future agriculture in a changing climate
DESCRIPTION
Presentation made in the AXA Chair Launch Workshop on Biosphere and Climate Impacts, in Imperial College London.TRANSCRIPT
AXA Chair Conference, London June 2013
The future of agriculture in a changing world
The future of
agriculture in a changing
worldAndy Jarvis
AXA Chair Launch Workshop in Biosphere and Climate Impacts
The Challenge
The concentration of GHGs is rising
Long-term implications
for the climate and for crop suitability
Historical impacts on food security
% Yield impact for wheat
Observed changes in growing season temperature for crop growing regions,1980-2008.
Lobell et al (2011)
No matter what, change is upon us
Average projected % change in suitability for 50 crops, to 2050
Crop suitability is changing
In order to meet global demands, we
will need
60-70% more food
by 2050.
Food security is at risk
Source: Erb et al. (2007)
•30-45% of earth’s terrestrial surface is pasture
- 80% of all agricultural land
•1/3 arable land used for feed crop production
•70% of previously forested land in the Amazon = pasture
3 Livestock and GHG
Arable land per person will decrease
Year• World Population• Arable land
1950• 2,500,000,000• 0.52 ha
20006,1000,000• 0.25 ha
20509,000,000• 0.16 ha
The arable land on the earth is ~3% or 1.5 billion ha
Livestock products: Developing countries are hungry for more.
•Growth in animal product consumption has increased more than any other commodity group.1
•Greatest increases in S and SE Asia, Latin America.
-Overall meat consumption in China has quadrupled since 1980 to 119 lbs/person/yr. 2
•Economic and population growth, rising per capita incomes, urbanizationPhoto by: CGIAR
Land requirements for food depend on three factors:
1) Population numbers2) Type of diet
3) Food output per unit land
Kastner et al. 2012
•Developed countries: high-energy diets, but low pop. growth, high output efficiency.
•Developing countries: low-energy diets, offset by high pop. growth, low efficiency.
Will dietary change override population growth as the major driver behind land requirements?
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1
Exacerbating the yield gap
From Licker et al, 2010
Climate change will likely pose additional difficulties for resource-poor farmers (e.g., in Africa), thereby increasing the yield gap
Exacerbating the yield gap
Climate change will likely
pose additional difficulties
for already resource-poor
farmers (i.e., many in
Africa), thereby increasing
the yield gap
Message 1:In the coming decades, climate
change and other global trends will endanger agriculture, food security,
and rural livelihoods.
Average projected % change in suitability for 50 crops, to 2050
Crop suitability is changing
CO2 Fertilisation
Rosenthal et al. (2012) report ~100 % increases in root yield under elevated CO2
Further evidence of the crop’s potential under climate change
Under optimal management
Agriculture responsible for 19-29% Part of the problem, natural source for solutions too
020406080
100120140160180200
Pig Poultry Beef Milk Eggs
kg C
O2
eq/k
g an
imal
pro
tein
•Livestock alone is 10-18%3 of all global anthropogenic GHG
-Other estimates as high as 51%4,5
•Range arises from methodological differences
-Inventories vs. life cycle assessments, Attribution of land use to livestock, Omissions, misallocations
2 Livestock and GHG
Source: de Vries and de Boer (2009)
Range of GHG intensities for livestock commodities
•Highest variation occurs for beef, due to variety of production systems.
•Ruminants require more fossil energy use, emit more CH4 per animal.6
Message 2:With new challenges also come
new opportunities.
Can we breed our way out of the problem?
Why do we need breeding?• For starters, we have novel climates: 30% of the
world will experience novel combinations of climate
And also non-linear responses of crops to climates
•For example, US maize, soy, cotton yields fall rapidly when exposed to temperatures >30˚C
•In many cases, roughly 6-10% yield loss per degree
Schlenker and Roberts 2009 PNAS
Ray DK, Mueller ND, West PC, Foley JA (2013) Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by 2050. PLoS ONE 8(6): e66428. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066428http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0066428
Can we breed our way out of the problem?
Cassava
What should we breed for?
Current suitability
Current climatic constraint
What will this mean for cassava?
The Rambo root!
But what about other staples?
The Rambo root versus Mr. Bean
Cassava suitability change compared with other staples
• Cassava consistently outperforms other staples in terms of changes in suitability
Cassava’s role as a substitution crop
• Cassava as a fallback crop under an uncertain climate (risk management)
• Cassava as the substitution crop for other staples more sensitive to heat and drought
• Cassava as a source of increasing food and nutritional security across the continent
• A rare positive story for a climate change researcher
Heat and drought?
Not for cassavaDrought tolerance will push adaptation up into SahelBig gains also from cold tolerance – despite climate change, this continues to be the major constraint globally
Drought and heat?
Consideration in breeding for CC
• Inherent uncertainty in futures, BUT, temperatures will increase, rainfall likely to change, greater variability in many parts of the world
• Climate affects multiple factors, all need to be considered:– Growing season timing, length of growing season– Pests and disease patterns (big gap in knowledge)– Crop distribution, affecting other non-climate related
traits and constraints – e.g. soil-related constraints– Crop physiology, crop development phases speed up etc.
