Climate change and agriculture

by Sen. Edgardo J. Angara

Agriculture is intricately intertwined with climate change. Depending on how it is managed, agriculture can either aggravate or mitigate the climate-change problem.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 70 percent of freshwater use in the world goes to agriculture, compared with industry use (20 percent), and municipal and domestic use (10 percent). In Asia, agriculture accounts for 80 percent of freshwater withdrawals.

An International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) recent study estimates that agriculture contributes about 15 percent of the annual greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions warming up the globe. The World Trade Organization projects an even larger contribution—it estimates that all agriculture—related sectors combined is possibly emitting up to 25 percent to 30 percent of the annual GHG emissions to the atmosphere.

At the same time, agriculture, through biodiesels, increases the options for renewable energy.

Practices such as increasing crop production, introducing carbon sequestration and providing for effective land-use management can mitigate agriculture’s impact on climate change.

On the other hand, climate change has been affecting harvests because the frequent and extreme changes in the weather have ravaged farms and crops.

Thus, our country, which is still largely agricultural (over a third of our work force is engaged in agriculture and agriculture-related activities), is particularly vulnerable to the dynamics between agriculture and climate change.

Such huge decline in harvest will ultimately lead to food-price increases like what we experienced last year.

"Filipino farmers will definitely the ones will be hit by these changes, hence the government must empower our farmers."

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