The heated debate on agriculture and food security has become one of the most central at COP15. The discussion must not only cover the relationship between climate change and agriculture methods, but also consider food security and the livelihoods of farmers, transportation and storage systems, and much more.
Seeing the bigger picture?
This was initially demonstrated at the side event co-hosted by the Danish ministry of agriculture, FAO and IFAD, where top level representatives made strong statements that food and agriculture systems must become more localized, stabilized, environmentally sound and less oil-dependent, while increasing yields and minimizing costs. Danish minister of agriculture, Eva Kjer Hansen, also suggested that the social and environmental multi-functionality of agriculture must be recognized as many of the world’s poor and 1 billion hungry are peasant farmers. Although never referred to during the debate, many of the above arguments are in agreement with conclusions from the heavy-weight 2008 IAASTD report “Agriculture at a Crossroads” [1], the result of a three-year process involving 900 participants and 110 countries.
However, many of the actual solutions proposed are debatable, such as the use of biochar, irrigation infrastructure investments, increased free trade, “seed technology”, etc. As stated in the IAASTD report, “[t]here is growing concern that opening national agricultural markets to international competition before basic institutions and infrastructure are in place can undermine the agricultural sector, with long-term negative effects for poverty, food security and the environment.” Still, Danish minister Hansen stated that she identifies increased free trade as a very important solution, without any further explanation.
And US Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack, was asked if he sees any opposition between the farm subsidies used in the USA and the needs of the world’s 1 billion hungry. Mr. Vilsack responded that the US is ready to review the support they give to farmers, under the condition that other countries act to open up their food markets more. Then he rapidly moved on to emphasize the importance of proper post-harvest storage, transportation and other handling for alleviation of world hunger.
Klimaforum: People’s climate summit
Many of the fundamental systemic changes requested by scientists and activists are obviously hard to realize, and it’s not hard to see the dilemmas faced by politicians. A more holistic debate is held at Klimaforum, where the economic-political reality of implementation is less imminent. For example, Vandana Shiva, Debbie Barker et alia argued against genetically modified crops as a climate and food security solution. But it was pointed out during this session that farmer-led seed development most likely will not drive economic growth the same way large seed companies can. I wonder, naturally: Who would benefit if the control over seeds was moved closer to farmers?
Biochar and the CDM
A final example is the debate over biochar for climate mitigation. The International Biochar Initiative (IBI) hosted a side-event at COP15 where the panel made two things clear: 1) the biochar debate must become more factual and science-driven, and 2) we need systems perspectives and not only look at details. I could not agree more. Panellist Johannes Lehmann (Cornell University) also presented a “Biochar 101” outlining the basic idea: charcoal addition to degraded soil increases soil fertility and water retention while sequestering carbon if the charcoal is made from biomass. The panellists also presented some small-scale, community-integrated projects where biochar is successfully produced with economic benefit for farmers.
A biochar sceptic in the audience was happy to see the focus on small-scale, slow-moving projects with farmer participation, and asked if the IBI is even ready to take a clear stance against including biochar in the Clean Development Mechanism. The IBI answered that economizing carbon sequestration is far too important and that biochar could be a very good part of the CDM.
My impression is that the IBI has contradicting arguments: On one hand, moving slowly is said to be important, and the incentives for biochar are already there for farmers. On the other hand, inclusion of biochar in the CDM is an incentive for foreign investors, which are likely to use a more rational large-scale approach. There is a risk of increased land-grabbing and large-scale projects with lacking concern for social and environmental issues. In conclusion, both social-environmental effects and additionality details should be investigated before including biochar in the CDM.
Leaving COP15: What next?
Some very important debate on agriculture and climate is going on at COP15. Regardless of what decisions are made for future mitigation and adaption in this sector, we will probably ask ourselves in a decade or two: Were we thoughtful enough? And were we forceful enough?
[1] Executive Summary of the Synthesis Report, International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development. 2008. Available online: http://www.agassessment.org
Rasmus Einarsson, student, chemical engineering with physics, Chalmers University of Technology