Message 3:Different breeding challenges for
different crops, in different countries – no silver bullet!
A wicked problem
Let’s talk about Wicked Solutionswick·ed (w k d)adj. wick·ed·er, wick·ed·est1. Evil by nature and in practice: "this wicked man Hitler, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred"(Winston S. Churchill).2. Playfully malicious or mischievous: a wicked prank; a critic's wicked wit.3. Severe and distressing: a wicked cough; a wicked gash; wicked driving conditions.4. Highly offensive; obnoxious: a wicked stench.5. Slang Strikingly good, effective, or skillful
Yield potential, AND yield gap
Asian rice vs. African rice
Asian non-rice vs. African non-rice
From Otsukaa and Kijimab, 2010
Transformation in agriculture
Decision making in spite of uncertainty
Vermeulen et al. (2013)
Signal-to-noise ratio
Tim
e
Low emissions
High emissions
Incremental Systemic Transformative
t1
Current variability
t3
t2
t4
Top-down approaches particularly important
Transition in types of adaptation
Seasonal forecasting
(Case 4)Stakeholder led (Case 1)
Stakeholder led (Case 2)Altitudinal
gradients (Case 3)
Crop suitability (Case 4)
Bottom-up approaches particularly important
Suitability in Cauca
• Significant changes to 2020, drastic changes to 2050
• The Cauca case: reduced coffeee growing area and changes in geographic distribution. Some new opportunities.
MECETA
No regretTransformational
Change
Bottom-upIncremental Adaptation
High certainty
Transformational Change
Adaptation entry points in maize-bean systems
Scalable climate smart technologies….
Getting to grips with climate adaptation: The right choices
Evaluating varietal adaptation V
ar. C
ario
ca
Var
. Cal
ima
Var
. Jam
apa
Likely yield with different planting dates
Modelling potential losses from extreme events with different planting dates
Benefits of potential adaptation options: conservation agriculture
% y
ield
loss
% water deficit
Playing out transformative adaptationin CCAFS benchmark sites in East AfricaWhen, where, how and with whom?
Where do we work?
CCAFS sites Main crops Main livestock (forages)
Borana(ET) Maize (96.6%)
Beans (86.4%)
Wheat (33.1%)
Beef cattle (93.2%)
Goats (77.8%)
Nyando (KE) Maize (99.2%)
Sorghum (73.3%)
Beans (34.4%)
Goats (66.9%)
Chicken/hens (61.2%)
Usambara (TZ) Maize (87.1%)
Beans (75%)
Tomatoes (29%)
Chicken/hens (82.1%)
Dairy cows (56.4%)
Albertine Rift (UG) Cassava (78.6%)
Beans (68.4%)
Sweet potatoes (59.8%)
Chicken/hens (82.5%)
Pigs (63.1%)
Climate smart agriculture: tackling adoption head on
Rash model (Campell, 1963): Attitude towards change = number + difficulty of change made
Silvopastoral systems:A mini-revolution in Colombia
and Central AmericaPiedemonte llanero
Estado inicial: Julio 17, 2007
Agosto 15, 2008
13 meses
Octubre 22, 2008
15 meses
Time
Upt
ake
of s
usta
inab
le a
gric
ultu
ral p
racti
ces
Innovation / Identification of practices
Pre-investment (eg, development funds, climate finance)
Implementation at scale / Establishment of institutions
Demonstration of agro-economic and sustainability potential
Policy shifts and large-scale changes in practices, livelihoods and environmental impacts
Demonstration of financial / commercial viability and sustainability outcomes
1 January 2013
Leb by
Climate smart villages: Key agricultural activities for managing risks
Local implementation grounded in local realities
Clim
ate
resi
lienc
e
Baseline
Adapted technologies
Adapted technologies
+Climate-specific
management
Adapted technologies
+Climate-specific
management+
Seasonal agroclimatic
forecasts
Adapted technologies
+Climate-specific
management+
Seasonal agroclimatic
forecasts+
Enabling environment
NAPs and NAMAs
Climate smartness
Lushoto Mbuzii Yamba
Morogoro
Mwitikilwa
Nyombo
Njombe
Mbinga
Kinole
FOTF in Tanzania
Analogue study Tour Villages visited Starting point
Sepukila Village: -Matengo pits: Traditional soil and water conservation technique-Coffee nursery-StovesMasasi Village:-Water source-Fish pond-BiogasMtama Village: - Bee keeping
-Weather station visit
- Avocado trial
-Banana varieties trial
- Maize fertility mngt
-Market value chain social enterprise visit- Input supply Stockists
-Weather station visit - Bean trial visit- Tree nursery visit
- SACCOS
visit
- Market
visit
Farms of the futureJourney to Yamba’s plausible futures
Wicked solutions for climate smart agriculture
• No matter what, impacts of climate change will be profound• Climate just one driver of global change in agriculture• Opportunities for re-thinking food systems, increasing efficiency• …..but no silver bullet• Wicked solutions exist, but we need to think about new
institutional arrangements, new policies, and new investment to • Science can contribute new solutions, methods for targetting,
improved understanding of priorities• The challenge is very big – reducing emissions from agriculture,
ensuring adaptation
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