A workshop on how to transform soil science to policy and practice was arranged by AgriFoSe2030 in Nairobi. Decision makers, practitioners, implementers as well as researchers in the fields of biophysical and social science took part in the workshop.
By Dr. Louis Verchot, Director of Soils Research at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Amid the roaring debate on how to curb climate change in Bonn last year, an impasse was finally broken on agriculture. Both a cause and casualty of climate change, our food system accounts for up to 24% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists and government officials are collaborating with communities to test out new approaches to reversing land degradation—methods that might have potential to change the status of the entire highlands region from vastly degraded to successfully restored.
Despite wide spread land degradation that leads to decreased profits and uncertain livelihoods, a new study from IFPRI found that farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are not adopting the mos profitable soil fertility management practices.
If a farmer managed his or her soil in a certain way for one year, they could offset the carbon emissions of a round trip flight from New York to Nairobi.
By Keith Shepherd and Rolf Sommer - How we manage soils is crucial to tackling climate change. Today, August 2, is Earth Overshoot Day for 2017, which aims to highlight the moment each year when our use of the planet’s resources tips into “overdraft”. The day helps to highlight why restoring landscapes, particularly soils, has benefits for food security, livelihoods and the climate.
CIAT, with the Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), is working to assess the impact of various soil conservation practices on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural soils in India. The work investigates how agricultural practices could potentially lead to reductions in GHG emissions, and highlights the pressing need for research allowing the quantification of GHG emissions of ongoing agricultural practices in order to better understand their impacts.
Almost 80 percent of the island of Borneo was covered with this old growth rainforest in 1973. Today, only 28 percent remains. A new Atlas of Deforestation and Industrial Plantations to map and reduce deforestation rates.
