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From:
Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 15 Dec 2018 20:50:32 +0000
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*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*

*for sustainable agriculture and land management*

Dear Subscribers,

Please see herebelow Act!on Agriculture Bulletin - Vol. 170 No. 5 - COP 24
Act!on Agriculture - Summary.

Sadly nothing on Conservation Agriculture as a best agroecological approach
to regenerative and sustainable Climate Smart Agriculture! There is a
mention of 'avoids ploughing' under the agroecology section.

In 2015/16 covered more than 180 million hectares of cropland globally
(12.5% of global arable lands) and increasing at the annual rate of over 10
million hectares since 2008/09. Conservation Agriculture is practiced by
all types of farmers in all continents in all land-based agroecologies.

Clearly, there seems to be a blockage in understanding and communication
somewhere!

*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

*Global CA-CoP*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca


*Conservation Agriculture is an ecosystem approach to regenerative
sustainable agriculture and land management based on the practical
application of context-specific and locally adapted three interlinked
principles of: (i) Continuous no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance
(no-till seeding/planting and weeding, and minimum soil disturbance with
all other farm operations including harvesting);  (ii) permanent
maintenance of soil much cover (crop biomass, stubble and cover crops); and
(iii) diversification of cropping system (economically, environmentally and
socially adapted rotations and/or sequences and/or associations involving
annuals and perennials, including legumes and cover crops), along with
other complementary good agricultural production and land management
practices. Conservation Agriculture systems are present in all continents,
involving rainfed and irrigated systems including annual cropland systems,
perennial systems, orchards and plantation systems, agroforestry systems,
crop-livestock systems, pasture and rangeland systems, organic production
systems and rice-based systems. Conservation Tillage and Minimum Tillage
are not Conservation Agriculture, and nor is No-Till on its own *(more at:
www.fao.org/ag/ca).
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IISD Reporting Services <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 7:54 AM
Subject: Act!on Agriculture Bulletin - Vol. 170 No. 5 - COP 24 Act!on
Agriculture - Summary
To: Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>


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*Act!on Agriculture Bulletin*
*Volume 170 Number 5 | Saturday, 15 December 2018*
------------------------------
*Summary of Act!ion Agriculture*
*10-12 December 2018 | Katowice, Poland*
------------------------------
* Languages: EN (HTML
<https://iisd.cmail19.com/t/i-l-niihrld-vaiiyhhd-d/>/PDF
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------------------------------

Act!on Agriculture took place during the Katowice Climate Change Conference
from 10-12 December 2018. This event, organized by New Zealand, France,
Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands, explored how governments,
agriculture businesses and others are pushing the frontier of agricultural
transformation towards low emissions. Using real-world examples from
developed and developing countries, the event highlighted specific
opportunities, proven best practices and realistic possibilities for
increasing agricultural productivity, mitigating agricultural greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions, and strengthening agricultural resilience in
cost-effective ways.

Act!on Agriculture aimed to catalyze action on sustainable agriculture to
achieve the ‘triple win’ of:

   - increased agricultural productivity;
   - reduced GHG emissions; and
   - strengthened resilience to climate change impacts.

On Monday, the event featured a ministerial discussion, followed by
technical sessions that ran through Wednesday evening on diverse topics
including:

   - resilience, productivity and efficiency of agriculture under the Paris
   Agreement;
   - agriculture development for climate benefit;
   - scaling up of agroecology;
   - market demand for sustainable food production; and
   - capacity building for monitoring emissions.

The event also included the sharing of experiences on how to raise ambition
in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and participants heard
experiences from farmers working towards lower emissions.

*Ministerial Opening*

During Monday’s opening session, ministers from the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Vanuatu, Uganda and Australia addressed the importance of reducing
agricultural GHG emissions and the challenge of achieving this while
promoting food production and food security. Hayden Montgomery, Global
Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA), moderated the
session, noting that it was fitting that the event is being held in the
Pacific and Koronivia Pavillion, since Koronivia refers to an agricultural
research center in Fiji.

James Shaw, Minister for Climate Change, New Zealand, shared the example of
a family of New Zealand farmers, the MacKenzies, who, with precision
agriculture, managed to reduce both their GHG emissions and input costs. He
emphasized three points in his remarks.

Agriculture has a huge role to play in meeting the long-term temperature
goal of the Paris Agreement.

A “triple win” of producing more food more sustainability, reducing
agricultural emissions, and improving the climate resilience of agriculture
is possible.

We need to remember the scale of the challenge: that agriculture must
reduce its emissions by 1 Gt per year and is on track to become the
greatest source of global GHG emissions once other sectors decarbonize.

