Agricultural production in the least developed countries and its impact on emission of greenhouse gases – An energy approach

Abstract

A growing world population means more food that needs to be provided. This in turn forces agriculture to increase production and thereby emit more greenhouse gases (GHG). This study reveals that there is a worldwide decrease in climate and environmental unit costs of producing agricultural raw materials, understood in this article as the relationship between production volume and the amount of GHG emitted. In the least developed countries (LDCs), land productivity was significantly lower over the period 1961–2018 compared to the rest of the world. The reasons included adverse natural conditions and capital shortages. Average consumption was also lower, as increased production was accompanied by a growing population. In contrast, the climate and environmental costs were higher. The differences between the dynamics of phenomena that are related to food production and its climate and environmental costs, both in the LDCs and globally, reveal that the key to solving the conflict between the need of food production and the necessity of climate protection is mainly the modernisation of agriculture and providing it with appropriate technical equipment and production techniques in such a way as to satisfy the most important and irreducible nutritional purpose while minimising environmental costs.