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Unit 5 Working World Lesson D Farmers adapt to climate change 1 Last lesson … We talked about the greenhouse effect – the natural one (without it we would not be here) and the enhanced one, largely brought about by our own activities. We then talked about the other GHGs (GreenHouse Gases) besides CO2 that have an effect. Can anyone remember what they were? And it is not just industry that make things worse. Farmers contribute too 2 So in what ways is agriculture part of the problem? CO2 Methane Nitrous oxide 3 So your homework was to find out about mitigation by farmers Mitigation is doing things that reduce the effects of certain outcomes – in this case the production of GHGs. Here are the contributions – only 4!!! That is why many of you did not get maximum homework grades! 4 Harrison said ‘Using less manure’ If farmers use less manure then they can grow crops they need have more for next time and also help the environment by not releasing harmful toxins into the atmosphere and helping close the hole in the ozone layer quicker allowing them to be able to have richer soil and grow better crops making them more of a profit, it would also make a healthier place to live so children can breathe fresh air not air full of harmful toxins. 5 Betsey said ‘Changing a cow’s diet to reduce methane burps’ The cows belch is the dairy industry's biggest greenhouse gas contributor. Research shows that most of it is emitted from the front and not the back end of the cow. A single cow can produce between 100 and 200 litres of methane every day The dairy industry contributes about 2 percent to America’s total greenhouse gas production. Most of it comes from the cow, the rest from growing feed crops for the cattle to processing and transporting the milk. One way to reduce the cows' intestinal methane is by feeding them alfalfa, flax and grasses, all high in Omega 3s, instead of corn or soy. The feed rebalances the cows' rumen, the first stomach of ruminants, and cuts down on gas, she said. Another way is to change the bacteria in a cow's rumen. 6 Wayne on ‘More Cow Burps’ Fish oils have been proved to be able to reduce the methane expenditure of cows, as well as assisting the circulatory system and improving the meat quality. This could make a significant impact on global warming as we know it because the average cow can produce 100-200 litres of methane every day and there is believed to be around 1.6 billion cows in the world today. Through adding just 2% fish oil into a cow’s diet a decrees in methane emissions was achieved. Farm animals are currently the cause of a third of all methane emissions amounting to 900 billion tonnes every year. There’s no doubt that this will have a huge impact on global warming if it goes ahead as planned. 7 Cutting Cow Flatulence with Garlic? [from the blog] Diet supplements may be the key to reducing methane from livestock Methane gas released as flatulence (80% burps and 20% farts) from livestock is a significant source of greenhouse gas and amounts to 18% of all GHGs – m ore than all transport GHGs together. But entrepreneurs may have found a ready antidote to the problem: garlic. Mootral (“moo” and “neutral”), produced by Neem Biotech in Cardiff, Wales, contains a natural garlic extract—allicin—that when fed to cows and sheep limits the growth of certain methaneproducing bacteria in the animals’ digestive systems. In two small trials, methane output in cows and sheep was reduced by 15 percent. David Williams, chair and CEO, expects further research will allow output to be cut in half; simulations using laboratory equipment have reached as high as 94 percent. Tests are also being done to determine the best way to feed the natural antibiotic to the animals—as a food supplement or in their drinking water—and whether or not the allicin might taint their milk. But Williams is optimistic that the product will be available for livestock within two years. 8 Thomas said ‘Agro-forestry’ Definition: An ecologically based natural resource management system in which trees are integrated in farmland and rangeland Agro forestry is the growing of both trees and agricultural / horticultural crops on the same piece of land. They are designed to provide tree and other crop products and at the same time protect, conserve, diversify and sustain vital economic, environmental, human and natural resources. Agro forestry differs from traditional forestry and agriculture by its focus on the interactions among components rather than just on the individual components themselves. Research over the past 20 years has confirmed that agro forestry can be more biologically productive, more profitable, and be more sustainable than forestry or agricultural monocultures. Many other benefits been shown. Temperate agro forestry systems are already widespread in many parts of the world and are central to production in some regions. 9 But while mitigation can help, it will not solve the problem for farmers. Climate is very important to farmers and if it changes, then this will affect what they can grow and how successful they are. 10 But climate change is not just about rising temperatures Cooler Enhanced greenhouse effect Temperature Warmer Droughts Climat e change More Storms Winds Unusual events Floods 11 Notice that not everyone suffers from climate change 12 As you can see … In terms of temperature and precipitation the temperate zones – northern Europe, Asian and the northern half of North America were likely to come out of this smiling, so the only adaptations we will make is to prepare for better harvests from a choice of more crops! However, most of Africa and many parts of Asia will have much greater problems. Already these areas are stretch on food security issues. The changing climate can only make things worse. So many organisations are trying to find ways in which they can produce enough food to feed their people. 