ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION MEASURES IN CLIMATE CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Climate change has several impacts on ecosystems and societies and we have to protect ourselves from these impacts. But we are not only victims of climate change, we also contribute to it. Human activities, including agricultural sector activities, are causing climate change through increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

There are two main actions we can take:

•           on the one hand, we need to adapt to climate change effects (adaptation);

•           on the other hand, we should intervene on its causes (mitigation).

Adaptation	Mitigation
Adaptation measures deal with the impacts of climate change and have the objective of reducing the vulnerability of human and natural systems.	Mitigation addresses the causes of the problem, which involves reducing greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere.

Adaptation measures are adjustments to current or expected climate change effects, while mitigation measures aim to attenuate climate change effects by reducing concentrations of green house gas.

What is adaptation?

Adaptation is defined as activities that aim “to reduce the vulnerability of human or natural systems to the impacts of climate change and climate-related risks, by maintaining or increasing adaptive capacity and systems resilience” (OECD-DAC, 2011).

Current and future impacts of climate variability and climate change threaten development achievements and stall further progress. Adaptation can reduce these threats. In turn, development, if appropriately planned, can help to enable climate change adaptation.

Adaptation to climate change is not fundamentally different from development activities aiming at reducing vulnerability of people to current stresses. However, adaptation puts emphasis on reducing those vulnerabilities that result from current and future climate change impacts. Adaptation measures should therefore be integrated into policy and programme design.

Adaptation strategies

Adaptation strategies in agriculture are based on a combination of:

• specific actions (e.g. switching from one crop variety to another); and

• systemic changes (e.g. diversifying livelihoods against risks or an institutional reform to create incentives for better resource management).

The time span of adaptation actions can vary considerably. For example, while farmers can adjust timing of farming operations almost ad-hoc, changes in entire farming or food systems may require several years to decades.

Adaptation strategies include a broad set of activities ranging from activities that focus on reducing drivers of vulnerability to interventions aimed at confronting not yet experienced climate change impacts. In between, there is a broad spectrum of activities with gradations of emphasis on vulnerability and impacts that aim to build response capacity and better manage climate risks.

Climate adaptation strategies can therefore be listed as:

1. Climate Information and Forecasting

As farmers deal with changes in climate and more variability in weather, history becomes less reliable guide. Under these conditions there is greater payoff to improvements in forecasts of weather events and inter seasonal weather probabilities (Harris, 1998; Adams, 1998). Farmers with foreknowledge of such events can respond by planting and rearing more appropriate crop varieties and livestock breeds. Thus, major innovations in response to climate variability will take the form of improved information through global monitoring and forecasting (Sumner et al, 1998). Better and more timely information could also help to forecast impending “slow on set” weather events such as drought more effectively and thereby improve response times and adaptation (Mude et al, 2009). Thus, improved information delivery is a critical component for agricultural adaptation to climate change, Hence, The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has an important role to play in this regard. 

2. New Traits and Varieties

Increasing agricultural productivity requires technological advances in both crop and livestock yields. New varieties and traits which could emerge from traditional breeding techniques from advanced biotechnology techniques such as genetic modification (Smith and Lenhart, 1996; Jones, 2010). could lead to less intensive use of other inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides (Adams and Mortimore, 1997). In addition to increasing productivity generally, several new traits and varieties offer farmers greater flexibility in adapting to climate change, including traits that confer tolerance to drought and heat, and early maturation in order to shorten the growing season and reduce farmer’s exposure to risk of extreme weather events

  

3. Cropping Adjustments

Throughout the world agricultural scientists have devised various means of coping with variability in weather. Fallowing land for water conservation or nutrient conservation or nutrient restoration is an age-old practice of proven value in modern and traditional agriculture. Deep seeding and wide spacing of plant increases the chances of soil moisture being available for seedling establishment and growth. One of the most promising methods of reducing the problem of rainfall variability is the adoption of response farming proposed by Stewart in 1982 (Gwary, 2005). The response farming technique consists of an analysis of dates of onset of rains, followed by decisions of when to plant, the spacing to use, when and if fertilizers should be applied, and the plant-thinning schedule to follow.

4. Investment in Water Management and Irrigation

As climate change advances, water management will play an even more crucial role. In almost all intervention regions of development cooperation, it could be expected that climate change will be expressed in changing precipitation (distribution and quantities). Extreme weather events will lead to floods and increased surface water run-off, reduce infiltration and, as a result, hamper the natural regeneration of groundwater. Investments in the protection and rehabilitation of watersheds, in the improvement of the soil water balance and the creation of artificial water storage facilities (such as cisterns, water retention basins, small reservoirs) are necessary across extensive areas. At the same time, the supply of drinking water must be ensured and water needs to be made available for farming. In order to ensure the continuous and sustainable yields required in the light of climate change, in the future farmers will increasingly be forced to produce crops using additional irrigation.

