Global climate change is probably among the greatest challenges humanity has ever seen and will ever face. The question that remains is: how will productive arrangements prepare and adapt to this challenging future while maintaining the capacity to meet human needs?
We need to recognize common challenges and increase our capacity to overcome adversity. There is no longer any doubt that the climate crisis is real and largely caused by human activity, and we are already experiencing more frequent extreme weather events, in addition to a series of proven effects, such as biodiversity loss, rising sea levels, water supply crises, among others.
In this context, the Brazilian agribusiness production chain deserves special attention, as it is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the country, accounting for 70% of total emissions, when land use changes are considered. It is therefore the set of activities that most contributes to the acceleration of the scenarios mentioned above. At the same time, as it is the sector of the economy most closely linked to the climate, even a production factor, it is becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. Phytosanitary problems, changes in the geography of crops, extreme events such as droughts and storms, heat waves, dry spells, loss of pollinators and abrupt changes in the water regime are some of the practical and local effects of global climate change that affect the agribusiness. Of all these, one thing is certain: they are alarming risks to the survival of Brazilian agribusiness.
Added to this immense challenge is the need to ensure nutritious food for a growing population of global markets and unsustainable habits. Therefore, it is not only necessary to increase productivity, but also to reduce post-harvest losses and waste, promote a change in habits, rethink regulatory frameworks and economic incentives, develop a production base that generates a positive environmental and social impact, and build a value chain for new bioeconomy products. Today, for example, 8% of GHG emissions from the food chain and 24% of water consumed by the sector come from losses and waste.
An integrated vision of the chain regarding risks, opportunities and solutions is essential to make the food system as a whole even stronger for this uncertain future. Many of the challenges are shared among the different links in this chain and many of the solutions, existing and future, can significantly increase the individual potential of each one. Therefore, it is highly necessary to activate the collective intelligence of the different sectors represented in the food chain to achieve systemic transformations.
With the aim of bringing together the agribusiness chain to build solutions, CEBDS’s Agroclimatic Intelligence (IAC) program seeks to promote debate on the climate risks that weigh on the agriculture and food sector, with the goal of increasing the availability of nutritious food by 50% while reducing GHG emissions by 50%. IAC also seeks to build a strategic vision that develops greater resilience for the system. In this sense, in June CEBDS held a workshop with different links in the chain on the challenges and opportunities for the sector. More recently, we launched a publication on Agriculture 4.0 and its contributions to producing more, emitting less and becoming more resilient to the changes that are coming.
More than understanding how and what to do with the available technology, we need to understand where these inevitable changes will occur and how to scale up existing good practices. Now is the time to understand the main challenges related to the climate crisis, based on an integrated view of the food chain, and develop solution scenarios seeking priority paths that make agribusiness even more sustainable.
