Discourse on Climate-Smart Agriculture for REDD+ Strategy in the Congo Basin

Ernest L Molua

doi:10.5539/jsd.v5n10p77

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is central to the development challenges of the Central African sub-region. It is the nexus for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Congo basin in the central African sub-region stores a vast amount of carbon. However, deforestation and degradation from agricultural practices compromise the forest carbon stocks at the expense of sustainable forest management. This paper contends that in the advent of climate change, agriculture must be one that meets the triple challenge of ensuring food security, adapting to climate stressors and contributing to climate change mitigation. The goal of this discourse is to unveil the potentials for climate-smart agriculture in contributing to a better REDD+ strategy for countries in the Congo Basin. The paper reveals that agriculture based on agroforestry systems and conservation practices will be required to conserve forests and ensure food production, and also contribute to meeting the objectives of REDD+. The paper demonstrates that sustainable land management and climate-smart actions that form the panoply of agroforestry actions could help increase carbon sequestration, increase overall productivity and ensure systems cope with the adverse effects of climate change. Harnessing these opportunities requires that the prescribed strategies strengthen the link between forestry and agriculture, and agrarian efforts maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs in addressing agricultural production, food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation challenges.

Highlights

More than 70 million people inhabit Congo Basin’s trans-boundary pool of natural resources, 62% of whom still live in rural areas depend for their everyday needs by direct use of forest ecosystem goods and services for household consumption, including food and fuelwood (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2005)
The goal of this discourse is to unveil the potentials for climate-smart agriculture in contributing to a better REDD+ strategy for countries in the Congo Basin
Agriculture in the Congo Basin, as well as globally, is under significant pressure to meet the demands of rising populations using finite, often degraded, land and water resources

Summary

Introduction

More than 70 million people inhabit Congo Basin’s trans-boundary pool of natural resources, 62% of whom still live in rural areas depend for their everyday needs by direct use of forest ecosystem goods and services for household consumption, including food and fuelwood (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2005). Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), all Parties, taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities, have commitments to “promote sustainable management and to promote and cooperate in the conservation and enhancement, as appropriate, of sinks and reservoirs of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, including biomass, forests and oceans as well as other terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems.”. This paper sets as its goal to examine the adaptation and mitigation potentials of climate-smart agriculture in contributing to a REDD+ strategy for countries in the Congo Basin This is important as it unveils opportunities for policy change which promote emissions reductions from deforestation and forest degradation through the employment of conservation techniques, which enhance carbon stocks, as a potential climate mitigation option (Bele et al, 2011; Klein et al, 2005; Adger et al, 2001). Since changes in the climate system will continue into the future regardless of emissions mitigation, strategies for protecting climate-sensitive ecosystems through management will be increasingly important (Nkem et al, 2007; Guariguata et al, 2007)

Theoretical Review of Farming and Deforestation in the Congo Basin

Methodological Approach

Findings

Conclusion