yr−1, respectively. Improving fallow with nitrogen (N)-fixing trees increased CO2 and N2O emissions compared to conventional croplands and type and quality of plant residue is likely to be an important control factor affecting N2O emissions. Throughout agricultural lands, N2O emissions slowly increased with N inputs below 150 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and increased exponentially with N application rates up to 300 kg N ha−1 yr−1. The lowest yield-scaled N2O emissions were reported with N application rates ranging between 100 and 150 kg N ha−1. Overall, total CO2 equivalent (eq) emissions from African natural and agricultural lands were 56.9 ± 12.7 Pg CO2 eq yr−1 and natural and agricultural lands contributed 76.3 and 23.7 %, respectively. Additional GHG emission measurements throughout Africa agricultural and natural lands are urgently required to reduce uncertainty on annual GHG emissions from the different land uses and identify major control factors and mitigation options on emissions. There is also a need to develop a common strategy for addressing this data gap that may involve identifying priorities for data acquisition, utilizing appropriate technologies, and establishing networks and collaboration.

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The Impact of Dietary Changes on Agriculture, Trade, Environment and Health: A Literature Review

German Journal of Agricultural Economics ◽

10.30430/70.2021.3.139-164 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 139-164

Author(s):

Inna Geibel ◽

Florian Freund ◽

Martin Banse

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Rebound Effect ◽

Agricultural Markets ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Dietary Changes ◽

Animal Source Foods ◽

Animal Source ◽

The Impact

Animal-source foods are a major component of global diets and are increasingly criticised because of their adverse impacts on environment, climate and health. A shift in diets towards plant-based foods is a discussed option to overcome these problems. Much of the scientific emphasis so far has been on estimating the potential of such a dietary change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve health outcomes while less attention has been attracted on studies analysing the impacts on agricultural markets. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview and, therefore, summarizes existing studies on the effects of a reduced consumption of animal-source foods on agricultural markets, greenhouse gas emissions, food security and health. In addition, available studies on the so‑called rebound effect are presented. The identified studies suggest that a reduction in the consumption of meat in the EU or OECD would lead to a 1‑10% decrease in meat world market prices, depending on the magnitude and particularities of the assumed dietary changes. This would translate to a 3‑10% reduction in production. The lower domestic demand for meat could also negatively affect welfare outcomes and GDP. However, it has to be mentioned that these studies do not take into account the consequences of improved environmental and health conditions. In fact, our review indicates that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could generally be proportional to the magnitude of plant-based diets. The maximum reduction potentials of 60-70% could be found for global vegetarian or vegan diets. However, some studies indicate that a shift in food expenditure towards other resource-intensive goods could lead to a rebound effect. Further, this overview suggests that environmental and public health objectives might be in alignment as all identified studies indicate that a reduction in meat consumption in high‑income countries could be associated with lower rates of mortality and non-communicable diseases. This overview reveals the complex relationships between food demand, agricultural supply, international trade, environment, health and food security.

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