scholarly journals Effective Mainstreaming of Agricultural Emissions into Climate Action Agenda: The Case of Institutions and Smallholder Dairy Production Systems, Western Kenya

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1507
Author(s):  
Tom Volenzo Elijah ◽  
Rachel Makungo ◽  
Georges-Ivo Ekosse
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Market Risks ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Agricultural Emissions ◽  
Price Risks

Small-scale farming production systems are integral drivers of global sustainability challenges and the climate crisis as well as a solution space for the transition to climate compatible development. However, mainstreaming agricultural emissions into a climate action agenda through integrative approaches, such as Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), largely reinforces adaptation–mitigation dualism and pays inadequate attention to institutions’ linkage on the generation of externalities, such as Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This may undermine the effectiveness of local–global climate risk management initiatives. Literature data and a survey of small-scale farmers’ dairy feeding strategies were used in the simulation of GHG emissions. The effect of price risks on ecoefficiencies or the amount of GHG emissions per unit of produced milk is framed as a proxy for institutional feedbacks on GHG emissions and effect at scale. This case study on small-scale dairy farmers in western Kenya illustrates the effect of local-level and sectoral-level institutional constraints, such as market risks on decision making, on GHG emissions and the effectiveness of climate action. The findings suggest that price risks are significant in incentivising the adoption of CSA technologies. Since institutional interactions influence the choice of individual farmer management actions in adaptation planning, they significantly contribute to GHG spillover at scale. This can be visualised in terms of the nexus between low or non-existent dairy feeding strategies, low herd productivity, and net higher methane emissions per unit of produced milk in a dairy value chain. The use of the Sustainable Food Value Chain (SFVC) analytical lens could mediate the identification of binding constraints, foster organisational and policy coherence, as well as broker the effective mainstreaming of agricultural emissions into local–global climate change risk management initiatives. Market risks thus provide a systematic and holistic lens for assessing alternative carbon transitions, climate financing, adaptation–mitigation dualism, and the related risk of maladaptation, all of which are integral in the planning and implementation of effective climate action initiatives.

The tension between global GHG emissions of animal source foods, sustainability, and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (057) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constanza Gutiérrez-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
The Caribbean

Abstract The livestock sector faces an important challenge in the medium and long term since it must satisfy an increasing demand for animal products as a result of the increase in population and the world economy but safeguarding natural resources and at the same time minimizing the environmental contamination, especially the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributed to livestock husbandry. For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), this becomes more relevant given the importance of the sector for the food security of rural communities, particularly for small-scale producers. In this manuscript, we address the main challenges of LAC in this context, from a global perspective that includes the demographic, economic, cultural, and environmental effects. The biggest global challenge for the LAC livestock sector for the coming decades is how to satisfy the growing human demand for animal protein in a sustainable way maintaining the food security of their communities. The efforts to achieve these goals require focusing on improving the efficiency of both animal husbandry and production systems. Therefore, it is necessary to implement technologies of sustainable intensification and it is urgent that those who make political decisions become aware of these issues.

scholarly journals The Högdalen urban farm: a real case assessment of sustainability attributes

Food Security ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1461-1475
Author(s):  
Rebecka Milestad ◽  
Annika Carlsson-Kanyama ◽  
Christina Schaffer
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Food Provisioning ◽  
Urban Farm ◽  
City District ◽  
The City

AbstractWhile urban indoor farming is a fairly new phenomenon, there is a growing interest from producers, authorities and consumers alike. However, many assumptions are made, and expectations held, about urban indoor farming from a sustainability, food production and food provisioning point of view. These assumptions and expectations need to be tested and assessed. This study assessed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and a number of social aspects of a newly established indoor urban farm in Stockholm. The farm was the result of a project created by commercial, civil society and municipal actors with the aim to make use of unused urban space, create jobs and produce food. While lettuce grown on the indoor farm emitted more GHG than lettuce cultivated outdoors in Sweden, it was more climate friendly than imported lettuce in our comparison. Furthermore, the indoor farm created value for the actors involved and for the city district, albeit on a small scale. Many of the positive environmental and social features owed to the small scale of the indoor farm and the context in which it developed. Thus, when evaluating production systems like this one, we need to be cautious and refrain from extrapolating the results.

