Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Forestry

Author(s):  
Vesna Popovic ◽  
Nada Mijajlovic

Although climate change is a global process, its local impacts are diverse. Existing agro-ecological conditions, structure of production, various production systems, technological development, socio-economic factors, and international competition and policy choices will determine the impact that climate change will have on the agricultural and forestry sectors and their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential. The authors use the Danube basin area in Serbia as a case study to test the hypothesis that only sustainable agriculture, based on optimum balance of different types of farming systems and practices and satisfying a range of the region’s specific ecological, social, and economic functions, as well as sustainable forestry, can cope successfully with the climate change. The main topics of the analysis are the climate change trends and impacts on agriculture and forestry and the assessment of their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential, including the proposition of relevant adaptation and mitigation measures.

2013 ◽  
pp. 18-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vesna Popović ◽  
Nada Mijajlović

Although climate change is a global process, its local impacts are diverse. Existing agro-ecological conditions, structure of production, various production systems, technological development, socio-economic factors, and international competition and policy choices will determine the impact that climate change will have on the agricultural and forestry sectors and their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential. The authors use the Danube basin area in Serbia as a case study to test the hypothesis that only sustainable agriculture, based on optimum balance of different types of farming systems and practices and satisfying a range of the region’s specific ecological, social, and economic functions, as well as sustainable forestry, can cope successfully with the climate change. The main topics of the analysis are the climate change trends and impacts on agriculture and forestry and the assessment of their adaptive capacity and mitigation potential, including the proposition of relevant adaptation and mitigation measures.


Author(s):  
Nonhlanzeko N. Mthembu ◽  
Elliot M. Zwane

Climate change poses a serious threat to efforts by developing countries to ensure food security and poverty reduction. The National Development goals of South Africa envisage the agricultural sector as a key driver for job creation and economic growth. This article seeks to investigate the adaptive capacity of the Ncunjane farming community in Msinga, KwaZuluNatal in response to drought spells of 2010 and 2014. This article draws on data collected using both qualitative and quantitative methods in 2011 and later in 2015 with the data analysed through the Statistical Package for Social Science to determine significant correlations between variables. Analysis of the vulnerability and adaptive capacity is performed using conceptual framework. This study found that both smallholder farmers who engaged in livestock and crop production have experienced high cattle mortalities and stagnant crop productivity, which in turn put pressure on already constrained disposable household income because of increased food costs and agricultural input costs, particularly supplementary animal feed. Cattle owners were more vulnerable to drought because of poor risk management and thus became highly dependent on government to provide drought relief. Application for government drought relief was found not to be effective in cases of large herds of cattle. Variability of rainfall and prolonged heat spells has a significant impact on the sustainability of smallholder mixed-farming systems, leaving agriculture as a highly questionable form of livelihood for rural farming communities such as Msinga. The article recommends strengthened institutional mechanisms so that stakeholders should play a more meaningful role within provincial and local agriculture in leveraging government support but places emphasis on the adoption of innovative strategies that can potentially yield significantly resilient smallholder mixed-farming systems in the wake of climate variability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Colombo ◽  
Beatriz Rocamora-Montiel

The climate change mitigation potential of olive farming has been widely acknowledged. It has particular relevance in regions such as Andalusia (southern Spain) where olive growing is a key land use activity with significant social, economic and environmental implications. This potential of olive farming, however, is not adequately embodied in current Agri-Environmental Climate Schemes (AECS), which often fail to deliver the expected outcomes. The present article proposes an alternative strategy based on a result-oriented approach to AECS for enhancing soil carbon sequestration in Andalusian olive growing. After reviewing the current legal and institutional situation which forbids the wide application of result-oriented agri-environmental schemes, we suggest the use of alternative territorial governance arrangements, such as hybrid governance structures (HGS), as a framework to support the implementation of a result-oriented approach in the specific case of olive growing. Results indicate that the application of HGS can provide valuable benefits in terms of soil carbon storage. The information provided may be useful in the proposed new legislative framework, at both European and regional level, to promote more sustainable farming systems.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Dallison ◽  
Sopan Patil

