• What we do
  • The People
  • About Us
  • Why Innovation Africa
  • Contact Us
Innovation AfricaCreating the Future Today
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Agricultural revolution in Africa could increase global carbon emissions

    November 19, 2014 Editor 0

    WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Productivity-boosting #agricultural innovations in Africa could lead to an increase in global deforestation rates and carbon emissions, a Purdue University study finds.

    Historically, improvements in agricultural technology have conserved land and decreased carbon emissions at the global level: Gaining better yields in one area lessens the need to clear other areas for crops, sidestepping a land conversion process that can significantly raise the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

    Agricultural advances in Africa, however, could have the reverse effect, increasing globally the amount of undeveloped land converted to cropland and raising #greenhouse gas emissions, said Thomas Hertel, a distinguished professor of agricultural economics.

    “Increasing productivity in Africa – a carbon-rich region with low agricultural yields – could have negative effects on the #environment, especially if agricultural markets are highly integrated,” he said. “This study highlights the importance of understanding the interplay between globalization and the environmental impacts of agricultural technology. They are deeply intertwined.”

    Debate surrounds the effects of agricultural innovation on the environment, Hertel noted. Some researchers suggest that increasing the profitability of farming will amplify its negative environmental effects, raising greenhouse gas emissions and accelerating tropical deforestation. Others argue that intensifying agricultural production is better for the environment overall because more land can be spared for nature if the same amount of crops can be produced using less land.

    “We set out to determine who was right,” Hertel said. “We discovered that both hypotheses can be valid – it depends on the local circumstances.”

    Hertel and fellow researchers Navin Ramankutty and Uris Baldos developed a novel economic framework to analyze the effects of regional improvements in agricultural technology on global rates of land use and carbon emissions. Their analysis showed that historical “green revolutions” in regions such as Latin America and Asia – in which better varieties of cereal grains produced dramatic gains in harvests – helped spare land and diminish carbon emissions compared with an alternative scenario without crop innovations.

    The global effects of a green revolution in Africa, however, are less certain, Hertel said.

    “If the future global economy remains as fragmented as it has been historically – a world of very distinct agricultural markets – then a green revolution in Africa will lower global carbon emissions,” he said. “But if markets become more integrated, faster agricultural innovation in Africa could raise global carbon emissions in the coming decades.”

    In an integrated world markets scenario, the researchers’ analysis showed that ramping up agricultural productivity in Africa over the years 2025-2050 could increase global cropland expansion by 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) and global carbon emissions by 267 million metric tons.

    The sharp differences between the global impacts of a prospective African green revolution and those of previous green revolutions can be traced to several factors, Hertel said.

    In an African green revolution, the relatively lower yields of African croplands would require more area to be converted to #agriculture to make up for the displaced crop production in the rest of the world. The area converted would likely be carbon intensive and have a low emissions efficiency – that is, crop yields would be low relative to the carbon emissions released by converting the land to crops.

    But the potential negative effects of an African green revolution will diminish over time, Hertel said. If sustained over several decades, agricultural innovation in Africa would eventually conserve land and decrease carbon emissions, especially if yields improved quickly. The most carbon-rich land, however, should be immediately protected from conversion to cropland, he said.

    “We need to prevent regions in Africa that are rich in carbon and biodiversity from being cleared for agriculture to avoid increasing emissions,” he said. “Boosting yields brings many benefits, but increasing global food supplies while minimizing the environmental footprint of agriculture remains a major challenge.”

    ###

    The paper was published Monday (Sept. 8) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

    Writer: Natalie van Hoose

    Related Posts

    • Biotechnologies at Work for Smallholders: Case Studies from Developing Countries in Crops, Livestock and FishBiotechnologies at Work for Smallholders: Case Studies from Developing Countries in Crops, Livestock and Fish
    • Uber for Tractors is Really a Thing in Developing CountriesUber for Tractors is Really a Thing in Developing Countries
    • Bio-enhanced Seeds: creating the next generation of seedsBio-enhanced Seeds: creating the next generation of seeds
    • Rural entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship in the rural – between place and spaceRural entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship in the rural – between place and space
    • Ancient wisdom boosts sustainability of biotech cottonAncient wisdom boosts sustainability of biotech cotton
    • Inclusive Growth as the Path Toward Sustainable Development: A New Initiative on ‘Equality of Opportunity in Global Prosperity’Inclusive Growth as the Path Toward Sustainable Development: A New Initiative on ‘Equality of Opportunity in Global Prosperity’
    Sovrn
    Share

    Categories: Agriculture

    Tags: agricultural innovations, Agriculture, Carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, Climatology, Environment, greenhouse gas

    Using technology to decrease the knowledge gap between Ugandan men and women Lessons Learned From Working Firsthand in Malawi’s ICT Sector

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to our stories


 

Recent Posts

  • Entrepreneurial Alertness, Innovation Modes, And Business Models in Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises December 30, 2021
  • The Strategic Role of Design in Driving Digital Innovation June 10, 2021
  • Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control June 10, 2021
  • BRIEF FOCUS: Optimal spacing for groundnuts in smallholder farming systems June 9, 2021
  • COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa June 9, 2021

Categories

Archives

Popular Post-All time

  • A review on biomass-based... 1k views
  • Can blockchain disrupt ge... 808 views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Y... 806 views
  • Test Your Value Propositi... 759 views
  • Prize-winning projects pr... 727 views

Recent Posts

  • Entrepreneurial Alertness, Innovation Modes, And Business Models in Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises
  • The Strategic Role of Design in Driving Digital Innovation
  • Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control
  • BRIEF FOCUS: Optimal spacing for groundnuts in smallholder farming systems
  • COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa
  • Explicit knowledge networks and their relationship with productivity in SMEs
  • Intellectual property issues in artificial intelligence: specific reference to the service sector
  • Africa RISING publishes a livestock feed and forage production manual for Ethiopia
  • Transforming crop residues into a precious feed resource for small ruminants in northern Ghana
  • Photo report: West Africa project partners cap off 2020 with farmers field day events in Northern Ghana and Southern Mali

Tag Cloud

    africa African Agriculture Business Business model Business_Finance Company Crowdsourcing data Development East Africa economics Education Entrepreneur entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship ethiopia ghana Health_Medical_Pharma ict Information technology Innovation kenya knowledge Knowledge Management Leadership marketing mobile Mobile phone nigeria Open innovation Organization Research rwanda science Science and technology studies social enterprise social entrepreneurship south africa Strategic management strategy tanzania Technology Technology_Internet uganda

Categories

Archives

  • A review on biomass-based hydrogen production for renewable energy supply 1k views
  • Can blockchain disrupt gender inequality? 808 views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Your Big Data Innovations in Agriculture 806 views
  • Test Your Value Proposition: Supercharge Lean Startup and CustDev Principles 759 views
  • Prize-winning projects promote healthier eating, smarter crop investments 727 views

Copyright © 2005-2020 Innovation Africa Theme created by PWT. Powered by WordPress.org