The role of agriculture cannot be over-emphasised in efforts
to curb the greenhouse gas emissions, says the leadership of the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.
The Director-General, FAO, José Graziano da Silva while
presenting the report of the State of Food and Agriculture 2016, said that agriculture,
including forestry, fisheries and livestock production, generate around a fifth
of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Agriculture, he said, must both contribute more to combating
climate change while bracing to overcome its impacts.
"There is no doubt climate change affects food security.
What climate change does is to bring back uncertainties from the time we were
all hunter gatherers. We cannot assure any more that we will have the harvest
we have planted," he said.
As said by him, the uncertainty also translates into
volatile food prices, noting "Everybody is paying for that, not only those
suffering from droughts," warning that "business as usual"
approach could put millions more people at risk of hunger compared to a future
without climate change.
Most affected, he said, would be populations in poor areas
in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, especially those who rely
on agriculture for their livelihoods. Future food security in many countries
will worsen if no action is taken today.
He pointed out that overhauling farming and food systems
will be complex due to the vast number of stakeholders involved, the
multiplicity of farming and food processing systems, and differences in
ecosystems. Yet, efforts must begin in earnest now as the adverse impacts of
climate change will only worsen with time, the report emphasizes.
"The benefits of adaptation outweigh the costs of
inaction by very wide margins," Graziano da Silva said.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technologyPix: Graziano da Silva
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