Shaw stressed that transformational change is required and called for
farmers and governments to be ambitious in enhancing NDCs and the place of
agriculture within them in 2020. He called for governments and farmers to
collaborate, and emphasized that although we do not have all the answers
now, transforming agriculture is possible.

Theo de Jager, President, World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), emphasized
that although farmers produce a significant amount of GHG emissions,
agriculture is essential to feed the growing global population and
achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. He shared his belief that
farmers globally can become GHG emission-neutral or even negative but
stressed that this will only happen through a plan hatched by farmers,
rather than one hatched solely in parliaments or international conferences.
De Jager said that such a plan must be multidimensional and cannot take a
one-size-fits-all approach, noting the wide diversity in farm types and
farmer needs. He introduced the WFO’s Climakers initiative, which will
engage farmers around the world to determine feasible emission reduction
strategies. In closing, he called on governments to listen to farmers,
including those that are uneducated or poor.

*Ministerial Discussions*

Hayden Montgomery, GRA moderated the ministerial discussion. Melissa Price,
Minister for Environment, Australia, said 58% of her country’s landmass is
under agriculture. She explained that even though in the past Australia’s
agriculture “rode on a sheep’s back,” her country is recognized today for
quality production of beef, wine and dairy products achieved through
efficient and resilient practices. She shared lessons on climate-smart
agriculture that have led to efficient production systems, increased income
and environmental protection. Price cited a report that showing that it has
been possible to reduce fertilizer use without affecting crop yields in her
country.

Marjolijn Sonnema, Vice Minister for Agriculture and Nature, the
Netherlands, emphasized the need to reduce food losses, saying 30-40% of
farm produce globally does not reach consumers. She also noted the need to
encourage more sustainable consumption, saying her country is cooperating
with researchers, farmers, civil society and the private sector to find
sustainable agriculture solutions and reduce food losses.

Ralph Regenvanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vanuatu, said the “game
changer” for his country is the application of indigenous knowledge for
adapting agriculture to climate change. Indigenous agricultural systems, he
emphasized, have adapted to extreme climate change events over thousands of
years and can inform appropriate adaptation strategies. He reported that
his government is encouraging farming of traditional plants as a means of
combating non-communicable diseases such as diabetes in urban populations.

Kitutu Mary Goretti, Minister of State for Environment, Uganda, reported
that her country is implementing measures to achieve co-benefits across
agriculture-based value chains. She said that the young and growing
population of Uganda creates pressure on agriculture to increase
production. She cited country-level GHG mitigation plans that include
climate-smart agriculture programmes, and investments to improve livestock
breeds, fodder, animal health, and livestock value chains.

*Farmers Working Towards Lower Emissions*

This session, held on Monday and Tuesday, brought together farmers,
industry representatives and scientists to discuss technologies, techniques
and practices that help build productive, resilient agricultural systems
while reducing emissions.

On Monday, David Burger, DairyNZ, moderated the session. Ben O’Brien, Beef
+ Lamb New Zealand, shared information about the transformation of New
Zealand’s sheep farming industry, focusing on the changes that occurred
after 1984 when the government removed farm subsidies and price supports.
He said that farmers adjusted by becoming more efficient through reducing
pesticide use, overstocking, land clearing and soil erosion, and by
focusing on production driven by consumer demand. He noted that while total
sheep numbers have declined significantly, overall production has remained
largely constant due to increased reproductive efficiency, faster lamb
growth rate, and improved feed management. All of these, he highlighted,
have contributed to decreased CO2 and N2O emissions from the agriculture
sector.

Christopher Brankin, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, New Zealand, discussed how
indigenous history and knowledge can infuse modern, large-scale farming. He
said that Ngāi Tahu’s hunter-gatherer history feeds their cultural beliefs
that humans are an integrated part of ecosystems, rather than a separate
component. He also said this history and culture informs Te Rūnanga o Ngāi
Tahu’s holistic approach to farming, which includes considering bottom
lines relating to environmental, biodiversity, cultural, social and
economic outcomes. These, he added, also give them an impetus to think
intergenerationally and make future-focused investments, including
dedicating portions of their farms to crop and land-use experiments.

Turi McFarlane, Nuffield Scholar, New Zealand, presented ways to optimize
farming for sustainable productivity. He reported on farm environmental
planning tools that allow for predicting and managing farm environmental
risks. These tools, he noted, previously focused on soil erosion
management, are now also including native biodiversity enhancement and GHG
emission reductions. Nutrient budgeting, he said, is also critical to avoid
losses from nutrient leaching.

