Dossier
Climate-Smart Agriculture
Agriculture emits greenhouse gasses and therefore contributes to climate change, but agriculture and food security are also threatened by climate change. The growth of the world population and increase of income levels has resulted in a increased demand for food. Yet, this demand is increasing faster than ever before because the number of middle and high income people in the world is growing rapidly. Climate-Smart Agriculture addresses on the one hand the reduction of the environmental and climate impact of agricultural activity and on the other hand the development of food production methods and crops that are well adapted to changing weather conditions.
Climate-Smart Agriculture was placed on the political agenda during the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2014. In 2011, Wageningen University & Research already initiated a global research alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture. The Dutch government has now taken this subject to the international political arena. In New York, 75 countries agreed that measures should be taken to drastically increase food production with substantial reduction of resource usage and greenhouse gas emissions.
The Netherlands and Climate-Smart Agriculture
The Netherlands can play a key role in designing Climate-Smart Agriculture plans. Wageningen University & Research develops state of the art knowledge for Climate-Smart Agriculture and collaboration with companies and governments results in cutting-edge innovations.
Since the Climate-Smart Agriculture - Science for Action statement was published in 2011, Wageningen University & Research has been working with various renowned organisations on a global research agenda for Climate-Smart Agriculture. The current state of affairs is summarised in the Position paper Climate-Smart Agriculture.
News on Climate-Smart Agriculture
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New photosynthesis institute in Wageningen
- By 2050, there will be nearly 10 billion mouths to feed worldwide. That is two billion more than now. This explosive population growth, along with climate change and biodiversity loss, is putting food security under pressure. One potential solution could be to improve photosynthesis in crops. At the new, independent Jan IngenHousz Institute in Wageningen, plant scientists from a range of disciplines are therefore attempting to unpick the secret of photosynthesis efficiency. -
Climate goals 2030 can be met by recoupling livestock and feed production
- Recoupling livestock and feed production in the Netherlands will reduce ammonia emissions (nearly half) and greenhouse gas emissions (more than a quarter), nearly meeting the national climate goals for 2030. That is the main conclusion of research of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) published in the scientific journal Science of The Total Environment. In this study, the amount of feed that can be produced in a region determines the number of livestock. -
WUR is working with dairy supply chains to reduce carbon footprint of milk by 50%
- Unilever (which works with Ben & Jerry’s and CONO Cheesemakers) and Nestlé (which works with Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods) both have programmes in place to make their respective dairy supply chains more sustainable and to achieve an ambitious goal: a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of milk by 2030. The two chains have now joined forces with WUR to launch a four-year ‘Low Carbon Dairy’ public-private partnership (PPP) which will address a number of questions such as: what measures are required to achieve that objective? How do you come up with an appropriate plan that works for different types of businesses? What are the implications for the economy and other sustainability issues? -
New Nature-Based Future Challenges thanks to philanthropic donation
- Climate change, loss of biodiversity and food insecurity are threats to the global food supply and our society that require pioneering solutions. Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and the University Fund Wageningen are therefore partnering with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) to launch a series of three Nature-based Future Challenges. Aim of these student challenges is to stimulate student teams to find solutions that mitigate climate change effects and contribute to a biodiversity positive future. The FFAR is donating over $250,000 to make this challenge a reality. -
Breeding climate-friendly dairy cows
- In the Netherlands, 75 percent of all methane that is emitted into the atmosphere in agriculture comes from ruminants. Animal breeding can help farmers to cost-effectively reduce emissions, which would result in long term effects. A study by Wageningen University & Research which was recently published in the Journal of Dairy science shows that around 20 percent of variation in methane emissions between individual cows comes from the genetic background of the cow. These results indicate that it is possible to breed for cows that are low methane emitters. -
Genetics of enteric methane emissions of Dutch dairy cows
- Breeding for lower emitting cows is possible as shown in our research where we collected data on 16 different farms in the Netherlands. This project was part of the Climate approach of the Ministry of Agriculture. -
How do you measure emissions in an open barn?
- Much effort is being made within the Dutch livestock sector to reduce ammonia and methane emissions. But, how do you measure these emissions? How do we know what the current concentrations are? And, even more to the point, how can you measure emissions in an open barn? Doesn’t everything just – litterally - evaporate into thin air? -
Seaweed as a methane inhibitor is not free of risks
- Cows exhale the strong greenhouse gas methane. One of the possible ways to limit methane emissions from cows is by feeding them the seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis. This seaweed contains high concentrations of bromoform, a substance that counteracts the formation of methane in the cow's rumen. Research by Wageningen University & Research (WUR) shows that bromoform can then end up in the milk and urine of the cow.
