The Potential of Climate-Smart Agriculture

Introduction

In times of climate change and population growth, finding solutions that allow mitigation and adaptation at the same time are strongly recommended, especially in regions where resource shortages can be determinant for food security.

Agricultural development is one of the most powerful instruments against extreme poverty. Agriculture boosts both shared prosperity as well as economic growth: While growth in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective in increasing incomes among the poorest compared to other sectors, agriculture also accounted for one-third of global gross-domestic product (GDP) in 2014. Agricultural value chains require energy among the different steps, which include production, harvest, storage, processing, and commercialisation. Energy plays a key role in increasing productivity and in modernising agricultural production systems, whereby energy requirements are very diverse, and can be satisfied in different ways. They reach from draught animals and human labour to engine-driven machinery. Depending on the type of energy needed along the value chain, traditional forms can be replaced by renewable energy technologies, providing services that support production processes. Irrigation, for example, requires energy for pumping which, depending on site conditions, can be obtained from clean energy. During post-harvest, energy is fundamental for both processing steps and food preservation, making higher produce quality possible, increasing production efficiency and farmers’ incomes. Employing renewable energy can not only provide access to enhanced production processes, but also act as a measure for climate change mitigation. Read more…

Energy Needs in Smallholder Agriculture

Quantifying the energy access gap in smallholder-based food systems is challenging, as energy sources and uses are very diverse. Depending on the level of power needed and the resources available locally, different types of energy are required: electrical energy for pumping, milling, cooling; mechanical energy for production and processing; and thermal energy for value-adding processes like cooking, drying, cooling.

Aligning priorities with local settings is crucial: Interventions should be people-centred and tailored to local contexts, taking a holistic view on smallholders' energy needs. Smallholder farmers in the Global South could reap the benefits of the positive effects of modern energy services in agriculture. The implementation can take place by promoting different initiatives, including large-scale electrification programmes and off-grid energy systems, and participation approaches that involve the local population, depending on the energy needs in each case. Read more…

In order to identify further opportunities for reducing agriculture’s impact on climate and environment, data on agriculture’s emissions can support countries addressing their food security, resilience and rural development goals. Examples of mitigation approaches include increasing soil carbon, realising closed nutrient cycles, changing consumption and waste patterns, improving scientific knowledge in nitrous oxide dynamics, and developing methods for optimal assessment of farming systems. Read more…

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) is an integrative approach to address the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change. Its main objectives are the sustainable increase of agricultural productivity, the adaptation and enhanced resilience of agricultural and food security systems to climate change, and the reduction of GHG emissions from agriculture. Further links to reports, video documentation and stories showcasing CSA can be found here. Read more…

Solar Powered Irrigation Systems for small-scale farmers (©Böthling)

The Role of Gender in the Energy and Agriculture Nexus

As agriculture employs up to 70 percent of the labour force in countries of the Global South, and specifically women make up the majority, the sector not only plays a large role for economic development, but also bares a great potential to solve gender inequality by increasing energy efficiency and productivity in the sector. Thus, access to improved energy services in agriculture can alter women’s social, economic and political status – reducing time and effort involved in household activities, providing better health and educational conditions, enhancing income-generating opportunities and facilitating their participation in public affairs. The role of gender within the agriculture and energy nexus is complex and concerns all processing stages within agricultural value chains, reaching from land distribution to access to credits and access to agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilizers. Enhancing women’s access to vital agricultural inputs such as irrigation technologies can substantially boost their agricultural productivity and incomes. Read more…

Approaches towards Climate Smart Agriculture

While processing accounts for the highest amount of GHG emissions, it also allows the highest income generation. Emerging economies, with a growing food demand and production, can considerably improve their financial situation by adopting value-adding processing steps along agricultural value chains. The highest benefits can be reached when energy efficiency measures and renewables are taken into consideration in these energy intensive steps of the value chain, saving (also financial) resources, reducing the environmental impact and adapting to different climatic conditions. For the implementation of energy efficiency measures detecting the technological gaps is crucial. However, obstacles have hindered the implementation of easy climate-friendly solutions. Therefore, advisory and consulting services with a focus on the food/energy/agriculture nexus within international cooperation are critical for a successful implementation of improvement measures in these crosscutting sectors. Read more…

Technologies

It is crucial for climate smart agriculture and food production to identify which kind of technological innovation is best employed in which step of the value chain in order to reach increased energy efficiency. Especially rural regions in developing countries can benefit from the introduction of clean energy solutions, as electrification is rare, and therefore promises the highest upgrade possibilities. Mapping energy inputs along the value chain and increasing efficiency within every step is fundamental when providing the agri-food sector with sustainable energy.