Katie Milne, President, Federated Farmers of New Zealand, said farmers in
her country are raising their environmental standards, including through
the protection of riparian areas, optimizing fertilizer use, and using
low-emissions fodder. She also reported on the significant role played by
rural women in reducing environmental footprints and adapting to climate
change. Milne emphasized that policies should not villainize agriculture,
saying “carrots are more effective than sticks.”

Craige MacKenzie, Founder & Director, Agri Optics, New Zealand, highlighted
the problem-nexus of growing populations, decreasing arable land and food
wastage, stressing that farming must become more efficient and sustainable.
Identifying the importance of good data for reducing agricultural
emissions, he said that “if you can’t measure you can’t model, and if you
can’t model, you can’t mitigate.” He underscored that the most sustainable
and the most profitable farming practices go hand-in-hand, as farmers
cannot deploy sustainable technologies if they cannot afford to invest in
them. MacKenzie also shared how electromagnetic mapping can help develop
irrigation maps and plans for fertilizer use and seed planting.

During the discussion, Milne noted the importance of getting young people
and urban populations interested in agriculture. She cited programmes that
remind school children in New Zealand how food is grown, and supported
programmes that encourage farm visits as leisure activities. Panelists said
that farmers’ voices should contribute to agriculture policies, and noted
that since most farmers are small-scale, many do not quality for carbon
benefit schemes.

On Tuesday, Ben O’Brien, Beef + Lamb, New Zealand, moderated a second
session on Farmers Working Towards Lower Emissions. Christian Feldkamp,
Executive Director, Argentinian Association of Experimental Regional
Agricultural Consortium, said in the last 10 years farmers have gradually
changed their perspectives on climate change from mistrust to realization.
He emphasized that agriculture, while responsible for 39% of emissions,
contributes to 10% of GDP and that there is, therefore, a need to ensure
solutions do not undermine the sector. He highlighted on-farm assessments
that enabled quantification of the carbon footprint from agriculture.
Feldkamp reported that a data mining model database from these assessments
is providing tools for crop selection and other carbon sinks. He clarified
that farms are reducing pesticide use and, thus, the chemical load in soils
and water.

Conor Mulvihill, Director, Dairy Industry Ireland, said his country has a
high number of sustainable dairy schemes, is the lowest GHG emitter in
Europe, and has some of the cleanest water. Dairy Industry Ireland, he
reported, is leading the way in providing a forum for the dairy industry to
help farmers meet environmental targets, boost profitability, and improve
the country’s reputation as a world leader in grass-fed dairy production.

During discussions, participants said climate action targeting both soil
and water are key to holistically addressing both GHG and nutrient issues.

*Resilient, Productive, Efficient: Pacific Agriculture under the Paris
Agreement*

On Monday, Margarita Astralaga, International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), moderated a panel of scientists and farmers to discuss
how Pacific agricultural systems can thrive in an emissions-constrained
world. She opened by stressing the importance of supporting agriculture in
the Pacific, and highlighting the various threats that climate change poses
to the region, including the increasing frequency and duration of tropical
storms, sea-level rise and water availability.

Iwona Piechowiak, Pacific Community, emphasized the need to apply landscape
approaches to managing climate impacts on agriculture in the Pacific. She
noted that atolls are particularly vulnerable to climate change because sea
surface warming, sea-level rise and extreme weather events, which all
threaten soil fertility, already precarious in the region. Piechowiak also
discussed agroforestry’s potential to support climate resilience by
stabilizing riverbanks and providing flood protection, and the need to
promote gender equality in the region.

Ulamila Lutu, Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT), described her
organization’s role as the Pacific’s only regional gene bank and its main
functions of improving nutritional security and adapting to climate change
through sharing resilient crops, such as banana, taro, cassava, swamp taro,
sweet potato and yam. Lutu also shared two case studies of CePaCT’s work
on: breeding efforts to confront Taro Leaf Blight, which decimated Samoa’s
taro industry in 1993; and responding to cyclones in Vanuatu by
distributing drought and salt tolerant crops that could be planted in their
aftermath.

Minoru Nishi Jr., Managing Director, Nishi Trading Company Limited, Tonga,
described how Cyclone Gita in 2017-18 destroyed infrastructure, homes and
farms leading to losses of USD 356 million, 50% of which was in
agriculture. His company, he reported, has supported farmers’ recovery by
providing credit for agriculture inputs and financing to a tune of USD
55,000. He said the “never say die attitude” of the island people keeps
agriculture going but noted the need to create resilience in the sector.