Projects on Climate-Smart Agriculture
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SENSE project: Synergies in integrated systems
- To what extent can integrated crop-livestock-forestry (agroforestry) systems be part of the solution to climate and biodiversity crises? The SENSE project develops scenarios for farm circularity and evaluates their (i) potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, (ii) resilience, using probabilistic risk analysis, and (iii) side effects on other societal goals. -
Microbiome in relation to CH4 and NH3 emissions
- Reduction of methane emissions can be achieved through an integrated feed and animal-oriented approach. Enteric methane production is largely influenced by feeding strategies and by control of the (rumen) microbiome. This project plan investigates the microbiome track and its influence through animal management. -
Low Carbon Dairy: working together on a 50% reduction of the footprint of milk
- Wageningen University & Research is working to achieve a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of milk by 2030 through the four-year Low Carbon Dairy public-private partnership (PPP). We are doing this in partnership with Unilever’s dairy supply chains involving Ben & Jerry’s and CONO Cheesemakers, and Nestlé with Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods. Feed companies (Agrifirm, ForFarmers and De Heus) and Duynie (supplier of co-products), Lely (robots and data systems for dairy farms), and Rabobank are also participating. -
A global to local study of climate smart livestock in Kenya (PhD project - Annita Kirwa)
- The project approaches the governance challenge of addressing sustainable Development Goals (SDG) interactions from a global to local lens through a multi-level case study of the Kenyan dairy sector. The study focuses on the ways through which bilateral and multilateral donors as well as government ministries are coordinating to address trade-offs and build synergies within the climate smart livestock context. The study aims contribute insights on how coordination mechanisms can transform a fragmented SDG governance system towards a polycentric system for an effective SDG implementation. -
Roughage management in a circular dairy system: reducing nutrient losses
- The dairy sector in The Netherlands is under pressure to increase its sustainability. After the progress made inthe past 30 years regarding nutrient efficiency, further efforts are required to comply with new issues, raisedby societal concern: nitrogen emissions (ammonia), greenhouse gas emissions (methane) and closing regionalnutrient cycles (circularity). Dairy processors are working on this market shift by incorporating thesesustainability goals in their milk sourcing and quality strategy, both in their processing as well as in the primaryproduction phase. Dairy farmers therefore need to be supported to be able to make their operational andstrategic management more sustainable within their possibilities. -
Climate-smart cattle breeding
- Reducing the CO2 footprint of dairy products has become an essential aspect of sustainable dairy production. Since dairy cows’ methane emissions are a significant contributor to the CO2 footprint, and the Dutch agricultural sector faces the challenge of further reducing methane emissions with 2.1 Mega tonnes by 2030 and even more by 2050, farmers urgently need cost-effective and efficient ways to reduce methane emissions. Some solutions to reduce enteric methane emissions have been extensively researched. Additives or manure fermentation, for example. -
Microbiome in relation to CH4 and NH3
- Potential reduction measures via the feed and animal track - The integrated approach to methane and ammonia in dairy farming, with the aim of implementing the targeted reductions in 2030, means that for the ration, the entire chain of measures and practices to arrive at a ration (ensilage, grassland management, grass extraction, quality, grazing, fertilisation, etc.) must be investigated. The effects of this in practice will be tested on pilot farms and demonstrated on demo farms so that action perspectives can be given to farmers. -
Nature-based Solutions for Climate Resilient and Circular Food Systems
- Nature-based solutions are claimed to positively contribute to food security under climate change conditions. However, the knowledge underpinning this claim is fragmented and insufficiently existent. This project aimed to improve our understanding about nature-based solutions in the context of food systems at risks due to climate change. -
Egypt and Jordan - Climate-Smart Agriculture
- In this project, a perspective is being developed to stimulate Climate-Smart Agriculture in Egypt and Jordan in the coming years. Through a collaboration with partners working on projects in the two countries and local stakeholders, experience and knowledge from previous projects is included in the perspective that is being developed. -
Cow Act: Regional activation of Danone's sustainability strategy
- Key challenge: how to come to regional activation plans for milksheds in France, Spain and Poland to further develop and implement the sustainability goals of Danone on milkshed and dairy farm level.