Subsequently, agricultural expansion has contributed to widespread land degradation and climatic changes through the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from sources, such as soils, biomass burning, enteric fermentation, rice cultivation, fertilisers and manure management. Climate change and land degradation are intricately linked because of the feedback between land degradation and climatic elements. Climate change aggravates land degradation, especially soil degradation, by altering the spatial and temporal patterns of temperature, rainfall, solar radiation and winds.
It is expected that climate change …show more content…
Most of the world’s poor are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture, and experience has shown that growth in agriculture is often the most effective and equitable strategy for reducing poverty and increasing food security. Climate change multiplies the challenges of achieving the needed growth and improvements in agricultural systems and its effects are already being felt. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an approach to dealing with these interlinked challenges in a holistic and effective …show more content…
This means that genetic resources for food and agriculture are fundamental for building resilient agriculture and providing suitable crop varieties for adapting agricultural production to future climates (FAO 2013). Thus, agro-biodiversity (especially genetic resources) must be conserved and used sustainably. The roles of conventional breeding and biotechnology are also of paramount importance. For instance, biotechnology can contribute to improvements in crop yields and reductions in production costs and intensity of the use of farm inputs (e.g. fertilisers). Improved yields can thus boost climate change mitigation efforts through foregone land cover conversions asso-ciated with GHG emissions (Lybbert and Sumner 2010). Moreover, new crop varieties (that are early-maturing; efficient in using nitrogen; high yielding; nutri-tionally improved; tolerant to drought, heat, fire and salinity; and resistant to pests, parasites and diseases) can provide farmers with a wide range of options for adapting to climate change and reduce their vulnerability. Their contribution to reduction in pesticide demand and the number of in-field applications also shows that new varieties can play a role in reducing the GHG cost of production in the agricultural