Jabujka Aikne, Farmer, the Marshall Islands, said his island has suffered
from devastating floods leading to soil erosion and water contamination. He
also reported crop losses, particularly of staple crops such as grapefruit,
coconut, sweet potato and arrowroot. Noting that soils of the Marshall
Islands are generally unfertile, he said organic farming is helping farmers
become more resilient and improve soil quality by providing nutrients,
lowering alkalinity and improving water retention.

Susana Yalikanacea, Farmer, Fiji, said the experience of Cicia Island in
becoming the first fully organic certified island in the Pacific has
brought recognition of the resilience of organic farming. She explained
that since certification in 2013, farmers are now more confident to remain
on the island to farm, adding that the establishment of a high school has
also helped keep young people on the island.

Gibson Susumu, Pacific Community, emphasized the need to understand the
factors contributing to the vulnerability of farming systems. He described
the Pacific Community’s work in developing tools to help Pacific countries
assess this vulnerability and said the major threats to farming in the
Pacific are: tropical cyclones; drought; sea-level rise, which is leading
to increased flooding and salt intrusion that renders agricultural land
unproductive; pests and disease, noting the dangerous spread of the coconut
rhinoceros beetle; and the general decline of soil fertility.

Lee Nelson, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
(ACIAR), described ACIAR’s work on promoting adaptation through improved
agricultural production, protecting natural resource bases, and building
community capacity. He cited specific examples, including programmes to
help farmers grow more crops below ground, diversifying farming systems
through the incorporation of livestock and aquaculture, and moving from
subsistence farming to income-generation through agriculture.

In the discussion that followed, participants addressed: how agricultural
insurance remains “massively underdeveloped” in the Pacific; assisting
coconut farmers to process their own product; building resilience into
entire farm systems; increasing the involvement of women and youth; and how
policymakers need capacity building to work across silos to pursue
landscape approaches effectively.

*Agriculture Development for Climate Benefit*

On Tuesday, the event commenced with a session on studies of agriculture
development projects, focusing on analyzing their impact on GHG emissions
and farmer livelihoods. Bruce Campbell, CGIAR, facilitated the session,
noting the importance of considering how agriculture development funding
can help achieve agricultural targets in NDCs.

Fekadu Beyene, Commissioner for Environment, Forests and Climate Change,
Ethiopia, gave opening remarks, highlighting the immense challenge posed by
climate change, particularly for agriculture. He noted that agriculture is
a dominant sector in Ethiopia, accounting for approximately 40% of GDP,
which makes the country highly vulnerable to climate change. Beyene
outlined Ethiopia’s green economy strategy that has guided the country’s
development plan since 2011, saying that it has led to huge investment and
community mobilization for agriculture. He also said the involvement of
international partners is important for their strategy and shared his
appreciation for the technical and knowledge support provided by New
Zealand.

Liz Wedderburn, AgResearch, shared examples of beef and dairy elopment
projects supported by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
and Ministry for the Environment in Colombia, Zambia, Fiji, Myanmar,
Indonesia and Uruguay. She described how the projects involved
retrospective lifecycle assessments of farms to account for farm inputs and
their connection to local supply chains. She noted the projects’ successes
in increasing farm productivity and profitability and reducing the GHG
intensity per unit of product, even though no decrease in total emissions
was observed.

Justin Kosoris, AgResults, showed how his company is helping farmers in
Vietnam reduce emissions through prize competitions. He presented results
from a pilot project with rice paddy farmers aimed at scaling up good
practices, such as effective technologies for water draining and reduced
fertilizer use. He reported emission reductions of up to five tons CO2e
alongside a 16-20% increased yield. Prizewinners, he said, included farmers
that have utilized multiple drains to reduce methane production and
fertilizer use.

Lini Wollenberg, CGIAR, discussed the impacts of multi-sectoral agriculture
development programmes in lowering emissions. The US Agency for
International Development’s sustainable agriculture portfolio, she
reported, has achieved net reductions of emissions from sustainable
livestock projects and reductions in fertilizer use. The IFAD’s ninth
replenishment, she reported, has equally achieved carbon sequestration from
promoting agroforestry and using organic fertilizers. She further showed
emission reductions from Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Nets Programme
through agroforestry and improved cropping. She said that even though these
projects have contributed significantly to lower emissions from the sector,
impacts are short term. She emphasized that in the long term, emissions
will intensify as long as yields continue to increase. She also highlighted
the need for efficient nutrient input, reduction of food loss and waste,
and transformative options such as meat alternatives, and cattle and
biological nitrification inhibitors.

