Transcript The crucial role of women in agriculture and rural

UNECE Regional Workshop on Agri-Environmental Statistics
(in cooperation with FAO & EUROSTAT)
Budva (Montenegro), 13-15 May, 2013
Impact of Agriculture
on the Environment
Salar Tayyib
FAO Regional Statistician
for Europe and Central Asia
Focus on:
The Environmental Impact of
Unsustainable Agriculture
Growth in Agriculture
Dramatic change in agriculture since end of World War II following the
“Green Revolution” (most markedly as of the 60’s):
 Food and fibre productivity greatly increased due to new technologies (incl.
cross breeding), mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and
government policies for maximizing production
 These changes allowed fewer farmers to intensively produce the majority
of the food and fibre; and utilize(/exploit) larger areas of land
Growth in Agriculture
Today agriculture accounts for the major share of human use of land.
 Pasture and crops around 35% of the earth's land area
 Over two-thirds of human water use is for agriculture
Growth in Agriculture
Not an unmixed blessing:
Pros(+):
 More and cheaper food (vital for food security)
 Carbon capture, rural landscape preservation
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Cons(-):
major anthropogenic source of greenhouse gases (CH4 & N2O)
Ground and sea water contamination (due fertilizers & pesticides)
Topsoil depletion (due to erosion/salinization, machinery)
Extent and methods of agriculture, forestry and fishing are leading causes
of loss of planet’s biodiversity
Socio-economic aspects:
 Considerable overall external costs of the three sectors
 The decline of family farms
 Continued neglect of the living & working conditions for farm labourers
Unsustainable Agriculture
The FAO definition of sustainable agricultural:
“The management and conservation of the natural resource
base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change
in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued
satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations.
Such development conserves land, water, plant and animal genetic
resources, is environmentally non-degrading, technically
appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable."
Unsustainable farming
Unsustainable farming affects the basis for its own future
through land degradation, salinization,
over-extraction of water and
reduction of genetic diversity in crops /livestock.
Unsustainable agricultural (esp. intensive mono-crop systems)
and certain aquaculture practices
present a great and immediate threat to species and ecosystems.
Impact of Unsustainable Agriculture
Negative environmental impacts from
unsustainable farming :
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Land conversion & habitat loss
Soil erosion and degradation
Wasteful water usage
Pollution (water & land)
Climate change (GHG emissions, air pollution)
Loss of Biodiversity (genetic erosion)
 Land Conversion & Habitat Loss
 Pastures & cropland cover around 40% of global land
 Land needed for agriculture is continually expanding
to meet increasing demand for food
- resulting in large-scale clearing of natural habitats to make room for
intensive monocultures (conversion of rainforests to Palm oil plantations in
southeast Asia)
 Areas with high biodiversity will be effected
 Aquaculture is also in direct competition with
natural marine and freshwater habitats for space
- some European fish farms have been placed in the migratory
routes of wild salmon. In Latin America, mangrove forests have
been cleared to make space for shrimp farms
In addition: some 12 mln. ha of land lost to desertification annually
 Soil Erosion and Degradation
 Soil erosion usually occurs after conversion of natural vegetation to
agricultural land – ploughing exposes fertile topsoil which is blown away by wind or washed
away by rain and irrigation (polluting agrochemicals also carried away)
 Loss of fertile soil leads to soil degradation
In the last 50 years about one-third of the world’s arable land has been lost through erosion and
other degradation. The problem persists, with a reported loss rate of about 10 mln. ha/year.
Erosion clogs & pollutes waterways:
 Leads to sedimentation of rivers, lakes, coastal areas. Causing serious
damage to freshwater/marine habitats
- and to the local communities that depend on these habitats
 Pesticides and fertilizers carried away with rainwater and irrigation pollute
waterways and harm wildlife
Deforestation also leads to soil erosion and increased flooding.
Deforestation
 Wasteful Water Usage
 The agricultural sector consumes about 70% of the planet's
accessible freshwater - more than twice that of industry (23%)
 With a waste factor of around 60% !
 Big food producing countries (US, China, Spain) are
close to reaching their renewable water resource limits
Main causes of wasteful and unsustainable water use are:
- leaky irrigation systems
- inefficient field application methods
- cultivation of thirsty crops not suited to the specific environment
Unsustainable water use harms the environment by:
 Depleting ground water supplies
 Excessive irrigation can increase soil salinity and wash pollutants
and sediment into rivers
 Pollution (water & land)
 Use of pesticides, fertilizers (phosphates) and other agrochemicals
has increased hugely since the 1950s
 Some application methods – e.g. pesticide spraying by aeroplane –
lead to pollution of adjacent land, rivers or wetlands
- Beneficial insects (e.g. bees) can be poisoned or killed, as can other animals
eating poisoned insects
 Inappropriate water management/irrigation: agrochemical run-off to
adjacent rivers/lakes/groundwater lead to contamination
 Rivers carry these agrochemicals into the marine environment
causing marine “dead zones”
Eutrophication:
explosive growth of algae due to nutrition over-supply
(e.g. phosphates) leading to oxygen depletion (hypoxia)
and death of river/marine life.
