International Research Symposium on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation From Research to Implementation October 21–24, 2024 Berlin, Germany Book of Abstracts Claudia Heidecke, Harry Clark, Louis Verchot, Til Feike, Nina Grassnick, Andy Reisinger, Claudia Ringler, Tania Runge, Wei Zhang (Eds.) Thünen Working Paper 251 Acknowledgements The AgriGHG-2024 symposium was hosted by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and organised by the Thünen Institute together with partners of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (GRA) and the Global Research Partnership for a Food-Secure Future (CGIAR). Technical and organisational support was received from Federal Office for Agriculture and Food Conference Management Team. We are grateful for advice and support from Dorothea Schildt and Anne Roth (BMEL). We acknowledge the in-kind support from the Agri-DENZ and the RessortForschtKlima projects as well as the help of Stefanie Beith and Heidrun Fornahl for the AgriGHG-2024 symposium. Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries Bundesallee 50 D-38116 Braunschweig Braunschweig/Germany, 13.11.2024 Preface I Preface Total net GHG emissions from Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) averaged around 12.0 GtCO2eq per year during 2007–2016. Approximately 23% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions derive from AFOLU, while the global food system contributes nearly one third of global greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC 2023). At the same time as being a major emitter, the global food system is called upon to produce approximately 40% more and more diverse foods during 2020 to 2050 to improve the food security, diets and human health of a larger, more urbanized, and better off (but less equal) larger population. With two thirds or more of populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) unable to afford and access healthy diets, there is a particular need to increase production of animal-source foods, fruits and vegetables. At the same time, the productivity of agri- food systems is increasingly impacted by climate change, contributing to a negative feedback loop of climate change induced production expansions that, in turn, fuel climate change. Since the Paris Agreement in 2015 all countries are “pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, while taking steps to “increase the ability to adapt (…), foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not threaten food production” (PA, 2015). Effectively, measures to limit climate change, such as through biofuel development, or solar-powered electricity development on agricultural lands have already negatively affected food production; and have arguably slowed fossil-fueled agricultural mechanization, investments in livestock systems, and agrochemical access in LMICs. Impacts from unmitigated climate change, on the other hand, are wreaking havoc on production systems, affecting smallholder producers the most, with dramatic increases in inequities in access to food and global increases in undernutrition and food insecurity. Thus, it is becoming more and more crucial to develop and implement effective, locally suitable and sustainable solutions for mitigating emissions from food systems and for actively supporting management of carbon sinks, with differentiated, but highly targeted approaches for different regions of the world. Implementing measures at scale requires not only major increases in financial investments but also embracing a just climate transition where the voices of those who have most to lose from climate inaction are heard, and resources are targeted to the most marginalized food producers and consumers, including women farmers. While localizing solutions is important, improved information flows across geographies together with an enabling environment supporting innovations can spur learnings from mitigation successes and failures, help modify and contextualize solutions that have been developed for other locations, circumstances and conditions, identify new approaches and ideas, support capacity sharing and cooperation with LMICs, and can ultimately increase and improve the quality of and equity in mitigation action. The aim of this “International Research Symposium on Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Mitigation - from Research to Implementation” is to facilitate international exchange, to foster more and better implementation of climate mitigation measures in the agri-food systems sector, to give new impetus to, grow existing and develop emerging mitigation networks and their activities and to identify new opportunities and ideas for research cooperation at European and international level. This book of abstracts provides examples of research activities being conducted in different parts of the world. Options for climate change mitigation measures, monitoring, reporting and validation, effective and rapid implementation, the identification of win-win-solutions, implications for global agricultural trade, and a just climate transition are key topics covered in support for ambitious and comprehensive mitigation action. In addition, options and barriers for implementation and--critically--how to leverage the finance needed to successfully overcome the challenges posed by climate change are discussed. Preface II Specific topics addressed in detail include: • Innovations and technology options for nitrous oxide emissions reductions • Innovations and technology options for methane reduction through feed and manure management • Potentials for SOC and peatland rewetting • Meeting 2050 targets and supporting net zero • Evaluating costs of mitigation and options for implementation • National policy analysis for climate action • Innovations and technology options for methane reduction in rice production • Just transitions towards low-emission and resilient agri-food systems • GHG modelling approaches and tools • Integrated assessment of food systems including the role of carbon markets • Low emission development pathways for the livestock sector • Novel approaches for MRV and potential for remote sensing and AI modelling • Agroecology, Agroforestry, Ecosystem services • Farm level implementation and managing synergies and trade-offs of mitigation This symposium and the book of abstracts contributes to the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security (SJWA) of the UNFCCC. The program aims to enhance research and development on issues related to agriculture and food security and to share scientific, technological and other information, knowledge (including local and Indigenous knowledge), experience, innovations and best practices. Low-emission development pathways implemented in the light of different regional conditions and considering different voices and vulnerabilities are key for food security, a sustainable future and livable planet. In this context, we sincerely hope that this symposium and the book of abstracts will contribute to the aims of the SJWA and enhance progress by fostering global knowledge exchange, sharing experiences and forging new collaborations and friendships The Editors Claudia Heidecke, Harry Clark, Louis Verchot, Til Feike, Nina Grassnick, Andy Reisinger, Claudia Ringler, Tania Runge, Wei Zhang Table of Contents III Table of Contents Preface I Table of Contents III 1 Keynote Speakers 1 Policy progress towards a low emitting AFOLU sector: Insights from OECD work 2 Food matters: Dietary shifts increase the feasibility of 1.5 °C pathways 2 The potential of new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture 3 Resilient and low emission development pathways in low-income countries: food security, greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation 3 Opportunities and challenges for (voluntary) carbon markets and payment incentives 4 2 Talks 5 An Assessment of Food Loss Among Arable Crop Farmers in Nigeria 6 Peatland emission reduction and gaps for advancement to Tier 3 inventory in Indonesia 7 Mitigation practices for low-carbon livestock in sub-Saharan Africa: A Living Laboratory approach 8 Assessing and developing methane emission prediction models for cattle: A focus on India 9 Environmental and Food Security Implications of Livestock Abortions and Calf Mortality: A Case Study in Kenya and Tanzania 10 Climate-smart legume grass species can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and net SOC 11 Remodelling soil carbon stocks to meet carbon trading requirements 12 Opportunities and Limitations of Farm-Level-GHG-Accounting Tools: Experience from practice 13 Farmers’ perception of the efficacy of adaptation and mitigation strategies 14 Carbon-scaled N2O emissions for a better assessment of impacts of land use systems 15 A new Africa Carbon Flagship Program: accelerating progress towards achieving NDC targets 16 Camelina sativa L. cake Mitigate Enteric Methane and Ammonia Emission in dairy Polish Holstein Friesian heifers – preliminary results 17 Optimized marginal cost curves for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation in Brazilian beef systems 18 Assessing the cost-effectiveness of public investments in agriculture for climate mitigation 19 Is organic farming sequestering carbon in soils? 