During the panel session, Juan Lucas Restrepo, Chief Executive, AGROSAVIA,
Colombia, spoke via video link, about work carried out in collaboration
with New Zealand to increase livestock profitability, while reducing
environmental impacts. He described AGROSAVIA’s work to develop a platform
to help Colombia meet its climate change commitments via agriculture and
work to promote climate resilience through helping farmers develop risk
maps. The impetus for this, he noted, came after devastating flooding
associated with a strong La Niña phenomenon in 2011-12.

Chu Van Chuong, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam,
described his country’s efforts to improve agricultural productivity
through increasing efficiency, reducing pesticide and fertilizer use, and
cutting post-harvest losses. He noted that rice production accounts for the
bulk of Vietnam’s agricultural emissions, but emphasized its importance for
local food security. He also said that efforts are underway to help farmers
substitute other crops for rice and suggested that providing financial
incentives could be an effective way of achieving this at scale.

Jessica Bensemann, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said
that New Zealand plans to spend NZD 140 million on overseas agriculture
development projects in the next three years, 25% of which will go to the
livestock sector. She noted that livestock has the potential to improve
livelihoods in rural areas, but stressed that this must be part of a
broader strategy to reduce overall GHG emissions. Bensemann also outlined
how New Zealand is mainstreaming climate change into its development
assistance, including through aligning projects with host country NDCs and
building GHG emission assessments into all new projects.

Lee Nelson, ACIAR, said that the intensification of livestock systems can
help reduce GHG emission intensity and pointed to significant scope for
countries to reduce N2O emissions with more efficient fertilizer use. While
noting success in reducing methane emission intensity, he said there has
been little success in reducing overall methane emissions. He mentioned
technological potential for this, stressing the need to advance this in the
next ten years, as the current approach of improving efficiency and using
offsets will not suffice over the long term. Nelson also emphasized the
need to develop accounting methods and local capacity in low-income
countries.

Paxina Chileshe-Toe, IFAD, said IFAD’s 11th replenishment will focus on
mainstreaming climate change in all its projects to capture benefits during
project implementation. She said her institution is looking for ways of
ensuring agriculture projects funded by IFAD are helping achieve countries’
NDCs, and noted that IFAD is monitoring and evaluating adaptation impacts
of projects. She drew attention to the Adaptation for Smallholder
Agriculture Programme (ASAP), which is helping 43 countries cope with the
impacts of climate change and build more resilient livelihoods.

During the discussion, participants said soil carbon has been over
emphasized, and noted the need for more focus on the effects of nutrient
leaching on water quality. They also urged for more work on reducing
emissions from livestock rather than efforts to eliminate the sector
entirely. Panelists noted the cultural importance of livestock for many
communities and thus the need to ensure their needs are considered. They
also said technological solutions for livestock sector emissions are
advancing, including emissions inhibitors and vaccines that target dominant
methanogenes.

*Scaling-up Agroecology: Its Performance and Potential*

This session focused on sharing the environmental, social and economic
benefits of agroecology and discussing key challenges and opportunities for
bringing it to scale. Valérie Dermaux, Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood
and Forestry, France, moderated the session and noted that agroecology is a
good climate solution because of how it merges both mitigation and
adaptation with positive social and environmental outcomes.

Via video message, Didier Guillaume, Minister of Agriculture and Food,
France, said that agroecology is at the center of sustainable development.
He said that in France, agroecology has enabled the integration of natural
resource conservation and the reduction of pollution, including GHGs. The
principles of agroecology, he noted, are founded on concrete practices that
farmers can easily adapt, such as use of organic fertilizer, planting
legumes to improve soil fertility and agroforestry. He said French actors
are mobilizing to scale agroecology through research carried out by among
others: the Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, the
National Institute for Agricultural Research, and the Institute of Research
for Development. He urged governments to go down the agroeconomy road to
catalyze the sector’s emission reductions.

Alain Peeters, Secretary of Agroecology Europe, said the objective of the
EU’s agroforesty strategy is to increase the amount of energy crops to
substitute fossil energy use. He said implementation involves integrating
cropping and livestock while relying on local resources and endogenous soil
fertility, avoiding entirely the use of synthetic pesticides and
fertilizers and the purchase of commercial feed. It also, he noted, avoids
ploughing and the associated use of fossil fuels. Peeters presented
research demonstrating that the economic performance of agroecology can
match or exceed that of conventional farming, particularly in developing
countries, largely due to reduced input costs, the production of
higher-value products, and increased resilience to climate-related
disasters.