<p>The impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle and catchment processes has been extensively studied. In Wales, such changes are projected to have a substantial impact on hydrological regimes. However, the impact on the water abstraction capability of key sectors in the country, such as hydropower (HP) and public water supply (PWS), is not yet fully understood. We use the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to generate future (2021-2054) daily streamflows under a worst-case scenario of greenhouse gas emissions (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5) at two large catchments in Wales, the Conwy and Tywi. SWAT streamflow output is used to estimate the abstractable water resources, and therefore changes in the average generation characteristics for 25 run-of-river HP schemes across Conwy and Tywi and the total unmet demand for a single large PWS abstraction in the Tywi. This unmet PWS demand is assessed using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) system under increasing, static, and declining demand scenarios. Mann-Kendall trend analysis is performed to detect and characterise the trends for both sectors.</p><p>Results show greater seasonality in abstraction potential through the study period, with an overall decrease in annual abstraction volume due to summer and autumn streamflow declines outweighing increases seen in winter and spring. For HP, these trends result in a projected decline in annual power generation potential, despite an increasing number of days per year that maximum permitted abstraction is reached. For PWS, under all future demand scenarios, annually there is an increase in the number of days where demand is not met as well as the total shortfall volume of water. Our results suggest that currently installed HP schemes may not make optimal use of future flows, and that the planning of future schemes should take account of these to ensure the most efficient operation is achieved. Moreover, PWS supply sustainability is under threat and will require management and mitigation measures to be implemented to ensure future supplies. Overall, our study provides a novel perspective on the future water resource availability in Wales, giving context to management planning to ensure future HP generation efficiency and PWS sustainability.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-169
Author(s):  
Maria Nedealcov ◽  
Dumitru Drumea

Abstract The accelerating pace of climate change mainly on the adjacent territory of the Danube basin, contribute to the essential eutrophication of water basins within the region. The results indicate that air temperature recorded a double warming compared to territories from the central part of the country. On the background the accelerated warming there is a declining trend and of annual rainfall amounts. These climate changes, especially in recent decades have led to significant increase of water temperature in rivers and lakes. Thus, it constituted in the years 1990-2000 by 0.7 and 1.50C compared to the period 1980-1990, and by 1.0...2,00C accordingly in the years 2000-2013 compared to the previous decade. The significant increase of temperature during the last decade contributed to the intensification of algae growth and together with other factors contributed to the increase by about 20% of the nitrogen content, thus ensuring the ―flowering‖ with 50% of the water bodies’ volume.


2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Bavec ◽  
Michael Narodoslawsky ◽  
Franc Bavec ◽  
Matjaž Turinek

AbstractThe Industrial Revolution and intensification of agriculture have, in some cases, led to economic activities that profoundly influenced the ecosystem to the point where environmental stability and geographic political security are jeopardized. The uncertainty about oil reserves, rising energy prices and the threat of harmful climate change effects has intensified the search for alternative farming systems that reduce negative environmental impact. This study reports the ecological impact of conventional (CON), integrated (INT), organic (ORG) and biodynamic (BD) farming systems calculated from data collected in a field trial at Maribor, Slovenia, and interpreted using the SPIonExcel tool. This tool is a member of the ecological footprint family and describes the area necessary to embed a human activity sustainably into the ecosphere. Three-year results show a markedly reduced ecological footprint of the ORG and BD systems in production of wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ‘Antonius’) and spelt (Triticum spelta L. ‘Ebners rotkorn’), mainly due to the absence of external production factors. When yields were also considered, the ORG and BD systems again had a reduced overall footprint per product unit and increased ecological efficiency of production. Thus, ORG and BD farming systems present viable alternatives for reducing the impact of agriculture on environmental degradation and climate change. Nevertheless, room for improvement exists in the area of machinery use in all systems studied and yield improvement in the ORG farming system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yudi L.A Salampessy