20 Remote sensing of agricultural land use for enhanced climate policy implementation 21 Quantifying the Intensity of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Using Inbred and Hybrid Rice under Two Different Field Management Conditions in the Philippines 22 A behaviour change perspective on food system transformation towards climate resilience and emission reduction 23 Climate change induced heat and drought stress hamper climate change mitigation in German cereal production 24 Economic and social valuation of climate change mitigation strategies in livestock systems 25 Implementation of the German peatland monitoring program for climate protection - Open Land 26 The impacts of conservation agricultural practices on soil greenhouse gas emissions in maize production systems in Buea, Cameroon 27 Table of Contents IV Barley monoculture versus Barley with undersown species: impact of diversity on GHG exchange in Finland 28 Breeding more sustainable plant varieties 29 Costs of greenhouse gas mitigation measures applicable to the Swiss agricultural sector 30 AgNav: A digital sustainability platform for farming systems in Ireland 31 Economic evaluation of accounting subsoil carbon stocks in the context of carbon farming 32 Exploring the Role of Water, Carbon, and Nitrogen Dynamics in Wet Grasslands for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: A Process-Based Modelling Approach 33 Developing Hi-sAFe-machine learning hybrid approach as a field-specific decision support system for agroforestry systems 35 Assessing economic value, trade-offs, and synergies of ecosystem services from sustainable agricultural practices in India 38 Quiet Heroes of the Desert: The Camel’s Modest Contribution to Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock 39 Transparent Horizons: IMEO's Methane Data Empowering Global Action 40 Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System 41 How much can we reduce emissions from livestock in the LAC region and what might it cost? 42 GHG Baseline Assessment for Emission Reduction in Victoria, Laguna Rice Farming 43 The impact of functional groups of forage species on the grassland GHG exchange 44 Creating a tool to predict manure methane emissions for farmers and policy makers 45 Creating enabling environment for agricultural mitigation in South Africa 47 Beyond the ‘new tradition’ in developing bottom-up policy: A pathway to maximise the impact of social and behavioural science in the transformation of zero carbon policy to mitigation actions 48 Incorporation of Low-Methane Sheep Genetics into the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 50 Assessing the impact of conservation agriculture and biochar on greenhouse gas emissions in northern Uganda 51 Climate protection targets and emissions projections for agriculture and land use in Germany 52 Low -dose acidification: Farm-scale evaluation of a promising methane mitigation strategy 54 Changes in organic carbon stocks of German agricultural soils in the past decade 55 Marginal abatement costs of combining GHG mitigation technologies in NZ dairy systems 56 Using GHG emission metrics to inform mitigation choices: linking science with policy goals 57 Soybean by-products reduce enteric methane emissions from dairy heifers 58 Development of sustainability indexes in plant and animal breeding 59 Gender-Just Mitigation in the Agri-food systems Sector: Potential and Pitfalls 60 Sustainable bioenergy for rice growing communities in the Philippines as pathway to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 61 Capacity building for national greenhouse gas inventories: quantification of Tier 2 emission factors in rice, cattle, and poultry systems in Colombia 63 Accelerating change: combining biological proxies to reduce biogenic methane emissions in ruminants 64 Research to Investment: Ensuring climate finance can support the LMIC livestock sector 65 Assessing Carbon Footprint Variability in Lupin Cultivation: Implications for Climate Change Mitigation Strategies 67 Table of Contents V Policy, gaps, challenges, strategies and opportunities of livestock methane mitigation and adaptation in Bangladesh 69 Food Demand as a Driver of Change: India's Low Carbon Development Strategy 70 Lifecycle assessment of restorative strategies of peatland in the United Kingdom 71 Accounting for the seasonality of livestock derived GHG emissions with GLEAM: a case study in Mongolia 72 Transforming Food Systems in Colombian Amazon: Towards LEFS Through Participatory Research 73 Environmental performance of dairy farms using the Integrated Farm System Model 74 Low carbon paddy rice cultivation under slow-release N fertilizer management for enhanced rice productivity through C sequestration and GHG mitigation in Vietnam 75 FarMoRe – A potential tool for monitoring and reporting GHG mitigation results in rice production 77 Mitigation measures of crop cultivation to reduce climate impacting emissions from denitrification 78 Border Carbon Adjustment: Expectation and Implication for Canadian Beef Market 79 3 Poster 81 Implementation and ex-ante evaluation status of greenhouse gas emissions mitigation policies in the cattle supply chain in Germany 82 Evaluate and effectively utilize climate protection potentials of agroforestry 83 Hermetic structures for safe and sustainable grain storage 84 Crop rotations for enhanced soil C sequestration - A modeling study in southwestern Germany 85 How does irrigation system transition impact on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions? 87 Cover crop effects on carbon sequestration and yield in varied climate scenarios 88 Modelling climate resilience in land use systems 89 Use of low-cost methane ranking system in native sheep and goats of Bangladesh 90 The environmental aspect of zinc nanoparticles used in sheep nutrition 91 Using local ensemble models and Landsat bare soil composites for large-scale soil organic carbon maps 92 Modelling the effects of mineral nitrogen fertilisation and ley-rotations on soil organic carbon stocks with RothC - a model evaluation using data from long term experiments 93 Converting ungrazed pasture to maize cropping: consequences on soil N2O emissions. 94 Cross-Continental Comparison: Sustainability Indicators in Mixed Crop-Livestock Systems 95 Economic analysis of hay supplementation with Canavalia brasiliensis CIAT 17009 in dual-purpose cattle farming in Colombia 96 Adapting the DSSAT-CROPGRO model for narrow-leaved lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) 97 Potential of healthy pigs using the example of vaccination against Lawsonia intracellularis 99 Environmental and economic assessment of German oat milk using an integrated LCA-LCC approach 100 Evaluation of soil organic carbon pools dynamics under long term use of farmyard manure and mineral fertilizers 102 Whole cottonseed as an alternative to mitigate In vitro methane emissions on low-quality forage- based diets 103 Top-dressing 3-NOP on grass silage to reduce enteric methane in non-lactating dairy cows 104 Tier 2 Protocol for Enteric Methane Emissions from African Cattle 105 What drives recent trends of nitrogen use efficiency and mineral fertilizer consumption in Germany? 106 Table of Contents VI Breeding progress reduces carbon footprints of the five major cereal crops in Germany over the past four decades 108 Optimizing Carbon Sequestration Potential in Agricultural Lands through Soil Management and Agroforestry Practices: A Bibliometric analysis 109 Feasibility of a climate-friendly diet in everyday life - a qualitative analysis 110 Holistic planned cattle grazing management as a mitigation measure for GHG emissions reduction in Zambia 111 Predictive machine approaches to estimate nitrogen excretion in dairy cows in Latin America 112 A Stacked Ensemble Model Approach for Deriving Crops Phenology and Daily Agricultural Management Practices in Germany: Implications for Mitigation Measures on Greenhouse Gas Emissions 114 Knowns and unknowns of the use of nitrogen transformation inhibitors 115 Effect of nano-ZnO and ZnO on ruminal fermentation and methane production in sheep 116 The effect of breed composition on methane efficiency in beef bulls 117 Early-stage researcher mobility: Gender barriers and opportunities in capacity building for climate action 118 Farmgate methane intensity of beef can be reduced by changes in cow-calf efficiency traits 119 Nitrification inhibitors as climate mitigation measure in German crop production? 120 The effect of timing of grass renewal on the GHG exchange on a drained organic soil 121 Monitoring GHG exchange from dairy grasslands on different soil types in Finland 122 The role of fresh and ensiled Rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa Thunb.) pulp in in vitro modulation of basic ruminal parameters in dairy cows 123 GHG emissions under the use of fertilizers and inhibitors in a maize agroecosystem 124 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from soilless crops in urban agriculture in tropical climate 125 Cost-Effectiveness of Peatland Restoration: A Novel Approach to Construction of Marginal Abatement Cost Curves 126 The Flemish Centre of Expertise for Agriculture and Climate (ELK) – A multidisciplinary knowledge hub for climate-related agricultural research 127 Investigations on the relationship between locomotion score and methane emissions of cows 128 Revised Tier 2 Protocol for Enteric Methane Emissions from African Small Ruminants 129 Taurine inhibits the nitrous oxide in soil through modifying bacterial community 130 How do we get the farm-level touchdown of re-duction pathways right? Quantification, a common vision and communication 131 1 Keynote Speakers Abstracts in alphabetical order 1 Keynote Speakers 2 Policy progress towards a low emitting AFOLU sector: Insights from OECD work GUILLAUME GRUERE OECD, France, Head of Agriculture and Resource Policies Division; email: guillaume.gruere@oecd.org Governments in OECD countries and other countries have committed to take