  

5. Production Management and Practices

Production techniques may be as important as production technologies in climate change adaptation. One such technique stands out in particular: conservation or reduced tillage agriculture (Smith and Lenhart, 1996; Nyong et al, 2007). This technique aims to build up organic matter in soils and create a healthy social ecosystem by not tilling the soil before each planting. By increasing the organic matter in soils, conservation agriculture improves the moisture capacity of the soil and thereby increases water use efficiency. The practice also reduces carbon emissions by reducing tilling.

6. Insurance systems

It is expected that in most years, even in times of climate change, normal yields will be generated. The rising frequency of extreme weather events entailing occurrences of total crop losses, however, can cost smallholders their basis of livelihood. Supporting the introduction of specific insurance systems can help safeguard the bases of nutrition. Innovations in micro-insurance products could aid farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change. The Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) is mandated to provide insurance cover for both crop and livestock enterprises.

What is mitigation?

Mitigation is defined as activities that aim to attenuate climate change effects by reducing concentrations of green house gas in the atmosphere

Mitigation activities

     •     promote efforts to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions (OECD-DAC)…

•      including “technological changes that reduce resource inputs and emissions per unit of output” (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

The agricultural sector has a substantial potential for mitigation. About 30% of the global greenhouse gas emissions are due to agriculture activities and deforestation.

  

Mitigation strategies

In the agricultural sector, there are three major options to mitigate climate change:

1. Reducing emissions: Agriculture releases to the atmosphere significant amounts of CO₂, CH₄, or N₂O. The fluxes of these gases can be reduced by more efficient management of carbon and nitrogen flows in agricultural ecosystems, leading to less carbon dioxide, nitrogen and methane released.

2. Avoiding or displacing emissions: The energy efficiency of the agriculture sector can be improved. In addition, fossil fuel energy used in agricultural production can in some cases be replaced by biofuels. Greater use of wood products can also lead to displacing CO₂ emissions.

3. Removing emissions: GHGs can be absorbed from the atmosphere through sinks. A sink is any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from the atmosphere.

The options are now discussed in detail:

1. Reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide

This option includes:

• Adopting improved cropland management practices

Minimal soil disturbance (minimum and zero tillage) and improved grazing management (e.g. stocking rate management, rotational grazing, and enclosure of grassland from livestock grazing) can reduce emissions from volatilization of organic soil Carbon. Integrated nutrient management can reduce emissions by reducing leaching and volatile losses, improving nitrogen use efficiency through precision farming and improving fertilizer application timing.

• Improving livestock feeding practices

Using specific agents or dietary additives, improvements in forage quality and quantity, seeding fodder grasses or legumes with higher productivity and deeper roots, reducing fuel load by vegetation management, can increase efficiency of the digestive process thus reducing emissions from enteric fermentation.

• Avoiding drainage of organic soils

Draining organic soils for cultivation leads to higher GHG emissions. Therefore maintaining a shallower water table, together with avoiding deep ploughing and cropping row crops and tubers can reduce emissions.

• Reducing deforestation and forest degradation

Committing forests for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and adopting sustainable management of existing forests can reduce emissions.

2. Avoiding and displacing emissions

This option includes:

• Improving post-harvest practices

Reducing post harvesting food losses (improved storage and post-harvest handling) will contribute to decreasing emissions per unit of food consumed.

• Improving energy use in agricultural production

Increasing energy efficiency and replacing fossil fuels with biofuels will reduce emissions per unit of food produced.

3. Removing emissions

This option includes:

• Improved agronomic practices

Use of cover crops, avoiding use of bare fallow and incorporation of crop residue generate higher inputs of carbon residue, leading to increased soil carbon storage (systems that retain crop residues tend to increase soil carbon because these residues are precursors of soil organic matter).

• Improved soil & water management

Increased available water in the root zone can enhance biomass production, increase the amount of above-ground and root biomass returned to the soil, and improve soil organic concentration (for example: construction of soil or stone bunds, drainage measures, irrigation).

• Agro-forestry, afforestation/reforestation, forest restoration

References : Akinwale, J.A. (2019). AEC 507. Environmental Extension. lecture note. Akure. Nigeria : Fedral university of Technology Akure.