Aid to farmers in poor countries could help curb greenhouse gas emissions affecting climate change and reduce poverty and hunger for some billion people worldwide, the UN food agency said Wednesday.
"If agriculture in developing countries becomes more sustainable… and becomes more resilient against the impact of climate change, this should help to reduce the number of currently around one billion hungry people and offer better income and job opportunities," said FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Mueller.
The impact of farming on climate change is clear as agriculture accounts for about 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and land use changes such as deforestation another 17 percent, the FAO said.
Between 1990 and 2005, emissions by agriculture in developing countries increased by around 30 percent and are expected to rise further, it said.
"Millions of poor farmers around the globe could help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Peter Holmgren, FAO co-ordinator for UN climate change negotiations.
He said massive funding is needed to change unsustainable farming methods and train farmers in new practices in the developing world.
"Sustainable farming practices offer important options to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time, to increase agricultural productivity," the agency said.
Holmgren stressed that a new global climate agreement should include agriculture and fund measures to mitigate the impact of farming such as reduced tillage, improved grassland managment and restoration of degraded lands.
The United Nations will host a conference in Copenhagen in December tasked with agreeing on a new climate change pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. The new pact should spell out curbs on greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 that will be deepeneed by 2050.
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