action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU), through ministerial declarations, pledges, and targets. There is a significant potential for policies to significantly contribute to GHG mitigation, either through emission reduction or carbon sequestration. The presentation reviews findings from recent OECD work to measure policy progress towards these commitments and potential. This includes an upcoming international inventory of direct and indirect policy actions in AFOLU, recent work on the GHG mitigating effects of policies and analyses of agricultural policies that may go in the opposite direction. The combined evidence suggests that, while progress can be seen, policies in place in the AFOLU sector are not the most effective at mitigating emissions, for varied reasons. It also identifies areas for additional research. Lastly, the presentation highlights the diversity of national policy approaches, responding to different contexts, but that may induce spillover market-related effects in terms of competitiveness and carbon leakage in the future. Food matters: Dietary shifts increase the feasibility of 1.5 °C pathways FLORIAN HUMPENÖDER Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Berlin, Germany A transition to healthy diets like the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet could considerably reduce GHG emissions. However, the specific contributions of dietary shifts for the feasibility of 1.5°C pathways remain unclear. Here, we use the open-source Integrated Assessment Modeling (IAM) framework REMIND-MAgPIE to compare 1.5°C pathways with and without dietary shifts. We find that a flexitarian diet increases the feasibility of the Paris Agreement climate goals in different ways: The reduction of GHG emissions related to dietary shifts, especially methane from ruminant enteric fermentation, increases the 1.5°C-compatible carbon budget. Therefore, dietary shifts allow to achieve the same climate outcome with less carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and less stringent CO2 emission reductions in the energy system, which reduces pressure on GHG prices, energy prices and food expenditures. 1 Keynote Speakers 3 The potential of new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture SINEAD LEAHY Principal Scientist, NZAGRC, New Zealand Co-authored presentation by all research group chairs of the Global Research Alliance on Agriculture Greenhouse Gases: GRA Livestock Co-chairs: Leahy SC. Boland T, Dewhurst R GRA Paddy rice Co-chairs: Yasuhito Shirato, Omar Ndaw Faye, Alvaro Roel GRA Cropping Co-chairs: Hero Gollany, Rosa Mosquera Losada, Ladislau Martin GRA Integrative Co-chairs: Jean-Francois Soussana, Pamela Joosse, Nadia Bouhfas Agriculture is the largest contributor to both global anthropogenic methane and nitrous oxide emissions and agricultural emissions are rising. Increases are due to a growing human population and increasing demand for animal protein as incomes rise, but with significant variations in demands and trends between regions and countries. While on-going improvements in production efficiencies are essential, new technologies that directly target the reduction of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are urgently required to bend the emissions curve while production grows. This presentation will provide an overview of some of the novel approaches emerging. Accelerating the development and deployment of these new technologies could significantly increase the ability of the agricultural sector to reduce its emissions globally and achieve mitigation at scale. Resilient and low emission development pathways in low-income countries: food security, greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation GEORGE WAMUKOYA Team leader of AGNES and lead negotiator on agriculture for G77 (on mitigation pathways for Africa), Kenya Climate change poses a significant threat to agriculture and food security of most of the low-income countries commonly referred to as least developed countries (LDCs). This has implications on the national economies and livelihoods and incomes of the Climate change affects agriculture through changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and shifts in pest and disease dynamics. These changes have profound implications for food security, rural livelihoods especially of small-scale farmers, pastoralists and fishers, and environmental sustainability. To mitigate these challenges, sustainable land and water management practices, adoption of climate-resilient agricultural practices, and technological innovations are essential to enhance the resilience of agricultural systems to climate change. In addition, according to the national communications, the main sources of emissions in most LDCs is agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sectors. However, LDCs and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are not obligated to mitigate GHG emissions, business-as-usual is not an option. This calls for a paradigm shift and collaborative efforts among governments, farmers, researchers, and policymakers to implement adaptation actions that have mitigation co-benefits. By addressing the challenges posed by climate change and adopting adaptive strategies, global agriculture in these countries will be transformed to become more resilient and sustainable in the face of changing climatic conditions. For this transformation to happen, it will require developed countries to provide means of implementation (finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building. 1 Keynote Speakers 4 Opportunities and challenges for (voluntary) carbon markets and payment incentives EVA (LINI) WOLLENBERG Policy and Institutions Leader, Climate Action, Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT; Research Professor, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, USA Carbon markets pose an opportunity for huge impact on mitigation in agriculture, yet also face challenges that may constrain use of the instrument in the future. This presentation provides an overview of the market, the extent of agriculture in the market and some issues and trends. The carbon market is one of several economic incentives in agriculture for mitigation, which include enhanced agricultural productivity, financial transfers, carbon market and carbon taxes and pricing. Carbon markets are trading systems in which carbon credits are sold and bought. Companies purchase C credits from entities that remove or reduce GHG emissions to make compensatory (“offset”) or impact claims. The two main types of markets are the voluntary market, driven by the private sector and valued at USD 2 billion at its peak in 2021, and the compliance market, regulated by governments and valued at USD 899 billion at its peak. The international carbon market has been guided by UNFCCC policy, which presently is focused on Article 6.4, which creates a market mechanism that may overlap, compete or integrate with the VCM. A review of current global emissions trading systems (ETS), government crediting mechanisms and the voluntary market shows that agriculture is relatively poorly represented compared to other sectors. There are no agricultural projects or credits issued yet under ETS schemes, only eight countries with 4,754 projects and 653 thousand credits under agricultural projects, and 8,929 projects and 1.9 billion credits under agriculture in the voluntary carbon market (VCM). The VCM is the locus of most agricultural projects, even though they comprise only 10% of VCM projects and 1% of VCM credits issued so far. Methane digester projects are the largest source of VCM agricultural credits. Agricultural actors in the VCM includes diverse groups often playing multiple roles. Examples of current carbon programs for farmers include Soil Capital, CIBO, and TruTerra and highlight the increasing interest in soil carbon in the market. Farmers view the carbon market as providing low compensation, requiring paperwork, lacking predictability and risking greenwashing. Integrity breaches have been a challenge throughout the history of the VCM and more actors are being held accountable in recent years. Integrity initiatives such as the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) are also certifying standards. Other trends in the market include the increasing role of carbon pricing in middle-income countries including Brazil, India, Chile, Colombia, and Türkiye; New Zealand pushing their plan to price agricultural emissions in 2025 to 2030; the initiation of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, requiring importers of specified products to report embedded emissions; and governments increasingly using multiple carbon pricing instruments in parallel to expand coverage or price levels. The German government’s CompensAction Initiative is an example of seeking to use multiple mechanisms to fairly compensate smallholder farmers for their ecosystem services. A forthcoming FAO report on Agrifood Systems in the Voluntary Carbon Market: Status and Prospects will be available in early 2025 with more analysis and detail. The future of the VCM remains uncertain, depending on the allowance of offsets, development of the Article 6 mechanism, and effectiveness of other C pricing mechanisms. This leaves open the question of what are the best mechanisms to incentivize significant mitigation while delivering agricultural benefits and enable significant compensation to farmers, especially smallholder farmers in LMICs. 2 Talks Abstracts in alphabetical order 2 Talks 6 An Assessment of Food Loss Among Arable Crop Farmers in Nigeria IFEOLUWA ABULUDE International PhD Program for Agricultural Economics, Bioeconomy, and Sustainable Food Systems (IPPAE). Institute of Agricultural Policy and Market Research. Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, email: ifeoluwa.ayodeji.abulude@ag.uni-giessen.de, ifeoluwaabulude@gmail.com Carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere due to the loss or waste of food crops is a considerable contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which in turn exacerbates the problem of climate change and the ongoing food crisis. It is widely recognized that food waste and loss are major concerns. If these issues were considered as a country, it would rank as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases globally. There is broad consensus that addressing this problem would help significantly lower GHG emissions and enhance the sustainability of food systems. Most studies on this topic have been conducted in the Global North. However, limited data is available for the Global South, where significant arable crop losses occur during production and distribution. Less than 35% of annual global studies on food loss have focused on these stages. In this study, food loss is described as any food originally planned or cultivated for human consumption, but omitted (irrespective of the alternative purpose) between the production and distribution stages. This omission has partially contributed to the current food crisis in the developing countries. In Nigeria, food loss has intensified, thereby increasing the problem of limited access to food. In terms of food security, the country is ranked 25th among 28 African countries. Among the studies conducted globally on food loss between 2016 and 2022, Nigeria was classified among the top ten countries with the most case studies. Paradoxically, millions of people suffer from hunger and malnutrition in the same country in which food is lost. Given this context and global interest in finding a sustainable solution to the problem, understanding the underlying reasons for continuing food loss in this region is pertinent. Although a wealth of literature is available on this subject, most studies employ quantitative research methods. Regrettably, with such an approach, the role of food valuation practices among key actors such as arable crop farmers has received little attention. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap by examining food loss through the lens of valuation, suggesting that individuals and groups have different values that impact their economic activities. Primary data were collected from arable crop farmers in Nigeria using qualitative research approaches such as observation, focus group discussions (FGDs), and participant interviews. Ultimately, this study explores the outcomes of valuation practices, specifically actors’ actions, practices, and perceptions, that influence food loss. The insights gained from this study are expected to foster the design of sustainable impact-driven food loss reduction policies and interventions in Nigeria. Keywords: food systems, food loss, food waste, climate change, food security mailto:ifeoluwa.ayodeji.abulude@ag.uni-giessen.de mailto:ifeoluwaabulude@gmail.com 2 Talks 7 Peatland emission reduction and gaps for advancement to Tier 3 inventory in Indonesia FAHMUDDIN AGUS1, SETIARI MARWABTO1, LADIYANI RETNO WIDOWATI2, SONYA DEWI3 1 National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong 16915, Indonesia 2 Indonesian Soil and Fertilizer Instrument Standard Testing Institute (BPSI Tanah dan Pupuk), Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia 3 CIFOR-ICRAF, Jalan CIFOR, Situgede, Bogor 16115, Indonesia, email: fahmuddin.agus@brin.go.id Tropical peatlands are critical carbon reservoirs, but their drainage and subsequent use lead to significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially carbon dioxide (CO₂), due to peat decomposition and fires. This review examines advancements in inventory methodologies and identifies critical gaps necessary for transitioning to a Tier 3 approach. While expanding oil palm cultivation on low biomass carbon stock lands may be carbon neutral or even carbon positive, the situation on peatlands is different, as CO₂ emissions from decomposition continue to rise with increasing drained areas. Raising the water table, particularly through canal block construction, is a key strategy for reducing these emissions. Significant progress has been made in developing mathematical relationships between water table levels and CO₂ emissions, as well as between plant age and CO₂ emissions. However, gaps in activity data hinder the full application of these findings. The current monitoring scheme of water tables at "obedient points" is inadequate, underscoring the need for multi-location, multi-year research to generate reliable activity data, such as weighted average water tables influenced by canal blocks. Additionally, there are substantial gaps in the inventory of peat fire emissions, particularly in estimating the volume of burned scars, which necessitates the use of cost-effective remote sensing technologies. Moreover, while models are being developed to simulate water table dynamics with canal blocking, a lack of calibration data remains a challenge. Addressing these gaps is crucial for advancing inventory methodologies and enhancing emission reduction strategies in Indonesia and other tropical peatland regions. Keywords: activity data, burn scar, canal block, low carbon stock land, peat decomposition emission mailto:fahmuddin.agus@brin.go.id 2 Talks 8 Mitigation practices for low-carbon livestock in sub-Saharan Africa: A Living Laboratory approach TOBI AKINROPO1, JOSIAS STEVE ADJASSIN1, HABIBOU ASSOUMA2, CLAUDIA ARNDT3, J.A ODEDIRE4, ALASSAN SEIDOU ASSANI5, ALI R. BAYAT6, CÉCILE MARTIN1, DIEGO MORGAVI1, MAGUY EUGÈNE1* 1 INRAE, UMR Herbivores, VetAgro Sup, Université Clermont Auvergne, 63122 Saint-Genès-Champanelle, France 2 Université de Montpellier, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), INRA, Montpellier Institut Agro, Montpellier, France 3Integrated Science Division, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) 00100, Kenya 4 Department of Animal Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, 220282 Osun State, Nigeria 5 Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Santé et Production Animales (LESPA), Faculté d’Agronomie (FA), Université de Parakou, Parakou, Bénin 6 Animal Nutrition, Production Systems, Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), 31600 Jokioinen, Finland *Corresponding author: maguy.eugene@inrae.fr Climate change mitigation and adaptation is a global challenge. For livestock production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), efforts have been directed towards sustainable solutions for the sector. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify facilities where different mitigation practices have been evaluated and implemented in SSA, and (ii) to create a living laboratory where stakeholders within the livestock value chain collectively evaluate enteric methane (CH4) mitigation practices with the shared goal of transforming practices to be more environmentally responsible and climate resilient. A research network was created through a project called “Methods to evaluate low-carbon livestock in sub- Saharan Africa” (MECLAN). MECLAN identified institutions where greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation practices were evaluated and quantified. Two approaches were explored (i) literature review through bibliography search, and (ii) existing research network of SSA countries and France focusing on GHG emission in SSA. A web application was developed as a tool to aggregate information on African institutions (shown on an interactive map); climatic conditions using the Koöppen classification; facilities, equipment and methodologies available for GHG quantification; species and breeds of experimental animals; diets and feedstuffs (details on availability and chemical composition), animal performance indices, published articles on GHG emissions from the institution; and contact details for researchers. A database will be created to aggregate all collected information via this web application and literature review. This data will be subjected to statistical analyses to assess the most prominent mitigation practices in SSA. Other identified stakeholders in research and development from the database will be incorporated into the existing research network for mitigation practices sustainability and cleaner farm environment policies. A transdisciplinary living laboratory approach involving farmers, existing research networks and other non-governmental and governmental organizations will be used to co-design, monitor, and evaluate the impact of the adoption of mitigation practices on productivity and livelihoods. The web application is currently undergoing alpha testing and will be deployed for use after the beta testing. Twelve organizations are involved in MECLAN including Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Italy, Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (INRAE), France; Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), France; International Livestock Resaerch Iinstitute (ILRI), Kenya; University of Pretoria, South Africa; Institute of Rural Economy, Mali; Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA), Burkina Faso; Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Benin ; Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), Sénegal, Université d’Antananarivo, Madagascar; Institut de Recherche en Elevage pour le Développement, Tchad and National Center for Applied Research in Rural Development (FOFIFA), Madagascar. This was extended to sixteen (16) with the addition of other identified organizations (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; University of Parakou Benin; Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE); and International fund for Agriculture development (IFAD) Italy) in living lab system. The results of this project will be used to develop specific enteric methane prediction models for SSA and to support policies for sustainable livestock production and climate resilience in SSA. Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, web application, mitigation practices, living laboratory, enteric methane 2 Talks 9 Assessing and developing methane emission prediction models for cattle: A focus on India SHAHIN ALAM1,2, EVA SCHLECHT2 AND CHRISTIAN A. BATEKI2* 1 Department of Dairy and Poultry Science, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur-5200, Bangladesh 2 Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Steinstr. 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Hessen, Germany *Corresponding author: christian.bateki@uni-kassel.de India is home to over 525 million ruminants, which are major contributors to global warming via enteric methane (EntCH4) emissions. Various strategies exist to reduce EntCH4 emissions but accurate emission estimates are needed to predict the potential of each mitigation strategy. Measuring EntCH4 emissions is expensive and unrealistic on a large scale, so there is an urgent need for accurate EntCH4 prediction models. The present study evaluated the accuracy of various published models and developed a simplified model for predicting EntCH4 emissions from cattle across the Indian subcontinent. Six EntCH4 prediction models based on either dry matter intake (DMI) or gross energy intake (GEI) were identified as applicable to India. DMI- and GEI-based models were taken from IPCC (2019) (IPCCDMI and IPCCGEI), Ribeiro et al. (2020) (RibDMI and RibGEI), and Patra (2017) (PatDMI and PatGEI). These were evaluated using two independent literature databases containing information on 386 lactating cattle from 15 studies and 122 non-lactating cattle from 13 studies under different management practices across 13 Indian states. In addition, both datasets were combined to develop an empirical EntCH4 prediction model. Data were divided with a 70:30 ratio for model training and testing, respectively. The relative prediction error (RPE) and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) were used to evaluate model accuracy. A model’s prediction was considered acceptable when RPE < 20%. Of the six models evaluated, the most accurate models for lactating cows were RibDMI (RPE = 18.6%, CCC = 0.695) and PatDMI (RPE = 18.4, CCC = 0.690), while the other models yielded estimates with RPE > 20%. None of the six models predicted EntCH4 for non-lactating cattle with RPE < 20% or CCC > 0.20. The linear model developed (EntCH4 (g/day/cattle) = 2.82 + 17.53 × DMI (kg/day), R2 = 0.78) predicted EntCH4 with a lower RPE (9.9%) than the six models evaluated. In conclusion, RibDMI and PatDMI are the best performing models for EntCH4 in India, and the proposed simplified model has good predictive accuracy, until new nationwide models based on larger data sets have been developed. Keywords: enteric methane emissions, model accuracy, mitigation potential 2 Talks 10 Environmental and Food Security Implications of Livestock Abortions and Calf Mortality: A Case Study in Kenya and Tanzania ENDALE BALCHA1,2, BAREND BRONSVOORT3, ELIZABETH A. J. COOK1, FELIX LANKESTER4,5, ŞEYDA ÖZKAN6,7, PERI ROSENSTEIN8, GEORGE SEMANGO9, NICK WHEELHOUSE10, ANDREAS WILKES11 AND CLAUDIA ARNDT1* 1 International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya 2 Mekelle University, Ethiopia 3 University of Edinburgh, UK 4 Washington State University, USA 5 Global Animal Health Tanzania, Tanzania 6 Livestock Climate Solutions, The Netherlands 7 Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity Network, The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases 8 Environmental Defense Fund, USA 9 Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Tanzania 10 Edinburgh Napier University, UK 11 New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, New Zealand Corresponding author: claudia.arndt@cgiar.org In many lower-middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, addressing protein deficiency amid rapidly growing populations presents a critical challenge. This study examines the environmental and food security implications of livestock abortions and calf mortality in Kenya and Tanzania, highlighting how enhancing livestock health can significantly improve productivity and sustainability. The research targets dairy systems in Tanzania and beef systems in Kenya, utilizing data from prior studies to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of animal product, referred to as emission intensity (EI). In Tanzania, the analysis focuses on the impact of livestock abortions on GHG emissions across different cattle and goat breeds in dairy systems. Meanwhile, in Kenya, the study shifts to beef systems, assessing how calf mortality influences emissions through both lifetime methane production and carcass output. A life cycle assessment using the Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model-interactive (GLEAM-i) aids in examining GHG sources and potential trade-offs. The study quantifies milk and carcass losses due to abortions and calf mortality, scaling these figures to national levels. The findings reveal that in Tanzania, abortions can increase milk EI by up to 18%, depending on the breed. In Kenya, varying rates of calf mortality result in emissions ranging from 25.9 to 27.6 kg CO2 equivalent per kg of carcass weight. Notably, reducing calf mortality to 8%, 4%, and 0% could correspondingly reduce EI by 3.2%, 4.6%, and 5.9%. These results underscore the substantial impact that improving animal health can have on both reducing GHG emissions and enhancing the availability of animal protein. Specifically, effectively addressing livestock health issues in Tanzania could potentially satisfy the protein requirements of approximately 1.3 million people. Similarly, in Kenya, reducing calf mortality could meet the dietary protein needs of about 4.5 million people. This research highlights the dual benefits of targeted livestock health interventions: lowering GHG emissions and boosting food security. Such efforts are crucial for sustainable livestock production in developing regions, underscoring the need for a systems perspective to comprehensively assess the broader environmental impacts of livestock health issues. Keywords: abortion, calf mortality, GHG, methane, emission intensity, animal protein, food security, animal health 2 Talks 11 Climate-smart legume grass species can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and net SOC ADNAN ARSHAD1*, USMAN GHANI1, FUJIANG HOU1 1 State-Key Laboratory Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agroecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China *Email: adnan.poda@gmail.com Improving forage productivity with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from limited grassland has been a hotspot of interest in global agricultural production. In this study, we analyzed the effects of grasses (tall fescue, smooth bromegrass), legume (alfalfa), and alfalfa-grass (alfalfa + smooth bromegrass and alfalfa + tall fescue) mixtures on GHG emissions, net global warming potential (Net GWP), yield-based greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI), soil chemical properties and forage productivity in cultivated grassland in northwest China during 2020– 2021. Our results demonstrated that alfalfa-grass mixtures significantly improved forage productivity. The highest total dry matter yield (DMY) during 2020 and 2021 was obtained from alfalfa-tall fescue (11,311 and 13,338 kg ha−1) and alfalfa-smooth bromegrass mixtures (10,781 and 12,467 kg ha−1). The annual cumulative GHG emissions from mixtures were lower than alfalfa monoculture. Alfalfa-grass mixtures significantly reduced GHGI compared with the grass or alfalfa monocultures. Furthermore, results indicated that grass, alfalfa and alfalfa-grass mixtures differentially affected soil chemical properties. Lower soil pH and C/N ratio were recorded in alfalfa monoculture. Alfalfa and mixtures increased soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN) contents. Importantly, alfalfa-grass mixtures are necessary for improving forage productivity and mitigating the GHG emissions in this region. In conclusion, the alfalfa-tall fescue mixture lowered net GWP and GHGI in cultivated grassland while maintaining high forage productivity. These advanced agricultural practices could contribute to the development of climate-sustainable grassland production in China. Keywords: soil organic carbon, legume grasses, greenhouse gas emissions, soil fertility, regenerative agriculture 2 Talks 12 Remodelling soil carbon stocks to meet carbon trading requirements LUIS GUSTAVO BARIONI1, BEATRIZ ARIA VALLADÃO2, YUSUF NADI KARATAY3, VITOR HUGO MIRANDA MOURÃO4, JÚNIOR DE MELO DAMIAN5, LARISSA MACUL MORENO6, RAFAEL DE OLIVEIRA SILVA7 1 Embrapa Digital Agriculture / University of Edinburgh, email: luis.barioni@embrapa.br 2 Embrapa Digital Agriculture, email: beatriz.valladao@colaborador.embrapa.br 3 University of Edinburgh, email: ykaratay@ed.ac.uk 4 Embrapa Digital Agriculture, email: vitor.mourao@colaborador.embrapa.br 5 Embrapa Digital Agriculture, email: junior.damian@colaborador.embrapa.br 6 