Hunger and malnutrition remain major issues around the world, and the global population continues to grow each year. Grow Further harnesses innovation in agriculture to improve food security. However, as critical as this work is, there are other global imperatives. The need to address climate change is one of them, and arguably the most important.
Grow Further prides itself on funding efforts to help farmers adapt to global warming. Agriculture need not be at odds with efforts to tackle climate change, but what if it is, at least in some cases?
New research is now challenging assumptions about how agriculture may be making climate change worse. It’s doing so, the researchers say, by prioritizing the cultivation of critical food staples over preserving forests and other ecosystems that can store carbon.
What drives deforestation?
A new study published in the journal Nature Food challenges the reader to reconsider how and why farming is a primary force behind deforestation in several countries, and why public responses to the problem may be ineffective.
Unfortunately, growing the food supply is often achieved by expanding the area under cultivation and not by enhancing yields per hectare, and this can lead to the loss of forests. The researchers behind this study note that most publicity around deforestation driven by agriculture focuses on cash crops like cocoa, oil palm, coffee, and fodder crops to raise cattle for beef. Beef production in particular has been singled out for its impact on the environment and contribution to climate change.
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