13 These difficulties in Africa have a number of sources 14 Let’s think about the problems faced by farmers If you were a pastoralist, where there is a wet season and a dry season, what would happen if the rains were a week or 2 late? What if it goes on being dry? What happens if a wind gets up? 15 Let’s think about the problems faced by farmers Ok so now it has been dry for a long time. The animals ate almost everything they could get their mouths around and many died. So the rains eventually come – not just the regular amounts, immense downpours – what could be the problem now? 16 So in summary … When the soil is blown away or washed e? away this is soil ……. ? This way all the good bit of the soil are blown or washed away – the compost and the fine soil and the minerals (plant vitamins) All you are left with is the coarse sand and grit – how good will that be for the new plants? 17 If you are a subsistence farmer with a small plot If you plant your seeds ready for the wet season and it does not happened, what happens? What if your new plants are just coming through and there is torrential downpour, what happens then? 18 So soil erosion is a major problem, where it is drier, wetter or hotter than expected And we have seen that soil erosion is worse when the soil is bare. It is worse when water can run freely over it – which is more likely is there are no plants and it has a straight run. So farmers need to adapt – and in different parts of Africa they are doing just that – now some of the ideas are similar to mitigation, but adaptation is doing similar things for a different reason! 19 Planting trees and shrubs We know that planting trees traps carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas and that is good for the environment. But planting trees have a whole lot of other benefits. Their large root systems hold onto the soil and help to save it from being washed/blown away. They can be used as a barrier to stop desert sands being blown across agricultural land – this stops desertification – turning productive land into a desert 20 Planting trees and shrubs Tree and shrubs can survive for quite long periods of drought and a bit of flooding does not seem to do permanent damage either, so they are not lost in adverse conditions But trees/shrubs produce products – wood for building and cooking (there are many people with no electricity in rural Africa Tree/bushes grow fruits which contain vitamins which are a good addition to poor diet. Spare fruits can be sold in the market and allow the farmers some cash 21 Planting trees and shrubs So farmers are now learning about planting trees around the edge of their plots and in between planting areas. But there are some special trees – like the acacia, what fixes nitrogen, just like beans and peas do. Plants need nitrogen to grow – so growing these trees can substitute for compost and manure Remember what soil erosion does – these guys can put back goodness into the soil 22 Other ways to keep the water and the soil in place Minimum till – no more ploughing up all your land - instead of removing all the old crop and the weed,, using a disk you chop it up but leave it in place. This does help mitigate GHGs by ‘sequestrating the carbon’ – that means keeping the carbon in the ground and not letting back into the atmosphere as CO2 That way the rain and the wind cannot erode your soil and eventually it will break down to add nutrients to the soil. It will even help the soil hold on to moisture. When you plant, you just add the seeds to a disk-cut line and leave most of the soil untouched 23 What about the animals? – the big issue is do not let the animals eat right down to the roots Some folks keep their cattle, goats and chickens in a pen and feed them forage they grow specially the picture is of a woman feeding her ‘zerograzed’ goats That way they can gather all the manure and put in back on the land. Others let the animals out in the day (having fenced off their crops) and bring them in at night – that way they won’t get eaten – and supplement their diet with cut plants – that way they still get some manure. Yet another way – is to divide the land up into strips, alternating forage and crops, separated by thorny bushes – then the next year, they swap the strips so last year’s manured strip becomes this years crop. That way they can make sure the animals do not eat right down to the roots. 24 So summarising We reviewed the causes of GHG increase and looked at some examples of mitigation – that is? We then looked at the impacts of GHGs on climate change and at which farmers would appear to be coming off worse – namely Africa. We then looked at the impacts of these changes on African farmers and the main one of those was? Then we looked at some of the things they could do to reduce the impacts on their lives – examples? 25 Homework http://www.farmafrica.org.uk/sma rtweb/what-we-do/what-we-do Choose a country or a type of and then a particular project – PP x3 about one project include a picture of the project and a map of where it is and something about it. Or go to regional projects or follow any other links on the site that might prove interesting Or find your own relevant item, using google searches such as ‘African farming projects’ 26