ABSTRAKPerubahan iklim mensyaratkan kapasitas beradaptasi yang memadai dari petani karena pengelolaan SUT padi sawah sangat bergantung pada daya dukung iklim. Musim menjadi tidak menentu dan cuaca sulit diprediksi. Petani mulai kesulitan menentukan awal dan komoditas tanam, sementara serangan organisme pengganggu tanaman (OPT), banjir, dan kekeringan sebagai dampak negatif dari perubahan iklim semakin sering terjadi. Melalui survey terhadap 96 petani, penelitian ini menakar kapasitas beradaptasi perubahan iklim petani padi sawah di daerah pertanaman padi di dataran rendah, sedang, dan tinggi yang pernah menjadi wilayah percontohan program pengembangan kapasitas adaptasi perubahan iklim. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kapasitas adaptasi petani padi sawah masih rendah dan memengaruhi tingkat penerapan adaptasi perubahan iklim mereka. Disarankan untuk dilakukan evaluasi terhadap strategi program-progran sejenis melalui penelitian mengenai faktor-faktor penentu kapasitas adaptasi perubahan iklim petani padi sawah.Kata kunci: kapasitas adaptasi, padi sawah, perubahan iklim, petani    ABSTRACTClimate change requires adequate adaptation capability of farmers as the management of rice farming systems which is highly dependent on climate carrying a previously considered stable. Through a survey of 96 farmers, this study measured the adaptive capacity to climate change of rice farmers in the lowland, medium and highland rice cultivation areas as pilot zone in which improvement program in climate change adaptation has been established. The result shows rice farmers adaptive capacity is considered low and affects their adaptation level to climate change. It is necessary to evaluate the strategy of similar program by studying the determinant factors of climate change adaptation capacity of rice farmers.Keywords: Adaptive capacity, climate change, farmerCitation: Salampessy, Y.L.A., Lubis, D.P., Amien, I., Suhardjito, D. 2018. Menakar Kapasitas Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim Petani Padi Sawah (Kasus Kabupaten Pasuruan Jawa Timur). Jurnal Ilmu Lingkungan, 16(1), 25-34, doi:10.14710/jil.16.1.25-34


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Kuriachen ◽  
Asha Devi ◽  
Anu Susan Sam ◽  
Suresh Kumar ◽  
Jyoti Kumari ◽  
...  

Abstract Climate change and consequent variations in temperature pose a significant challenge for sustaining wheat production systems globally. In this study, the potential impact of rising temperature on wheat yield in the north Indian plains, India's major wheat growing region, was analyzed using panel data from the year 1981 to 2009. This study deviates from the majority of the previous studies by including non-climatic factors in estimating the impact of climate change. Two temperature measures were used for fitting the function, viz., Growing Season Temperature (GST) and Terminal Stage Temperature (TST), to find out the differential impact of increased temperature at various growth stages. Analysis revealed that there was a significant rise in both GST as well as TST during the study period. The magnitude of the annual increment in TST was twice that of GST. Wheat yield growth in the region was driven primarily by increased input resources such as fertilizer application and technological development like improved varieties and management practices. Most importantly, the study found that the extent of yield reduction was more significant for an increase in temperature at terminal crop growth stages. The yield reduction due to unit increase in TST was estimated to be 2.26 % while rise in GST by 1◦C resulted in yield reduction of 2.03%.


Author(s):  
Fatma Aribi ◽  
Mongi Sghaier

The Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) assumes that all capitals are complementary and that more capital assets would lead to greater adaptive capacity. However, the SLA neglects the interactions and transformations between different livelihood capitals. This paper suggests a methodological approach to understand how different capitals may be structured, transformed, and used to improve the farm households’ adaptive capacity to climatic stresses. Data for this study were gathered by means of a questionnaire survey during 2018 from 100 farm households representing the main farming systems of Medenine governorate, Southeast of Tunisia. The analyses were carried out using three tools following a stepwise approach. First, to understand the interactions that exist between the different capitals, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out. Then, the adaptive capacity was calculated using the PCA results. Finally, using the Pearson's correlation index, the impact of livelihood assets on adaptive capacity was tested. The results demonstrated that households are trying to compensate for the lack of certain assets through interactions with others in order to improve their adaptive capacity. Moreover, human, natural and financial capital seem to better influence the adaptive capacity of farmers, while the impacts of physical and social capital are relatively less important. These results have improved our comprehension of the livelihood capital purpose for strengthening the existing approaches that enhance the adaptive capacity. Finally, this study has demonstrated that exploring the interactions between livelihood capitals is a first concern, which should be incorporated into adaptive capacity planning and policy development.


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