Dead Sea Zones (Eutrophication)
Pesticides
 Future use of pesticides expected
to grow more slowly
- concern about pollution and loss of biodiversity
in developed countries is resulting in restraining
regulations and higher taxes
- growing demand for organic crops
produced without chemical inputs
 Increases in use of "smart" pesticides, resistant crop varieties and
ecological methods of pest control (IPM) are foreseen
 Climate Change (GHG emissions)
Agriculture (livestock, manure management, land clearing)
according to most sources contributes around
15% of global greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions
If food production processes are included then that contribution almost doubles
(incl. related energy use, transport, etc.)
Most abundant GHGs:
water vapour (H2O)
carbon dioxide (CO2),
methane (CH4)
nitrous oxide (N2O)
ozone (O3)
 Rice production is one of the single-largest producers of methane (CH4)
 Deforestation accounts for a similar percentage of
GHG gas emissions as agriculture itself
 Climate Change (GHG emissions)
Agriculture and deforestation
contribute by about 30%
of all global GHG emissions
GHG: Nitrogen emissions
Percentage of annual nitrogen emissions
from different sources (1998):
(adapted from 1998 studies)
 Projections to 2030 imply a slower growth of nitrogen
fertilizer use. With more efficiency the increase in total
use between 1997-99 and 2030 could be as low as 37%
 Current use in many developing countries, however, is
very inefficient.
- In China (largest consumer of nitrogen fertilizer):
up to half the nitrogen applied is lost by volatilization
Air pollution: Plant Biomass
Burning of plant biomass: major source of air pollutants
(incl. carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide & smoke particles)
Human activity is responsible for about
90% of biomass burning through the
deliberate burning of forest vegetation,
of pastures and of crop residues to
promote re-growth and destroy pest
habitats
Air Pollution: Ammonia (CH3)
(in fertilizers)
 One of the major causes of acid rain
- more acidifying than sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (N2O)
- damages trees, acidifies soils/lakes/rivers; harms biodiversity
 Projections imply a 60% increase in ammonia emissions
from agriculture (particularly from livestock animal excrete)
in both developed and developing countries by 2030
 Loss of Biodiversity
 Traditional and local crops and farm animals are being progressively replaced
with more genetically uniform, modern varieties. This is causing the genetic
erosion of crops and livestock species around the world.
 Agricultural crops have lost more than 70% of their genetic diversity in
the last century
Today:
 30 crops account for 90% of calories consumed by people
 14 animal species account for 90% of all livestock production
The loss of genetic diversity reduces the potential for modern crops to adapt to,
or be bred for, changing conditions – directly threatening long-term food
security
 Loss of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is lost when overall area available for wildlife is reduced
and natural habitats fragmented due to:
• deforestation
• field consolidation (with reduction in field margins & hedgerows)
• drainage of wetlands for farming
• use of pesticides & herbicides which destroy many insects & other
plants, and reduce food supplies for higher animals
 Some of the affected life forms may be important soil nutrient
recyclers, crop pollinators (e.g. bees) and predators of pests
Cattle breeding
 significant use of antibiotics, growth hormones, vitamins
without sufficient understanding of their overall impacts.
- can lead to bacterial resistance in the animals and in the
environment, and can be passed on to bacteria that infect humans
- the effects of growth hormones in the production of meat may be
passed on to people
 virtually no research has been undertaken on the impact of these
inputs
Besides:
• Soil erosion
• GHG emissions
etc.
Cotton
Cotton is the largest money-making non-food crop produced in the world
 most important production impacts are the use of agrochemicals
(especially pesticides) and huge amounts of water
- in developing countries, estimates suggest that
half of the total pesticides used on all crops
are applied to cotton
 Estimates indicate cotton represents more than half
of irrigated land in the world.
- many areas devoted to cotton growing are experiencing serious salinisation (alkaline soil)
- Half of the irrigated land in Uzbekistan has lost productivity due to salinisation from
cotton growing
GHG -> Climate Change
some +ve news (?!)
• Climate change will affect agriculture, forestry and fishery in complex
ways, positive as well as negative.
• Carbon dioxide causes plant stomata to narrow, so water losses are
reduced and the efficiency of water use improves.
• Increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide will also
stimulate photo-synthesis and have a fertilizing effect on many crops
• Global warming in the temperate latitudes: areas suitable for cropping
will expand; length of the growing period will increase; crop yields will
improve and forests may grow faster (benefits developed countries only)
• These gains, however, have to be set against the loss of some fertile land
to flooding, particularly on coastal plains.
GHG -> Climate Change
• Rising temperatures will expand range of many agricultural pests and
increase the ability of pest populations to survive the winter and attack
spring crops.
• In oceans, temperature rise may reduce plankton growth, bleach coral
reefs and disrupt fish breeding and feeding patterns.
• Cold-water species such as cod may find their range reduced.
• Frequency and severity of extreme climatic events will increase (cyclones.
hail, etc.)  greater fluctuations in crop yields and local food supplies
 higher risks of landslides and erosion damage
GHG -> Climate Change
• The adverse impacts of climate change will fall disproportionately
on the poor.
- Hardest hit will be small-scale farmers and other low-income groups
in areas prone to drought, flooding, etc. and fishers affected by falling
catches caused by higher sea temperatures and shifts in currents (and
over-fishing!)
• Many of the areas at risk
from rising sea levels
are currently poor
and may not enjoy the resources
to pay for flood protection
Impact of Agriculture
on the Environment
Thank You.