During the roundtable discussions, panelists presented examples of the
performance of agroecology on the ground. Martial Bernoux, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), reported on the Second
International Symposium on Agroecology: Scaling Up Agroecology, held in
April 2018, to discuss policies and actions that can support achieving the
SDGs. The symposium, he said, included 700 participants from 72
governments, including five Ministers of Agriculture. He reported that 45
cases studies were presented, featuring successful, evidence-based
agroecological experiences from different countries. He reported on
outcomes from the symposium, including:

   - 10 elements of agroecology;
   - the launch of the Scaling Up Agroecology Initiative; and
   - a chair’s summary addressing current challenges and opportunities to
   make agriculture more sustainable through agroecology.

Bertrand Mathieu, Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières, presented two
agroecological projects from West Africa. He reported that the CALAO
project, which is an assessment of the development of agroecology in
Senegal, Burkina Faso and Togo, carried out a diagnosis of agrarian systems
of these countries. He reported that farms where crops and livestock were
integrated had more yield since they used manure and fodder within food
crops. He also presented a programme of the Economic Community of West
African States that supports agro-ecological transition in West Africa,
which sought to evolve policies to scale up agroecology. He  reported that
additional funding from the EU is facilitating networking among agroecology
actors and expanding to involve all countries of the region.

Pierre Rousseau, BNP Paribas, presented a video highlighting the need for
businesses to fundamentally transform in response to climate change, with
the risk of stranded assets as one primary motivation. He introduced the
world’s first landscape bond, which is being launched by the Tropical
Landscapes Finance Facility in Indonesia. Rousseau also described an
initiative being undertaken by the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, to
convert its six million farmers to agroecological practices. This, he said,
would be financed through USD 1 billion in avoided fertilizer subsidies and
collaboration between the state government and international partners.

In the discussion that followed, participants focused on public policy
barriers to the expansion of agroecology. Points of emphasis included the
need to remove inefficient agricultural subsidies and using incentives to
support the development of agroecological infrastructure.

*Market Demand for Sustainably Produced Food*

This session moderated by Bill Callahan, Department of Agriculture, Food
and the Marine, Ireland, addressed changes in consumer behavior, and
evolving trends towards sustainable living. Participants also heard about
Ireland’s experience in promoting sustainable food sourcing through
developing charters with farmers, food companies and retailers.

In a keynote presentation, Grace Binchy, Bord Bia, Ireland, noted macro
forces driving changes in consumer lifestyle trends, including: rapid
urbanization; the rise of protectionism; environmental pressure; and new
pressures on packaging, such as bans on single-use plastics. She reported
that technology has enabled transparency, and that surveys have shown
consumers are willing to pay more for products that promise it. She also
noted that shifting perceptions about meat have led to greater production
of alternatives, such as vegan products, sales of which have increased by
250% since 2010. Presenting the report of a survey by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, titled ‘Global Consumer Survey on Sustainability,’
she reported:

   - the three top consumer perceptions of sustainability are: “protecting
   the environment,” “renewable energy” and “reuse, reduce and recycle”;
   - 66% of consumers agree that it is easier to adopt sustainable behavior
   when shopping for food;
   - purchasing behavior is governed by quality, price, taste and trust of
   brands; and
   - 50% of consumers recognize certifications as sustainability indicators.

Binchy stressed that innovating against waste is also an important
consideration, noting a lot of change and challenges regarding plastics.
She said technology will be a big driver of this transformation and cited
emerging technologies, such as a recent discovery of a plastic-eating
enzyme by scientists in Japan. She also said many companies are responding
to these needs, mentioning, for example, Amazon engaging suppliers to
reduce packaging material and Coca-Cola moving from 100% recycling to
plant-based bottles. She also spoke about local actions that are becoming
more popular among centennials and millennials to support smaller brands.
Another local action, she noted, was the Refugee Food Festival, which
allows refugees to cook in local restaurants and share their cuisine.

Michael Maloney, Bord Bia, Ireland, discussed ‘Origin Green,’ an Irish
Government sustainability initiative that aims to raise the environmental
standard of food production, thereby reinforcing the green image of Irish
exports. He noted that this initiative came out of a 2009 study that
revealed Ireland is viewed as green and natural internationally, but that
it must live up to this reputation. Origin Green, he explained, uses
sustainability audits and charters to engage three groups of actors:
farmers, food and drink companies, and retailers and food service
operators. He said that farm audits, among other things, calculate the
carbon footprint of every farm, and that farmers receive tools to help them
model the impact that potential changes in practice would have on both
environmental indicators and profitability. Food and drink companies, he
said, sign on to a sustainability charter requiring them to set targets for
raw material source, manufacturing and social sustainability. The charter
for retailers and food service operators, he added, focuses on sustainable
sourcing, operations, health and nutrition, and social sustainability.
Maloney stressed that Origin Green is a long-term process that will
continually try to enhance Ireland’s thought leadership, drive
sustainability improvements and deepen participant engagement, with the
ultimate aim of increasing consumer preferences for Origin Green suppliers.