Brazilian Center of Research in Energy and Materials, email: larissa.moreno@lnls.br 7 University of Edinburgh, Email: Rafael.Silva@ed.ac.uk Carbon farming-based trading schemes (CFTS) have been proposed to incentivize contributions of the agricultural sector to climate change mitigation, and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is recognized as the principal measure. Several models have been developed to estimate the biogeochemical processes involved in the SOC cycle in agroecosystems. However, the most frequently applied models rely on multiple compartments as conceptual carbon entities, making their state variables not fully verifiable by standard SOC stock determinations. Thus, they are often prone to overparameterization and overfitting, leading to SOC forecasts with inflated uncertainties, hindering their use in measuring, monitoring, reporting and verification (MMRV) protocols. Few studies have assessed the efficacy of current SOC models for MMRV protocols, while rarely any of those models’ design has explicitly addressed the CFTS’s requirements. We aim to contribute to fulfill that gap by offering a new SOC dynamic model holding the same fundamental principles of most applied SOC multicompartment models and can match their estimates with a single measurable SOC compartment. We improved the adherence to empirical data by making model state variables limited to those of interest for CFTS, i.e., SOC stocks and carbon decomposability. Single compartment decomposability can be estimated from longitudinal SOC stocks and carbon input data, so that both state variables are comparable to empirical measurements available for calibration, evaluation and model-data fusion procedures. The novel model prevents overparameterization and overfitting via a new mathematical formulation with reduced number of decomposition parameters and can accurately reproduce multicompartmental models’ SOC forecasts with a single compartment. Keywords: soil organic carbon, dynamic modelling, carbon turnover, ordinary differential equations, carbon quality models mailto:ykaratay@ed.ac.uk mailto:vitor.mourao@colaborador.embrapa.br mailto:junior.damian@colaborador.embrapa.br mailto:larissa.moreno@lnls.br 2 Talks 13 Opportunities and Limitations of Farm-Level-GHG-Accounting Tools: Experience from practice DANIEL BRETSCHER1, NINA GRAßNICK2 1 Agroscope, 8046 Zürich, Schweiz, email: daniel.bretscher@agroscope.admin.ch 2 Thünen Institute, 38116 Braunschweig, email: nina.grassnick@thuenen.de Driven by growing awareness of the environmental pressure emanating from food systems, ever more private stakeholders and administrative bodies are signing up for science-based targets. In this context, a growing demand for farm level greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting tools can be noticed, allowing assessments of specific emission profiles as well as ex-ante and ex-post estimates of GHG reduction potentials. A corresponding MRV (Measurement, Reporting and Verification) system is not only necessary for quantifying mitigation effects and guiding management and policy decisions but also for compensating actors and particularly farmers for financial and other expenditures. So far, farm level GHG accounting tools have been mainly used in scientific modelling exercises and the respective insights are of rather theoretical nature. Here we explore opportunities and limitations of farm level GHG accounting tools based on a global survey covering the practical application of 23 tools used in 30 projects worldwide. Notably, most of the projects participating in the survey are based in industrialized countries and, although practice-oriented, are linked to scientific and/or government programs. GHG accounting tools are typically used by experienced experts with a professional background in natural sciences. Awareness raising and consultancy are the main purposes with barely any “hard” application, i.e.., for determination of (financial) rewards or eligibility for label programs. The typical tool is of medium complexity and applies system boundaries from cradle to farm gate. Carbon sequestration in soils and biomass is only considered in about half of the tools, with diverse methodological approaches. Data quality, leakage and uncertainty is only assessed in a few cases. Furthermore, the survey results suggest that certain system interactions and particularly consequential effects due to the competitive use of land and biomass (e.g., feed-food competition) are considered relevant by many participants but are addressed differently, if at all in the individual projects. Yet another challenging feature is the emission allocation to individual activities and/or products. On average, theoretically achievable GHG reduction potentials on commercial farms are estimated to be in the order of 22%. However, practically realizable and actually achieved reduction potentials are considerably lower at around 14%. In conclusion, we find that individual farm greenhouse gas accounting is highly complex and time-consuming and should be primarily used in a farm advisory context with professional support. A fair and solution-oriented interpretation of the results, taking into account local site conditions and consequential effects in the entire food system, requires great experience. Methodological limitations and lack of transparency harbor the risk of misinterpretation, particularly with regard to the efficient use of limited land and biomass resources on a global level. Accordingly, different indicators (set of key figures and reporting units) and different benchmark approaches should be considered in a comprehensive assessment. Furthermore, the limited technical reduction potentials and the challenges regarding their quantification, designation and fair compensation show the limits of the individual farm approach to agricultural climate mitigation and, at the same time, point to the need for structural adjustments at a higher level. Keywords: MRV, tools, accounting, practice, greenhouse gas 2 Talks 14 Farmers’ perception of the efficacy of adaptation and mitigation strategies SHERIFF CEESAY1*, FATIMA LAMBARRAA-LEHNHARDT2, MOHAMED BEN OMAR NDIAYE3, DIATOU THIAW4, MAMMA SAWANEH5 1 West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Senegal, email: ceesay.s@edu.wascal.org 2 Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Farm Economics and Ecosystem Services, Germany email: Fatima.Lehnhardt@ZALF.de 3 University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Fac. of Economics and Management Sciences (FASEG), Senegal, email: mohamedbenomar.ndiaye@ucad.edu.sn 4 University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Department of Geography, Senegal, email: diatou.thiaw@ucad.edu.sn 5 University of The Gambia (UTG), School of Agriculture and Environmental Health Sciences, The Gambia, email: msawaneh@utg.edu.gm * Presentation given by Philip Kiriinya Miriti, philipkiriinya.miriti@zalf.de The global agricultural systems face significant challenges due to climate change, which require effective adaptation strategies. This study explores Gambian smallholder farmers' perception regarding the effectiveness and impact of adaptation and mitigation strategies within the context of farming system changes and land management practices. A survey with smallholder farmers in the Gambia was conducted to assess their perceptions of the efficacy of climate risk adaptation and mitigation strategies. The effectiveness of these strategies was evaluated by asking farmers to rate them on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 with 1 indicating totally ineffective and 5 indicating highly effective. To quantify farmers’ perceptions, a perception index was developed. This index was calculated by assigning numerical values to the Likert scale response provided by farmers for each strategy. Through a thorough analysis, the research sheds light on the differing levels of efficacy and understanding of different adaptation and mitigation measures among farmers in the region. The finding revealed that smallholder farmers consider both adaptation and mitigation strategies as crucial for alleviating the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. Adaptation strategies such as changing crops to livestock, using inorganic fertilizers, pesticide application, irrigation, praying, use of insurance, wage migration, assistance from government/non-governmental organizations, and mitigation strategies such as changing seed quality and stop cutting trees, are perceived as effective strategies. These strategies are perceived as urgent solutions to adapt and mitigate the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. Furthermore, the study also examines the economic, social, and environmental impact of the adaptation and mitigation measures by assessing farmers’ expectations with the implementation of different strategies, thus providing a holistic understanding of the outcome of implementing various strategies in agricultural practices. Synthesizing these results, a perception index is established at 0.66. This index signifies a moderate level of perceived efficacy of climate risk adaptation and mitigation strategies among smallholder farmers in the Gambia. This suggests that farmers have a good understanding of some strategies but there is still room for improvement in enhancing the awareness and knowledge of other adaptation and mitigation strategies. The result highlights the significance of comprehending farmers’ perceptions to enhance the adoption and effective climate risk adaptation and mitigation strategies in evolving farming and land management