Agriculture and climate change
This issue of the journal Rural 21 covers the topic climate change. Agriculture has been one of the most complex topics in climate negotiations. Agriculture is a major contributing factor to climate change; at the same time, it is one of the areas most affected by climate change, which is jeopardizing global food security. This issue looks at what progress has been made, and, taking different examples, it demonstrates how resilience towards climate change can be enhanced not only for agriculture, but also for communities as a whole. The first article answers the question where we stand with agriculture and climate change. The authors of this article argue that organic farming systems are more climate friendly and climate resilient than conventional ones. And this make them suitable to maintain global food security in changing climate conditions. However, in assessing mitigation and adaptation potential, one should not only look at production aspects, and therefore the authors make a case for a food systems perspective. This article discusses climate-smart agriculture (CSA); what it refers to exactly, and in what way the concept differs from that of sustainable agriculture. Showing examples from Colombia, Niger and India, the author demonstrates what CSA means in practice and explains why the term “agriculture” does not do justice to the broader framing of the context.