Agriculture and livestock in Carbon Markets

NUSSBAUMER, BEATRIZ

Asunción

Simposio; SYMPOSIUM ON MITIGATING GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM ANIMAL PRODUCTION: A POLICY AGENDA – FAO; 2009

FAO

The agricultural sector has a great mitigation potential particularly in the LAC Region, associated with the deployment of improved agronomic and livestock management practices, as well as with measures to enhance carbon storage in soils or vegetative cover. Some of these measures have significant co-benefits. The linkage established between mitigation strategies and development has been confirmed, however, only about a third of this mitigation potential could be economically exploited unless carbon prices were increased. Obstacles to implementation that are specific to the agricultural sector include the issues of permanence of GHG reductions (particularly for carbon sinks), slow response of natural systems, and high transaction and monitoring costs. Emissions from cropland can be reduced by improving crop varieties; extending crop rotation; and reducing reliance on nitrogen fertilizers by using rotation with legume crops or improving the precision and efficiency of fertilizer applications. Measures to reduce emissions from livestock involve a change in feeding practices, use of dietary additives, selective breeding, and managing livestock with the objective of increasing productivity and minimizing emissions per unit of animal products. Another approach in the case of animals confined in a relatively small area, like swine and dairy, is to use bio-digestors to process waste and capture the methane for later use. In summary, while there are opportunities for contributing to increasing agricultural production while reducing GHG emissions, the proposed practices need to be evaluated within specific regional and local settings, and there is no universally acceptable list of preferred interventions. Furthermore, competition for land among different uses means that many solutions are more cost efficient and more effective at achieving reductions when they are implemented as part of an integrated strategy that spans agricultural subsectors and forestry. Since mitigation solutions are very context-specific in the agricultural sector, research efforts need to have a strong participatory dimension so as to ensure that they respond to the specific needs of small farmers.