paradigms. The study highlights the importance of integrating farmers' perceptions into climate adaptation and mitigation strategies to better meet the needs of local agricultural communities. By acknowledging and addressing farmers' realities, policymakers can better tailor interventions for improved effectiveness and sustainability in the face of global climate change. This research offers valuable insights into the efficacy of adaptation and mitigation strategies in The Gambia, emphasizing the crucial role of farmer engagement in enhancing adaptation efforts in agriculture. Keywords: climate risk, perception index, efficacy, adaptation, mitigation mailto:Fatima.Lehnhardt@ZALF.de mailto:diatou.thiaw@ucad.edu.sn 2 Talks 15 Carbon-scaled N2O emissions for a better assessment of impacts of land use systems JORGE CHALCO VERA1, 2* AND MARTIN ACRECHE1, 2 1 Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta, Cerrillos, Argentina 2 Concejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Salta, Argentina * Email: chalcovera.jorge@inta.gob.ar Agricultural expansion causes significant land use change concerns (hotspots) in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina. In this region, the traditional rotation of soybean and maize in the summer and wheat or fallow in the winter (as the major drivers of the country's economy) have pushed the agricultural frontier over native forest. However, the post-impact of this land use change on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and carbon (C) budgets remains unknown. This study aimed to compare the impacts of the main land use systems of this region on N2O emissions related to their C inputs and C budgets by comparing them with those of a native forest at two sites. At Site 1, the land use systems were soybean-fallow-soybean and maize-fallow-maize sequences, whereas at Site 2, it was a soybean-wheat sequence. Measurements of soil N2O and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes were carried out monthly using the static chamber method. The C budgets of each system were determined for the annual crop-fallow ot crop-crop (depending on the site) cycle by the difference between the C inputs (from annual aboveground biomass (ABG), belowground biomass (BG), and rhizodeposition) and C outputs (defined as cumulative annual CO2-C emissions). In Site 1, the native forest showed 168 and 50% more cumulative N2O emissions than maize-fallow and soybean- fallow, respectively, whereas in Site 2, it had less than half of the cumulative N2O emissions of the soybean-wheat sequence. However, when cumulative N2O emissions were relativized to their C inputs, native forests emitted less and the same amount of N2O per tonne of C entered each system than soybean-fallow/wheat and maize- fallow, respectively. The C budgets (± standard error) in Site 1 were 6.4 ± 1.3, 1.0 ± 0.3 and -0.7 ± 0.6 t C ha-1 yr-1 for native forest, maize-fallow and soybean-fallow, respectively. In Site 2, they were 3.1 ± 0.7 and -4.0 ± 0.6 t C ha-1 yr-1 for the native forest and the soybean-wheat sequence, respectively. As C-escaled N2O emissions were negatively related to C inputs and C budget, our approach allowed us to determine a threshold (around 1 kg N2O- N per ton of C incorporated, for the Dry Chaco region), which indicated the amount of C input (around 5 tons of C) required to maintain soil organic carbon (SOC) levels (C budget equal to zero). These results highlighted the necessity of adopting an adequate crop rotation (at least two crop cycles of maize per cycle of soybean) or including service crops in the fallow period to ensure a higher income of C than is lost, reducing N2O emissions per tonne of C entering. Thus, coupling C and N cycles by means of C-scaled N2O emissions proved to be a powerful tool for assessing production systems and for determining beneficial (or not) N2O emissions and C inputs in this region. This work also proposes, when possible, to consider a native vegetation system to unmask the real impacts of agroecosystems. Keywords: aboveground biomass, C sequestration, dry forest, rhizodeposition 2 Talks 16 A new Africa Carbon Flagship Program: accelerating progress towards achieving NDC targets NGONIDZASHE CHIRINDA1, MOHAMED LOUAY METOUGUI2, HASNA ZIRAOUI3, HOUDA GHAZI4, MERIAM HAMDI5, HASSINA MOUKHARIQ6, MUSTAPHA EL BOUHSSINI7, BRUNO GERARD8 Mohammed VI Polytechnic University: 1 email: Ngonidzashe.Chirinda@um6p.ma, 2 email: Mohamed.metougui@um6p.ma, 3 email: Hasna.ziraoui@um6p.ma OCP Foundation: 4email: Houda.ghazi@ocpfoundation.org, 5 email: Meriam.hamdi@ocpfoundation.org, 6 email: h.moukhariq@ocpgroup.ma Mohammed VI Polytechnic University: 7email: Mustapha.ElBouhssini@um6p.ma, 8 email: Bruno.gerard@um6p.ma Africa has the fastest population growth rates and is one of the most vulnerable continents to the adverse impacts of climate change. In response to these challenges, Africa will need to (1) increase the adaptive capacity of its agricultural systems, (2) Ensure promoted and adopted adaptation options have climate change mitigation co-benefits, and (3) create an enabling environment by pursuing transformational changes at different scales. In line with the Paris Agreement, several African countries identified the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sectors as critical to achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, achieving the NDC targets is slow and constrained by knowledge, capacity, and financial gaps. In December 2023, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and OCP Foundation partnered to launch an Africa Carbon Flagship Program (ACFP) aimed at accelerating progress towards achieving NDC targets. The ACFP intends to build on previous climate actions to address existing obstacles and barriers through a comprehensive approach that encompasses (1) Developing and disseminating cutting-edge knowledge and innovations to catalyze rapid progress towards fulfilling climate change adaptation and mitigation pledges and ensuring that actions are informed by the latest research and technological advancements; (2) Empowering individuals, communities, and institutions by developing and deploying effective practices, technologies, and mechanisms that promote transformational and lasting climate change resilience and action at different scales; and (3) Exploring support, and develop innovative financial mechanisms to facilitate the adoption of effective climate change adaptation and mitigation options by making them more accessible and financially viable. The program is designed for five years, with the first year dedicated to exploring the continent's historical and current climate actions. Concurrently, an ex-ante analysis will be commissioned to systematically map and evaluate AFOLU practices, their emissions, and the effectiveness of potential mitigation and adaptation strategies within the diverse contexts of African regions. The exploratory studies and ex-ante analysis will help to (1) Identify the regions of operations using a multi-criteria approach, (2) Identify strategic partners, and (3) Define the focus and expected outcomes of projects funded through the ACFP. Keywords: Research, capacity strengthening, financial mechanisms, Africa, policy coherence mailto:Hasna.ziraoui@um6p.ma 2 Talks 17 Camelina sativa L. cake Mitigate Enteric Methane and Ammonia Emission in dairy Polish Holstein Friesian heifers – preliminary results SIDORUK, P.1, LECHNIAK-CIESLAK, D.2, PAWLAK, P.2, PETRIČ, D.3, VÁRADYOVÁ, Z.3, SZUMACHER-STRABEL, M.1, KOTWICA, S.2, YULIANRI R.Y.4, A. IRAWAN5, ADAM CIESLAK1* 1 Department of Animal Nutrition, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wolynska 33, 60-637 Poznan, Poland 2 Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wolynska 35, 60-637 Poznan, Poland 3Centre of Biosciences of Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Animal Physiology, Šoltésovej 4-6, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia 4Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor 45363, West Java, Indonesia 5Vocational School, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia * Corresponding author: adam.cieslak@up.poznan.pl This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Camelina sativa L. cake, a source of C18:3 n-3, on enteric methane (CH4) emission, ammonia production, dry matter intake (DMI), and ruminal fermentation. Eight Polish Holstein- Friesian heifers (369 ± 31 kg body weight) were allocated to two dietary groups (CON and EXP; n = 4) in a crossover design. Each period lasted 26 d, with a 21-d adaptation and 5-d sampling period (four days of gas analysis and one day of rumen fluid collection). The basal diet consisted of a TMR of grass silage (386 g/kg of DM), maize silage (208 g/kg of DM), beet pulp (119 g/kg of DM), rapeseed meal (133 g/kg of DM), meadow hay (119 g/kg of DM), and a mineral blend (35 g/kg of DM). Rapeseed meal (1 kg/day/heifer) was added to the basal dose (CON), while the EXP dose comprised 1 kg of Camelina sativa L. cake. Heifers were fed one time a day at 10.00 a.m. Feed intake was recorded individually during the entire experiment. Four respiration chambers (SPA System, Ltd., Wroclaw, Poland) were used for monitoring CO2, CH4, and ammonia emissions. On d 26 of each experimental period, samples of rumen fluid (500 mL) were collected by stomach tubing (Ruminator, Profs Products, Wittybreut, Germany) at 1 p.m. 3 hours after feeding. Immediately after collection, the pH of rumen fluid was measured using a portable pH meter and two subsamples were prepared for volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia N determinations. For analysis of the rumen