During the discussion, panelists noted that studies on consumer
sustainability preferences tend to focus on the middle class. Maloney said
that the trends observed in consumer behavior change will drive
sustainability worldwide and bring benefits across a broad section of
society. Panelists also discussed the need to ensure developing countries
can develop value chains for organic foods.

*Building Capacity in Agricultural Measurement, Reporting and Verification
(MRV)*

This session held on the Wednesday focused on demonstrating the importance
of improved MRV of agricultural emissions, including for soil organic
carbon. Hayden Montgomery, GRA, moderated the event, noting the importance
of improving MRV of agricultural emissions for effectively including the
sector in NDCs and raising the sector’s mitigation ambition over time.

Karl Richards, Teagasc, Ireland, described a multi-year study undertaken in
Ireland to review emission factors for agricultural GHG emissions. He noted
that 32% of Ireland’s emissions come from agriculture, 40% of which are
N2O. The study, he said, considered the emission factors from grassland and
spring barley farming, finding that, for grasslands, a greater share of N2O
emissions was from fertilizer use and less from cattle dung and urine than
previously thought. This is important, he noted, because emissions from
fertilizer use can be more easily reduced than those from dung and urine,
thus pointing to a clear mitigation strategy. Richards also said that the
revised emission factors from the study led to an overall reduction in
reported national GHG emissions and are being used for reporting to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Hugh Martineau, Ricardo Energy & Environment, discussed a European
Commission project to assess the performance of emissions reduction tools
in the region. He said the actions of countries reviewed were categorized
according to: GHG emissions abatement and removing, accountability and
verification, costs, technological constraints, co-benefits, risks and
socioeconomic factors. The project, he said, identified 22 mitigation
actions grouped according to interventions in land-use, crop production,
livestock production, or nutrient and soil management. Presenting outcomes,
he said impacts of countries’ actions were both measurable and effective,
or difficult to measure, yet likely to have an impact, while others were
not effective at all.

Montgomery, presenting on behalf of Lini Wollenberg, CGIAR, reported that
many countries are not able to document livestock emission reductions due
to the lack of simple reporting systems and insufficient data. He
highlighted the development of a report titled, “Measurement, Reporting and
Verification of Livestock GHG emissions by Developing Countries in the
UNFCCC,” aimed at providing solutions for MRV in developing countries.
Montgomery also drew attention to the Climate, Food and Farming and *Global
Research Alliance* Development Scholarships (CLIFF-GRADS) programme. He
said the programme provides scholarships to budding agricultural scientists
from developing countries for PhD and short-term scientific training and
research on topics related to measurement and management of GHG emissions
and carbon storage in agricultural systems. He reported that 33 fellows
from 18 countries will be partnering with research organizations through
this programme by 2019.

In the discussion, participants posed questions about the robustness of
emission factors to climatic change and how to manage inventories in light
of diverse farm systems. Panelists also discussed the importance of having
an integrated land policy that connects agriculture to water and
biodiversity management, understanding that different land types are best
suited to different activities, and nutrient management optimization.

*Raising the Ambition of Agriculture in NDCs: 2020 and Beyond*

Ac!tion Agriculture’s final session, moderated by John Carnegie, Executive
Director Energy & Infrastructure, BusinessNZ, focused on the role of the
agriculture sector in raising ambition for mitigating emissions ahead of
the 2020 NDC review period.

In a keynote address, Sigrid Kaag, Minister for Foreign Trade and
Development Cooperation, the Netherlands, stressed the importance of access
to relevant technology to ensure GHG emission reductions and meeting NDCs.
Her country, she said, is promoting reductions in raw material use and
efficiency to reduce emissions from agriculture. She underscored her
country’s commitment to helping developing countries build climate
resilience through the Dutch Diamond Approach of promoting public-private
partnerships. She stressed that, to achieve adaptation, agricultural
productivity in developing countries must be increased to enhance the
competitiveness of smallholder farmers and achieve the SDGs, particularly
those related to food security and poverty eradication.

Manish Bapna, World Resources Institute (WRI), said the key question is,
“How can the world adequately feed nearly 10 billion people by 2050 in a
manner that advances economic development while reducing pressure on the
climate, water and ecosystems?” He shared findings from a WRI report on
this issue, noting its finding that to feed the world in 2050, 56% more
food must be produced without expanding agricultural land and while
lowering agricultural emissions by 67%. The key levers for achieving this,
he said, include: reducing food loss and waste; shifting to healthier and
more sustainable diets, noting that lamb and beef require far more land and
produce far more GHG emissions than other food sources; increasing
agricultural productivity; restoring natural ecosystems, especially
peatlands; improving wild fisheries management; and reducing GHG emissions
from agriculture. He closed by highlighting the lack of specificity
regarding agriculture in NDCs and called on the agriculture community to
help raise sectoral ambition as part of revising NDCs in 2020.