Local feeding strategies and milk composition in small-scale dairy production systems during the rainy season in the highlands of Mexico

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 637-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel René Alfonso-Ávila ◽  
Michel A. Wattiaux ◽  
Angélica Espinoza-Ortega ◽  
Ernesto Sánchez-Vera ◽  
Carlos M. Arriaga-Jordán
Keyword(s):  
Rainy Season ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Milk Composition ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Small Scale Dairy

scholarly journals Unpacking the Nexus between Policy Field, Risk Management and Environmental Externalities in Adaptation Planning: The Case of Smallholder Farmer Production Systems, Western Kenya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Volenzo ◽  
john Odiyo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Policy Innovation ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Environmental Externalities ◽  
Policy Coherence ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Western Kenya

The urgency to address the adverse impacts of climate change on livelihoods and ecosystems has seen an increase in global driven initiatives. However, shifting vulnerabilities associated with land use resource based adaptation and maladaptive feedback loops they create have been given low attention. Policy discourses that frame adaptation as a local responsibility and bias towards reducing industrial Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the expense of Agricultural emissions across scale are thought to account for the undesirable situation. This calls for a reflective policy framework and climate policy innovation. We provide counter arguments using Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR) model and telecoupling principles to suggest use of resilience as an integrative lens in visualising the proposal. Using a case study on resource constrained smallholder dairy production systems, western Kenya, we analyse the critical issues in the context of decision making and environmental externalities. The effect of price risks on dairy cattle feeding strategies and ultimately carbon footprints and ecoefficiencies were examined through methane simulation and gross margin analysis (GM). The lowest ecoefficiency was associated with exclusively local coping strategies i.e. Maize Stover (Ms), while the highest ecoefficiency was observed in feeding strategies that utilise external resources and/or legume fodders. We conclude that management of externalities need to capture institutional, economic processes and incentive systems, as well as organizational and policy coherence to shape the interests and behaviour of individual land user. In particular, policy innovation should focus on price and market risks as critical factors that mediate actor decision making at implementation level as they impact GHG emissions which transcend individual decision boundaries.

scholarly journals Methane production in different breeds, grazing different pastures or fed a total mixed ration, as measured by a Laser Methane Detector

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 12-16
Author(s):  
SM Grobler ◽  
MM Scholtz ◽  
H Van Rooyan ◽  
M Mpayipheli ◽  
FWC Neser
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Repeated Measurements ◽  
Feeding Strategies ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Enteric Fermentation ◽  
Total Mixed Ration ◽  
Forage Sorghum ◽  
Ch4 Production

Agriculture is responsible for 5% to 10% of the global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Livestock contribute about 65% of agricultural GHG and enteric fermentation accounts for 90% of this. The global warming potential of CH4 is known to be 23 times more than that of carbon dioxide, resulting in it being a significant role player in the greenhouse gas family. The laser methane detector (LMD) is an instrument that has the potential to measure enteric CH4 emission from livestock under normal husbandry activities. This study was aimed at evaluating the efficiency and results, when using the LMD to measure CH4 production under normal production conditions. Twelve heifers, four each from the Bonsmara, Nguni and Jersey breeds, were subjected to grazing natural veld, forage sorghum under irrigation, oats pasture under irrigation or a total mixed ration. Measurements were taken late afternoon (18:00) when the animals were ruminating. Four repeated measurements, lasting 60 seconds each, were taken on 10 consecutive days on each of the production systems. The animals were adapted for a period of 14 days on the specific feed, before the measurements were taken. The Jersey heifers produced significantly less CH4 than the Bonsmara and Nguni on natural veld, with no significant differences between breeds on the forage sorghum. On natural veld the heifers generated 48% more CH4. These results thus indicate that the LMD produce sensible and repeatable measurements that can be interpreted in respect of CH4 production by cattle. The next step will be to increase the number of breeds, numbers per breed, and feeding strategies over all seasons in order to validate and build up a baseline data set on the use of the LMD to measure CH4 emissions from cattle under different grazing conditions.Keywords: Heifers, methane emission, pastures, total mixed ration

