FAO in North America

Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture in the U.S.

13/12/2018

13 December 2019, Washington, DC – FAO North America and EcoAgriculture Partners co-hosted a timely discussion on “Agricultural Landscapes and Climate Change in the U.S.: Recent policy and program developments.” Gabriel Laizer, Strategic Partnerships Officer at FAO North America, provided welcoming remarks highlighting the relevance of the topic with the recent passing of the U.S. Farm Bill and the UN Climate Change Conference in Poland (COP24) taking place in parallel. Seth Shames, Director of Policy and Markets at EcoAgriculture Partners moderated the discussion, which focused on how agriculture can be a solution for climate mitigation, with expert speakers from FAO, USDA and the private sector.

Ernie Shea, Principal Architect at Natural Resources Solutions, Inc. highlighted that the role of agriculture in delivering solutions for biodiversity, food security, and sustainable development has been elevated globally, especially with a dedicated working group on agriculture in the COP proceedings. He explained that the term Climate Smart Agriculture has evolved with the help of the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA) establishing the three pillars of productivity, adaptation, and resilience. He reiterated the importance of creating synergies and solutions to engage all stakeholders as well as the economic viability of climate smart agricultural practices to get farmers onboard.

With population growth and shifting diets, we need to look at food waste and loss as a way of increasing the availability of food and reducing methane emissions, stated Rima Al-Azar, Global Climate Governance Coordinator and lead of Climate Smart Agriculture team at FAO who joined virtually from Rome. She also mentioned that subsidies, although very political, could become more climate friendly by disincentivizing harmful agricultural practices. She noted that although the U.S. has pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, there is a lot of activity at the state level to conduct research and take action on addressing climate change related issues, referencing her visit to the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, which took place in September 2018. Rima extended an invitation to participants to attend the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA) multi-stakeholder meeting that will take place in spring 2019.

Marci Baranski, Climate Change Specialist at the USDA Office of Environmental and Energy Policy in the Climate Change Program Office noted that progress on agricultural conservation practices varies by region. For example, adaption rates for nutrient management practices for corn grown in the Corn Belt increased from 6 percent to 35 percent over a 10 year period. She added that cover crop adoption is growing, but still makes up a very small amount of land. She highlighted the key role of the Climate Hubs across the U.S. play by working closely with local USDA offices serving as important conduits of information and tools. The hubs are currently looking at resilience of different farming practices and lessons learnt from recent climate disasters.

Overall, the conversation displayed the need for greater awareness and investments around Climate Smart Agriculture practices and increased engagement from different stakeholders, especially farmers. Ensuring better soil management practices is vital to unleashing the potential of agriculture for climate mitigation.