Climate change adaptation & mitigation in agriculture - complementary or conflicting? A synthesis report of insights from R&D program managers in Australia and Kenya

[摘要] PurposeClimate change adaptation and mitigation have often been pursued independently as separate research agendas internationally and in Australia. However, from a global perspective, adaptation and mitigation seem to be emerging as complementary rather than competing goals, as both align with enhancement of food security when considered at regional to global scales. Within the agricultural sector, adaptation is principally framed as overcoming threats to agricultural productivity posed by climate change to increase the amount of food and fibre produced. Mitigation often involves reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that represent losses from agriculture of productive energy and nutrients.An emerging question in this area is whether the convergence of adaptation and mitigation around agricultural productivity at a global scale is mirrored at a local scale from the perspective of farmers. At the farm-scale, climate change adaptation involves making changes to farming and other sources of livelihood to maintain a complex mix of production, livelihood and lifestyle goals. The convergence of agricultural productivity with mitigation is less clear: the loss of energy and nutrients in greenhouse gas emissions are minor and somewhat intangible relative to day-to-day imperatives of managing a productive and profitable farming enterprise. There are clear interactions between mitigation and adaptation with possibilities in both win-win and win-lose categories. For example, measures to improve land condition by reducing soil disturbance/degradation and conserving soil moisture will enhance the ability of the system to sustain agriculture in a changing climate, while reducing net greenhouse gas emissions (from improved nitrogen efficiencies and soil carbon storage). By contrast, removing residues from cropping systems for the purpose of generating bioenergy, as a mitigation priority, would negatively affect the soil carbon content and soil fertility, which would in turn decrease the adaptive capacity of the soils.Addressing these issues, in the context of the international efforts to implement effective mitigation and adaptation practices, consistent with long-term sustainability and food security objectives, has motivated this project, as a joint initiative between the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIICCSRTE) and the Commonwealth Scientific, Industrial and Research Organisation (CSIRO).This issues paper reviews research and development into climate change adaptation and mitigation in Australian agriculture since the early 1990’s. It explores the interactions between adaptation and mitigation in agriculture, the broad implications of this for agricultural productivity and food security and what this means for future RD in Australia and partnerships with nations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Kenya.

[发布日期] 2013-05-31 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)