International guest blog: Agroecology farming and its contribution to climate change mitigation and sustainable food production

International guest blog by Tulyahabwe Rogers (from Uganda, East Africa).  So excited to welcome him to the Paws For Reaction extended family!

Severe, diverse, and location-specific impacts on agricultural production are anticipated with climate change. The last IPCC report indicates that the rise of carbon dioxide and associated greenhouse gases could lead to a 1.4 to 5.8 °C increase in global surface temperatures, with subsequent consequences on precipitation frequency and amounts. The 2013 report of the IPCC authoritatively re-affirms that climate change and variability will impact food and fiber production around the world due to the effects on plant growth and yield by the elevated carbon dioxide, higher temperatures, altered precipitation, and transpiration regimes, and increased frequency of extreme events, as well as modified weed, pest and pathogen pressure. Therefore, more durable benefits will likely result from radical agroecological measures that will strengthen the resilience of farmers and rural communities. Traditional farming systems are repositories of a wealth of principles and measures that can help modern agricultural systems become more resilient to climate change.