Renewable Energy Resources and Energy Efficiency in Agriculture

Different types of renewable energy (solar, biomass, wind, hydro, etc.) can be more or less suitable than others for different steps in the agricultural value chain. As the efficiency of different types of renewable energy strongly depends on the geographical location, knowing which renewable energy is best employed where and in which step of agricultural production supports farmers to increase their productivity considerably. Especially off-grid rural areas bear a great potential, as they can benefit the most from electrification programmes of this type. Read more…

A field with high potential of energy efficiency and renewable energy adoption is food processing, such as drying, cooling, milling and pressing. Energy efficient food processing can significantly raise the farmers’ incomes and their competitiveness on local and international markets. Systems such as refrigerators, mills and drying stoves can be run on clean energy (solar photovoltaic, biomass, biogas or thermal energy) alternatives instead of using conventional diesel fuel or grid electricity. These often prove more cost-efficient as well as sustainable. Read more…

Likewise, energy efficieny measures and renewables can be implemented for food preparation. The methods are usually inefficient and unhealthy for their users, thus, introducing renewable energies in domestic households can help overcoming these problems easily. For instance, traditional firewood stoves can be replaced by biogas stoves, which are more energetically efficient and reduce the pollution of indoor areas significantly. Read more…

Publications & Tools

Co-optimizing Solutions: Water and Energy for Food, Feed and Fiber

The report of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) reveals that environmental impact can be lowered while raising production. In a business-as-usual scenario, energy consumption in agriculture is anticipated to increase by 84 percent by 2050 with an increasing world population. At the same time, consuming 70 percent of total water resources, agriculture is the world’s largest water user. While it is, also one of the main contributors to global warming, its dependency on water makes the sector highly vulnerable to climate change. Nevertheless, the growing food demand can be met while minimizing environmental impact by the adoption of co-optimized solutions. Especially businesses play a key role in finding innovative synergetic approaches, including farming with smart varieties, smart crop management and efficient fertilizer production, mixed farming systems, blue and green water management, and the reduction of food loss and waste among others. The focus of the report is set on food, feed and fiber, as the demand for these commodities will increase considerably. Read more…

Energy Mapping

Increasing attention has been drawn to the issue of climate change in relation to food production. A lack of access to modern and clean energy technologies prevents the deployment of production and processing technologies that could rapidly improve agricultural productivity, increase value addition and reduce post-harvest losses. Being affected by the negative impacts of global warming, agricultural value chains need to find new ways of adaptation, which can result in mitigation approaches if appropriate technologies are employed.

An Energy Mapping approach was developed based on the ValueLinks Methodology. The objective is to allow development practitioners to obtain an overview of what forms of energy for which processes are utilized during each value chain step. This overview enables an understanding of energy access, energy intensity and the potential for energy-related interventions. Read more…

Opportunities for Agri-Food Chains to become Energy-Smart

Due to higher food demand and the recent shifts to higher protein diets, agri-food systems need to adapt their energy inputs in order to stay sustainable and profitable. The here presented report demonstrates along different value chains (milk, rice and vegetables) and regional case studies the possibilities for reducing the use of fossil fuels in agriculture and increasing efficiency in different steps of the value chain. It identifies the main problems faced by the transition to climate friendly technologies and enumerates different approaches to enhance their adoption. It includes a selection of tools to assess suitability and profitability of energy interventions along the agri-food-chain including value chain analysis, techno-economic assessment, bioenergy assessment, on-farm assessment. It also addresses the most important knowledge gaps and the possible approaches to overcome them. Read more…

Costs and Benefits of Clean Energy Technologies in the Milk, Vegetable and Rice Value Chains

Building upon the report Opportunities for Agri-Food Chains to become Energy-Smart, a second part presents the economics related to the energetic transition aimed in sustainable agri-food systems. The subsequent study, presented in this report, focused on the same three value chains as the first report and concentrated on similar key clean energy technologies. The costs, benefits, sustainability potentials and unintended impacts are analysed here at the intervention level (e.g. at farmer or food processor level). A methodological approach was developed to provide a sound and comprehensive cost-benefit analysis (CBA). It highlights hidden environmental and socio-economic costs of interventions, such as government-subsidized fossil fuel. The potentially added value of these technologies for different stakeholders was then considered using selected case studies for the same agricultural value chains. Read more…

Greenhouse-Gas Emissions from the Production and Processing of Food

Considering that food production and processing is one important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, addressing the different sources is essential to determine the mitigation potential in all stages of agricultural value chains. 4.4 tons of GHG emissions are emitted on average per household, corresponding to 16 percent of GHG emissions from total private consumption. Only food production constitutes 45 percent of this total, the rest due to energy consumption for storage and food preparation as well as partial space heating (kitchen) and shopping trips. Providing a quantitative analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions of selected food, this article compares the supply of these products from conventional and organic farming. The method of material flow analysis applied here starts with food consumption and tracks all associated uses of energy materials and transport through different stages. Read more…