Feeding the world while saving the planet a ‘difficult’ balancing act
BANGKOK, Jan 19- Converting large areas of land for farming to boost food supplies increases planet-heating emissions and places a greater burden on poorer nations already bearing the brunt of climate change, researchers warned on Tuesday. A study led by Arizona State University analysed about 1,500 large land deals totalling 37 million hectares- across…
By Rina Chandran
BANGKOK, Jan 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Convertinglarge areas of land for farming to boost food supplies increasesplanet-heating emissions and places a greater burden on poorernations already bearing the brunt of climate change, researcherswarned on Tuesday.
A study led by Arizona State University (ASU) analysed about1,500 large land deals totalling 37 million hectares (91 millionacres) – across Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa andeastern Europe – showed that clearing the land for farming mayhave emitted about 2.3 gigatonnes of carbon emissions.
With regulations to limit land conversion or to protectforests, emissions could have been reduced to 0.8 gigatonnes,according to the study, published this month in the journalNature Food.
“It’s unrealistic to say that we can’t convert more land,given that the world’s population is growing, especially indeveloping countries,” said Chuan Liao, assistant professor inASU’s School of Sustainability and the study’s lead author.
“But we still must minimise carbon emissions while pursuingagricultural development,” he said.
A sharp increase in food prices in 2007 triggered a globalrush for land to increase food security, with wealthier nationsand multinational businesses snapping up land in poorer nations.
Worldwide, land is increasingly concentrated in fewer hands,mainly those of large agriculture businesses and investors, withthe largest 1% of farms operating more than 70% of the world’sfarmland, according to a 2020 study.
While the socio-economic consequences of such deals havebeen apparent – including threats to the livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers – regulations to limit environmental damageare rare, as the goal is to boost food output, Liao said.
“Enforcing environmental policies does not reduce the amountof land that can be used for agricultural development,” he said.
“Yet it is difficult, given the host-country governments areso keen to catch up through agricultural development,” he toldthe Thomson Reuters Foundation.
So it is best to balance the two needs by allowingagricultural development on lands with lower carbon values orlow forest cover, and by revitalising abandoned farmlands togenerate lower carbon emissions, he said.
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas responsible forrising temperatures. Total 2019 emissions of carbon dioxideequivalent (GtCO2e) hit a record 59.1 gigatonnes, according toUnited Nations data.
Agriculture and deforestation account for nearly a quarterof greenhouse gas emissions globally – greater than the share ofthe transport sector.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp focus theimpacts of rapid urbanisation and deforestation, which have alsocontributed to the spread of infectious diseases.
Last week, green group WWF said that the world has losttropical forest equivalent to the size of California over a13-year period to 2017, with commercial agriculture the leadingcause of deforestation.
To meet growing food demand, it is necessary to raise outputon existing croplands, and enforce laws to limit land conversionto “protect high-carbon-value forests while permittingagricultural development on low-carbon value land”, Liao said.
“The pandemic makes both conservation and food security moreurgent,” he added.
(Reporting by Rina Chandran @rinachandran; Editing by MichaelTaylor. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, thecharitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives ofpeople around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly.Visit http://news.trust.org)
