TakingITGlobal

www.decarbonize.me Agriculture Much of the Earth's land is used for agricultural purposes. Whether for crops or livestock, agricultur- al land is vitally important, and should be used to its full potential to benefit all people. At the same time, no sector faces as many challenges with changes in the water cycle as agriculture. We must develop policies and create an education system to ensure sustainable agricultural development. We propose the following policy opportunities: • Provide subsidies to farmers for education regarding sustainable farming practices, and use of sustainable techniques and technologies. • Protect the biodiversity of food products. • Provide subsidies for the use of organic fertilizers and other sustainable farming inputs. Governments should promote the wellbeing of all their citizens. One way this goal can be encouraged is through social investment leading to the adoption of sustainable systems for agricultural practices, such as providing subsidies to farmers who receive education on the use of sustainable agricultural practices. Agriculture contributes approximately 10% of our plan- et's greenhouse gas emissions. We need to adapt our current practices to reduce the impacts of climate change. However, agriculture is a key economic sector in several countries, and is an industry whichprovides life-sustaining food. Educating farmers is crucial to ensure widespread knowledge of sustainable practic- es. Although this may include new technology and science, in many cases, this also includes traditional technologies and seeds. Such practices help restore depleted nitrogen levels in soil through crop rotation, limiting water waste and chemical runoff, preventing soil compaction, and reducing fossil fuel consumption. ese practices are necessary for efficient and sustainable growth of crops. We suggest that farmers receive education on new, minimal impact and/or sustainable traditional farming methods/technologies as they become available, along with the introduction of financial incentives to promote the implementation of sustainable techniques. Governments and farmers must work together to protect crop biodiversity. We need to reduce crop exportation and encourage the production of indigenous local crops as a strategy to promote biodiversity. Seed banks must also be established and supported to preserve biodiversity and protect crops. Biotechnology and food laws which limit the reach of multinational seed corporations who seek to limit biodiversity in food crops need to be renewed and expanded in scope. We support the use of policy to protect the biodiversity of crops for future generations. "To achieve a sustainable world we should work together to live in harmony with nature, through using only the resources we need in life and wasting less of the resources we extract and harvest. About a third of the food grown for human consumption goes to waste each year - think about just how many more people we could feed if we reduced this amount!" Willowridge High School - Pretoria, South Africa

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