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A woman crossing one of several streams which feed an irrigation canal used for climate-smart agriculture in Tanzania.

©FAO/Daniel Hayduk

Soils help to combat and adapt to climate change


by playing a key role in the carbon cycle

emission of greenhouse gases from agriculture,


enhance carbon sequestration and build resilience to
climate change.

H
ealthy soils provide the largest store
of terrestrial carbon. When managed
sustainably, soils can play an important
role in climate change mitigation by
storing carbon (carbon sequestration) and
decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the
atmosphere. Conversely, if soils are managed
poorly or cultivated through unsustainable
agricultural practices, soil carbon can be released
into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide
(CO2), which can contribute to climate change.
The steady conversion of grassland and forestland
to cropland and grazing lands over the past
several centuries has resulted in historic losses
of soil carbon worldwide. However, by restoring
degraded soils and adopting soil conservation
Sustainable Satoyama–Satoumi landscape management in Japan builds resilience to
practices, there is major potential to decrease the
climate change. ©FAO/Kazem Vafadari
S O I L S AN D T H E CA R B ON C Y C L E

T
he carbon cycle is the exchange of carbon (in various forms, e.g., carbon dioxide) between the atmosphere,
ocean, terrestrial biosphere and geological deposits. Most of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere comes from
biological reactions that take place in the soil. Carbon sequestration occurs when carbon from the atmosphere is
absorbed and stored in the soil. This is an important function because the more carbon that is stored in the soil,
the less carbon dioxide there will be in the atmosphere contributing to climate change.

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©FAO, 2015

THE CARBON CYCLE


Th e C a rb o n Cy c l e
1. P lants use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, water from the soil and sunlight to make their own food and grow
in a process called photosynthesis. The carbon they absorb from the air becomes part of the plant.

2. Animals that feed on the plants pass the carbon compounds along the food chain.

3. M
 ost of the carbon the animals consume is converted into carbon dioxide as they breathe (respiration), and is
released back into the atmosphere.

4. W
 hen the animals and plants die, the dead organisms are eaten by decomposers in the soil (bacteria and fungi) and
the carbon in their bodies is again returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

5. In some cases, the dead plants and animals are buried and turn into fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, over millions of
years. Humans burn fossil fuels to create energy, which sends most of the carbon back into the atmosphere in the
form of carbon dioxide.
K E Y C H A L L EN G E S
Climate change represents a serious threat to global
food security, not least because of its effects on soils.
Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns can have
a great impact on the organic matter and processes
that take place in our soils, as well as the plants and
crops that grow from them. In order to meet the
related challenges of global food security and climate
change, agriculture and land management practices
must undergo fundamental transformations. Improved
agriculture and soil management practices that increase
soil organic carbon, such as agro-ecology, organic
farming, conservation agriculture and agroforestry,
bring multiple benefits. They produce fertile soils that
are rich in organic matter (carbon), keep soil surfaces
vegetated, require fewer chemical inputs, and promote
crop rotations and biodiversity. These soils are also
less susceptible to erosion and desertification, and
will maintain vital ecosystem services such as the
hydrological and nutrient cycles, which are essential to
maintaining and increasing food production. FAO also
A villager walking through a peat bog in Tunisia. ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
promotes a unified approach, known as Climate-Smart
Agriculture (CSA), to develop the technical, policy
and investment conditions that support its member
countries in achieving food security under climate fao in action
change. CSA practices sustainably increase productivity
and resilience to climate change (adaptation), while The Organic Soils and Peatlands Climate
reducing and removing greenhouse gases whenever Change Mitigation Initiative
possible (mitigation).
Peatlands store tremendous amounts of carbon.
However, when they are drained and used, mainly for
agriculture, grazing and forestry, peatlands become
significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Peatlands drainage and peat fires are responsible for
almost 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from
the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector
(AFOLU). The vital role peatlands play in avoiding
and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as in
water regulation and unique biodiversity conservation,
is insufficiently recognized. The Organic Soils and
Peatlands Climate Change Mitigation Initiative is an
informal network of organizations established to raise
awareness about peatlands, promote strategic action
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands
and organic soils, and safeguard their other vital
ecosystem services. FAO and the Initiative identify three
main strategies for reducing emissions from peatlands
and organic soils: 1. secure undrained peatlands to
prevent emissions; 2. rewet drained peatlands to reduce
emissions; and 3. adapt management strategies for
peatlands that cannot be rewetted.

Moringa seedlings at a tree nursery. The moringa tree can play an important
role in mitigating climate change and increasing the incomes of poor farmers
in Africa. ©FAO/Daniel Hayduk
fao in action
countries, 40 percent of whom were women, received
training on climate-smart agriculture, resulting in 736
energy-efficient cooking stoves being adopted to reduce
deforestation. 79 tree nurseries were created, 417 000
tree seedlings were planted and 6 ha of terraces were
established (on 204 farms) to conserve soil and water.
Two biogas digesters were also installed to produce
renewable energy from cow manure.

A view of terraced hills, which help soils retain water and prevent erosion.
©FAO/Giulio Napolitano
Key facts
Three Rivers Sustainable Grazing Project in Land-use conversions and drainage of organic soils for
China cultivation are responsible for about 10 percent of all
greenhouse gas emissions.
Restoring degraded grasslands through sustainable It is estimated that because of drainage, peatlands are
grassland management can lock more carbon in soils currently the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in
and biomass, increase the water-holding capacity the AFOLU sector.
of the soil and enhance grassland biodiversity. The It is estimated that soils can sequester around 20 PgC
Three Rivers Sustainable Grazing Project in the (petagrams of carbon) in 25 years, more than 10 percent
Qinghai province of China aims to restore degraded of the anthropogenic emissions.
grazing land and sequester soil carbon, while at the Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and
same time increasing productivity, building resilience fisheries have nearly doubled over the past 50 years, and
and improving livelihoods in smallholder herder could increase an additional 30 percent by 2050 without
communities. The pilot programme is helping local yak- greater efforts to reduce them.
and sheep-herding households adopt a combination Emissions generated during the application of synthetic
of sustainable grassland management options related fertilizers accounted for 14 percent of agricultural
to grazing intensity, grass cultivation and animal emissions in 2012, and are the fastest growing emissions
husbandry. The average annual mitigation potential in source in agriculture, having increased some 45 percent
the first 10 years of the project was estimated at since 2001.
63 000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. Peatlands and organic soils contain nearly 30 percent of
the world’s soil carbon but only cover three percent of the
earth’s land area.
Climate-Smart Agriculture for smallholder The AFOLU sector is responsible for just under a quarter
farmers in Kenya and Tanzania (~10–12 GtCO2eq/yr) of anthropogenic greenhouse gas
emissions, mainly from deforestation and agricultural
emissions from livestock, soil and nutrient management.
As part of its two pilot projects in Tanzania and Kenya,
FAO’s Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture Soil carbon sequestration increases the ability of soils
to hold soil moisture, withstand erosion and enrich
(MICCA) programme selected and promoted the uptake
ecosystem biodiversity, which helps cropping systems to
of different practices based on experts and participatory better withstand droughts and floods.
assessments with farmers. Some 9 000 farmers in both

Food and Agriculture Organization


of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
I4737E/1/06.15

00153 Rome, Italy


© FAO 2015

Tel:(+39) 06 57051
Fax:(+39) 06 570 53152 #IYS2015
e-mail: soils-2015@fao.org
web: www.fao.org fao.org/soils-2015

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