Ben O’Brien, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, began by highlighting how New
Zealand’s lamb and beef sector has increased its efficiency, and reduced
its animal numbers and GHG emissions, while improving the value of
production. He noted that after achieving major efficiency gains, future
reductions in GHG emissions will be harder to achieve. O’Brien described
Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s environmental strategy, noting specific
components, such as developing a farmer-friendly GHG calculator, holding
carbon workshops for farmers, and working towards carbon-zero certification
schemes. He closed by outlining recent research suggesting the need to
interrogate methodologies for calculating the warming potential of
short-lived climate pollutants.

During the panel, moderated by Kristen Ann Hite, Oxfam International,
Martien van Nieuwkoop, Director of Global Agriculture, World Bank, said
public and private support for food systems should be redirected towards
ensuring positive environmental outcomes. He highlighted the ‘Maximizing
Finance for Development’ approach, which maximizes development resources by
establishing a systematic framework to identify opportunities to facilitate
private sector investment. He cited the ‘Cocoa and Forests Initiative’ as
an example saying this public-private partnership, aimed at preventing
further deforestation and illegal cocoa production, will play a crucial
role in sequestering carbon stocks. He said that incentives from prize
competitions for rice paddy farmers in Vietnam is not only leading to
higher yields but also producing co-benefits in carbon emission reductions.

Kimaren Stanley Riamit, Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners, said
pastoralism is a lesser-known form of livestock production, defining it as
a production system practiced by indigenous communities in drylands. He
said this sector sequesters 34% of global carbon stocks, and has a low
carbon footprint since pastoralism is founded on sustaining landscapes
through principles of living in harmony with nature. Pastoralism, he
reported, is threatened by ‘green growth,’ which drives land grabs and the
loss of pastureland. Raising ambition for these communities, he said, means
ensuring security of collective land tenure, slowing land fragmentation,
accessing technologies for early warning systems, and building on
indigenous knowledge systems to ensure continued carbon sequestration.

In the discussion, panelists considered: how to effectively integrate
scientific and traditional knowledge, with disaster early warning systems
highlighted as an area where this works well; how small-holder farmers can
access World Bank funds by engaging in supported government initiatives;
the value of farmer-to-farmer collaboration, both within and across
countries; the need to remove ineffective government agricultural
expenditures; the need to continue investing in science and research; and
the importance of honestly confronting the tradeoffs that will be required
to meet the 1.5 °C temperature target and supporting a just transition for
those who might be adversely affected.

Hayden Montgomery, GRA, stressed that while we treat agriculture as a
‘sector,’ it is a biological system that is leaky, diverse and emits a
range of GHGs based on the activities of billions of people around the
world. “There is no silver bullet, and no single solution,” he underscored.
He also highlighted the need to address the “low-hanging fruit” of food
loss and wastage, promote research and development, and remain cognizant of
farmers’ incentives.

Michael Creed, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland,
offered remarks to close the Act!on Agriculture event. He stressed that
agriculture plays a key role in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement
and reducing hunger to help achieve the SDGs. He also noted the
vulnerability of food production systems to climate change and the relative
difficulty of achieving emission reductions in the sector. Creed also
shared an update of Ireland’s efforts towards achieving carbon-neutrality
in the agriculture sector through reducing emissions, increasing carbon
sequestration, and displacing fossil fuels and energy intensive practices.
Reflecting on the overall state of agriculture in light of climate change,
he concluded by saying “the future is bright and promising, but does not
promise to be easy.” He closed the event at 6:01 pm.

The *Act!on Agriculture Bulletin* is a publication of the International
Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) <[log in to unmask]>, publishers of
the *Earth Negotiations Bulletin* © <[log in to unmask]>. This issue was written
and edited by Dorothy Wanja Nyingi, Ph.D., and Ben Abraham. The Digital
Editor is Natalia Mroz. The Editor is Leila Mead <[log in to unmask]>. The
Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <
[log in to unmask]>. Funding for coverage of this meeting has been provided by
the New Zealand Government. IISD can be contacted at 111 Lombard Avenue,
Suite 325, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0T4, Canada; tel: +1-204-958-7700; fax:
+1-204-958-7710. The opinions expressed in the* Bulletin *are those of the
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