Pathways Toward Zero-Carbon Campus Commuting: Innovative Approaches in Measuring, Understanding, and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (24) ◽  
pp. 87-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Appleyard ◽  
Alexander R. Frost ◽  
Eduardo Cordova ◽  
Jeremy McKinstry
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Public Transit ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Transportation Network ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
University Climate ◽  
San Diego State University

While universities are significant generators of transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, they are uniquely qualified to encourage more sustainable travel behaviors toward achieving rapid decarbonization to meet our global climate action goals. Building on previous university climate action plans, this paper contributes to the literature by describing new and innovative methods in surveying and geospatial analytics. The new geospatial methods involve mapping individuals’ routes to campus, and the creation of Commute/Policy Zones—walk, bike, transit, and motorized—proving useful in (1) quantifying emissions per mode and weighting the survey sample; (2) exploring and testing various policy scenarios; and (3) guiding policy discussions with key stakeholders throughout the campus community. This study also tests four synergistic policy options that, if implemented, could realize a pathway to zero-carbon campus commuting for San Diego State University (SDSU) by 2030, including: (1) more on-campus student housing; (2) expanding public transit use; (3) electrifying vehicles; and (4) electrifying public transit. Finally, the economic and health costs of auto-commuting for SDSU are considerable: Annually, personal auto-commuting is estimated to cost $46.7 million, healthcare costs from non-GHG air pollutants are $1.67 million, and $81 million worth of time (5.4 million hours) is lost in car commutes to campus. SDSU is also estimated to subsidize each parking space at over $700 per year. By reducing the demand for internal combustion engine vehicles, increasing housing near campus, improving access to walking, biking, public transit, and shared mobility technology, and repowering everything through renewable energy, a zero-carbon transportation network is within reach.

scholarly journals The Role of Small Woody Landscape Features and Agroforestry Systems for National Carbon Budgeting in Germany

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1028
Author(s):  
Karolina Golicz ◽  
Gohar Ghazaryan ◽  
Wiebke Niether ◽  
Ariani C. Wartenberg ◽  
Lutz Breuer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
C Stock

The intensification of food production systems has resulted in landscape simplification, with trees and hedges disappearing from agricultural land, principally in industrialized countries. However, more recently, the potential of agroforestry systems and small woody landscape features (SWFs), e.g., hedgerows, woodlots, and scattered groups of trees, to sequester carbon was highlighted as one of the strategies to combat global climate change. Our study was aimed to assess the extent of SWFs embedded within agricultural landscapes in Germany, estimate their carbon stocks, and investigate the potential for increasing agroforestry cover to offset agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We analyzed open-source geospatial datasets and identified over 900,000 hectares of SWFs on agricultural land, equivalent to 4.6% of the total farmland. The carbon storage of SWFs was estimated at 111 ± 52 SD teragrams of carbon (Tg C), which was previously unaccounted for in GHG inventories and could play a role in mitigating the emissions. Furthermore, we found cropland to have the lowest SWF density and thus the highest potential to benefit from the implementation of agroforestry, which could sequester between 0.2 and 2 Tg of carbon per year. Our study highlights that country-specific data are urgently needed to refine C stock estimates, improve GHG inventories and inform the large-scale implementation of agroforestry in Germany.

Climate change justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idil Boran ◽  
Corey Katz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Political Communities

Climate change justice is a branch of philosophical inquiry concerned with fair terms of cooperation for addressing global climate change. Global climate change refers to the adverse effects of rising average global temperature on meteorological, environmental, and societal systems due to human activities. Independent observations show a rising trend in average global surface temperature since 1880, with most of the relevant global warming occurring since the 1980s. These climatic changes are the outcome of heightened concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) – e.g., carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide – in the atmosphere. These gases are produced by a wide range of human activities, from the burning of fossil fuels for energy at both the industrial and the consumer level to overall land use. The fundamental relation between concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere and global warming is well understood. And yet, achieving effective and fair international coordination to respond to the problem of global climate change has been far more challenging than expected. One of the reasons for this is that any attempt to address global climate change raises complex problems of justice. First, those communities that are most vulnerable to the risks and harms of climate change have contributed the least to the problem. Second, economic capacity to address the problem is not distributed equally around the globe. Third, political communities and generations have clashing interest claims in relation to the burdens of addressing climate change. These circumstances raise pressing questions about how to coordinate global and intergenerational cooperation. The debate over climate change justice has been primarily concerned with what counts as a just allocation of burdens and benefits in the global response to the problem of climate change. To a large extent, philosophical interest in these questions developed against the backdrop of the international effort to reach a global agreement. A prominent discussion within this debate is concerned with the allocation of duties and rights with regard to climate action. Broadly speaking, there are two distinct categories of climate change action. One is mitigation, which refers to efforts to reduce GHG emissions; the other is adaptation and refers to a wide range of actions to help adjust social systems to a changing climate. Much of the philosophical debate has revolved around the allocation of mitigation duties. More recently, questions of justice for adaptation along with alternative perspectives that challenge the allocative framework have been attracting interest.

