COOL FARM TOOL

Quantifying GHG emissions on smallholder farms

CCAFS/FAO Workshop

Rome, Italy 27-28 October 2011

Christina Ingersoll – Presenter

Agenda

• What is the Cool Farm Tool?

• Use to date with smallholders and development agencies

• Methodology (mini CFT tour)

• Scenario testing example

• Ambitions and latest

developments

Cool Farm Tool: open source GHG calculator and

decision support model

• Farmer focused ‘tier 2’ LCA tool

• Scope:

– Global, applicable to most agricultural products

– Modules for on-farm, primary processing, and transport

• Uses farmer knowledge with robust

empirical data models

• Management focused,

decision support tool

• Facilitates exploration of

mitigation options

Cool Farming Options – goal to develop a standardized tool for the food & agriculture sector

18 Sponsors 17 Crops

Field tested in smallholder systems

in sixteen countries

User Country Crop

Sangana PPP (Sangana, GIZ and 4C)

Kenya Coffee

Rainforest Alliance Indonesia, Kenya,

Rwanda, Central America Coffee, cocoa and tea

UTZ Certified and Solidaridad Kenya, Ghana, Mexico Coffee and cocoa

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Central America, Colombia

Rice, smallholder vegetables, coffee

WWF India/Marks & Spencer India Cotton

Catholic Relief Services Nicaragua Beans

Cool Farm Tool - Methods

• Location, climate, soil quality, temperature

• Fertilizer production and induced emissions (inc. direct & indirect N2O emissions)

• Pesticide production

• Land-use change

• Land management practices

– (tillage, cover crops, compost)

• Crop residue management

Cool Farm Tool mini-tour

Crop management

Sequestration

Cool Farm Tool – Methods (contd.)

• Livestock enteric, manure, and emissions from feed production*

• Field energy use

– Can be calculated based on typical use of agricultural machinery

• Primary processing

– Including waste water management

• Transportation

Livestock

Field Energy Use

Transport

Cool Farm Tool – underlying data

• Sources include:

– Ecoinvent Centre 2007

– IPCC 2006

– FAO/IFA 2001

– Bouwman 2002

– Audsley 1997

– Ogle et al 2005

– ASABE 2006

– GHG Protocol 2003

– Bhat et al 1994

– Brown et al 2009

– DEFRA 2010

– IFA 2009

– US EPA EGRID

– Hyline Hens

Results

2,569.6 kg

CO2e/ha

Scenario testing Change from leaving residue untreated in heaps or

pits to incorporating as mulch

936.2 kg

CO2e/ha

Benefits of Cool Farm Tool

1. Farmer oriented

2. Straightforward questions

- pH, SOM, drainage, fertilizer application rate

3. Results show both emissions and sequestration

4. Instant results, instant tests of alternate scenarios

5. A decision support tool for farmers, planners, agronomists, and development agencies

6. Not a “Black Box” – all calculations accessible

CFT and smallholder mitigation

1. Create farm typology along dominant variables (soil type, cropping system, shade cover, etc)

2. Collect representative data for each farm type and key crops within each farm type

3. Calculate baselines for each type

4. Aggregate results from multiple crops with yield allocation

5. Model emissions for each proposed practice change (input use, reforestation, etc)

NEW! Online data collection system

http://bit.ly/CoolFarmTool

Y en Español http://bit.ly/cft_espanol

Vision for the Future

Opportunity to collaborate in a pre-competitive space

Cool Farming Institute

CFT Format (excel + online)

Improved agro-forestry

Spanish

French

New PAS 2050 compatibility