scholarly journals Towards environmentally sound intensification pathways for dairy development in the Tanga region of Tanzania

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
An Notenbaert ◽  
Jeroen C.J. Groot ◽  
Mario Herrero ◽  
Celine Birnholz ◽  
Birthe K. Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Mixed Crop ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Environmentally Sound

AbstractThe gap between milk demand and domestic supply in Tanzania is large and projected to widen. Meeting such demand through local production of affordable milk presents an opportunity to improve the welfare of producers and market agents through the income and employment generated along the value chain (VC). Efforts to maximize milk yields, production and profitability need to be balanced with long-term sustainability. We combined environmental and economic ex-ante impact assessments of four intervention scenarios for two production systems in the Tanzanian dairy VC using the CLEANED model and an economic feasibility analysis. Intervention scenarios propose increases in milk production through (i) animal genetic improvement, (ii) improved feed, (iii) improved animal health and (iv) a package combining all interventions. Results show that economically feasible farm-level productivity increases of up to 140% go hand-in-hand with increased resource-use efficiency and up to 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensities. Absolute increases in water, land and nitrogen requirements in mixed crop-livestock systems call for careful management of stocks and quality of these resources. An overall rise in GHG emissions is expected, with a maximum of 53% increase associated with an 89% increase in milk supply at VC level. The CLEANED tool proved effective to evaluate livestock interventions that improve incomes and food security with minimal environmental footprint. Here, our simulations suggest that due to current low productivity, the greatest efficiency gains in combination with relatively low increases in total GHG emissions can be made in the extensive agro-pastoral dairy systems, which represent the majority of herds.

scholarly journals Legumes increase grassland productivity with no effect on nitrous oxide emissions

2019 ◽  
Vol 446 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 163-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlete S. Barneze ◽  
Jeanette Whitaker ◽  
Niall P. McNamara ◽  
Nicholas J. Ostle
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Grassland Productivity

Abstract Aims Grasslands are important agricultural production systems, where ecosystem functioning is affected by land management practices. Grass-legume mixtures are commonly cultivated to increase grassland productivity while reducing the need for nitrogen (N) fertiliser. However, little is known about the effect of this increase in productivity on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in grass-legume mixtures. The aim of this study was to investigate interactions between the proportion of legumes in grass-legume mixtures and N-fertiliser addition on productivity and GHG emissions. We tested the hypotheses that an increase in the relative proportion of legumes would increase plant productivity and decrease GHG emissions, and the magnitude of these effects would be reduced by N-fertiliser addition. Methods This was tested in a controlled environment mesocosm experiment with one grass and one legume species grown in mixtures in different proportions, with or without N-fertiliser. The effects on N cycling processes were assessed by measurement of above- and below-ground biomass, shoot N uptake, soil physico-chemical properties and GHG emissions. Results Above-ground productivity and shoot N uptake were greater in legume-grass mixtures compared to grass or legume monocultures, in fertilised and unfertilised soils. However, we found no effect of legume proportion on N2O emissions, total soil N or mineral-N in fertilised or unfertilised soils. Conclusions This study shows that the inclusion of legumes in grass-legume mixtures positively affected productivity, however N cycle were in the short-term unaffected and mainly affected by nitrogen fertilisation. Legumes can be used in grassland management strategies to mitigate climate change by reducing crop demand for N-fertilisers.

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