microbial community, rumen fluid was aliquoted into 2 mL tubes, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at −80°C until DNA extraction. The results showed that diet supplemented with 1 kg of Camelina sativa L. cake reduced methane (g CH4/d) and ammonia emission (g NH3/d) by 11% and 30%, respectively. The remaining analyses are in progress. Keywords: rumen fermentation, linolenic acid, cattle, greenhouse gases https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/dry-matter-intake 2 Talks 18 Optimized marginal cost curves for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation in Brazilian beef systems RAFAEL DE OLIVEIRA SILVA1, LUIS GUSTAVO BARIONI2, YUSUF NADI KARATAY3 1 University of Edinburgh, email: Rafael.Silva@ed.ac.uk 2 Embrapa Digital Agriculture / University of Edinburgh, email: luis.barioni@embrapa.br 3 University of Edinburgh, email: ykaratay@ed.ac.uk Animal husbandry is responsible for 6% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while the proportion is considerably larger in Brazil (27%). As the world’s second-biggest beef producer and the biggest exporter, the Brazilian beef sector alone makes up 18% of nationwide total GHG emissions. This suggests a high mitigation potential achievable from beef operations in Brazil, e.g., via improved diet formulation and feeding strategies, genetic selection, and also through improved pasture management which reduces animal life cycle and increases carbon sequestration in pasture soils. Marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs) have been frequently used as a tool to prioritize effective mitigation actions by explicitly comparing abatement potential with costs per tonnes of CO2eq. However, the underlying methodology for MACCs is not standardized and a traditional MACC does not capture interaction among measures, i.e., when the adoption rate, cost and abatement potential of a measure is influenced by the adoption of other measures. We propose a bottom-up approach by using the EAGGLE bioeconomic optimization model at farm level to optimize the adoption rate of applicable and policy-relevant measures for beef production in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. The model maximizes farm profit subject to beef demand, pasture area projections with a detailed representation of a representative full-cycle beef production system at month times steps, allowing for seasonal variations in forage and herd composition for on-pasture and feedlot animals. The farm model optimizes pasture and animal management strategies, considering full life cycle assessment approach and changes in soil organic carbon sequestration. The model produces MACCs represented by cost-efficient frontiers of cost vs abatement potential (AP) using two cost metrics; implementation cost of measure (IC) and “real cost” (RC). The latter is represented by the change in gross margin due to the adoption of a measure relative to a baseline scenario. We model both animal efficiency measures, i.e., feedlots (FL) and pasture restoration (PR). By far, PR is the most cost-effective measure, with the largest AP and negative RC. We find that both IC and RC vary drastically depending on the mitigation target and adoption rate. For example, the IC of PR with the adoption rate required to reduce 5% of beef GHGs by 2030 is 200% higher than the IC for a 30% reduction target. We also show significant synergetic relations between adoption rates of measures. For example, the RC of PR is -US$27.5/ha/yr for 8MtCO2e/yr, whereas the RC of PR combined with FL is estimated as -US$33/ha/yr for 11MtCO2e/yr. Keywords: MACC, climate change, farm modelling, pasture, land use 2 Talks 19 Assessing the cost-effectiveness of public investments in agriculture for climate mitigation SRAVYA MAMIDANNA1, JOANNA ILICIC2, LORENZO MAESTRIPIERI3, GRETA DOBROVICH4, ADA IGNACIUK, ALMA ROTTEM 1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Italy, email: sravya.mamidanna@fao.org, 2 FAO, email: joanna.ilicic@fao.org, 3 email: lorenzo.maestripieri@fao.org. 4 email: greta.dobrovich@fao.org Understanding the cost-effectiveness of various interventions and investments in agriculture is essential for informed decision-making to achieve climate change mitigation targets and other policy goals in the sector. However, robust evidence, particularly through independent impact evaluations, is scarce, especially in low and middle-income countries. While both the top-down and bottom-up modelling evidence for the cost-effectiveness of agriculture-related interventions is compelling, lack of impact evaluations of real projects with reliable costs data can influence decision-making. Considering the long duration and evaluative challenges inherent in agriculture projects which have mitigation co-benefits, prospective ex-ante estimates of cost-effectiveness from development agencies and funds are a highly promising source of data for learning and analysing these interventions. In this paper, we leverage a unique data set as an entry point into understanding the costs and effectiveness of climate mitigation within agriculture projects financed by the public sector. Since 2012, several International Financial Institutions (IFIs) follow a harmonized accounting approach to estimate GHG emissions from their agriculture and rural development projects. The EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT), developed by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) TIER-1 methodology is consistently used by several IFIs to produce carbon mitigation estimates for these projects. Using project data from IFIs and associated EX-ACT assessments, we construct a naïve, first-cut measure of cost- effectiveness for various publicly funded agriculture projects and their specific activities, benchmarking activity costs against their expected mitigation. Our study employs a systematic stratification approach to analyze a wide range of specific activities, including annual and perennial cropland management, rice cultivation, afforestation, forest degradation, grassland and livestock management, fisheries and aquaculture. Based on the initial cost-effectiveness measures, we construct Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACCs) for these diverse range of activities. This enables us to evaluate the expected cost-effectiveness of individual agricultural activities and its magnitude of variance among several real-world projects. The initial results are consistent with existing literature on cost-effectiveness in agriculture. They indicate that the average cost- effectiveness varies across projects and within regions and depends on the methodological approach adopted and benchmark used (such as additionality considerations) in estimating emissions. With growing policy enthusiasm in both public and private sectors to scale-up agriculture-based mitigation actions, we argue for a greater focus on impact evaluation in this space. Future comparisons can also benefit from greater methodological transparency and consistency. Keywords: marginal abatement cost curves, cost-effectiveness, public investments in agriculture for climate mitigation, GHG accounting 2 Talks 20 Is organic farming sequestering carbon in soils? AXEL DON AND KIMBERLEY BRÜGGE Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Braunschweig, Germany; email: axel.don@thuenen.de Organic farming is acknowledged as a farming system with multiple environmental benefits including lower greenhouse gas emissions when calculated per area basis. In organic farming systems no mineral fertilisers are applied but they rely on organic fertilisation and crop rotations with leguminous perennial crops such as lucerne. Both, organic fertilisation and perennial crops are known to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and thus may lead to C sequestration and negative emissions when organic farming area is expanded. At European scale organic farming area is 10% of agricultural land and is aimed at being expanded to 25%. In Germany, currently 11% of agricultural area is under organic farming and the political target is 30% in 2030. Thus, the expansion of organic farming could create a significant C sink. However, there are increasing doubts on the role of organic farming for SOC formation. Organic farming systems may rely on import of carbon into their soils from external carbon sources via organic amendments (e.g., compost). Such import is a transfer of carbon between sites but does not lead to C sequestration. Moreover, the lower yield in organic farming systems compared to conventional farms reduces the above ground plant residues that are left as feedstock for SOC formation in soils. Most plant residues in agriculture are below ground with roots and organic farming may foster root biomass more than conventional farms. Thus, the net effect of organic farming expansion on SOC stocks is under discussion. We will present the state of art on the question if and how organic farming systems enhance SOC based i) on an extensive literature review on long-term field experiments and ii) on new assessments of large-scale soil data sets: The Agricultural Soil Inventory covering more than 3000 sites in Germany and a soil inventory of croplands on 74 organic and 75 conventional farms across Germany. The combination of such large-scale soil data sets together with plot scale data from long-term field experiments will allow a new assessment on the role of organic farming systems for carbon removal from the atmosphere with C sequestration in soils. Keywords: C sequestration in soils, agricultural systems, organic farming, soil organic carbon, soil carbon inventories 2 Talks 21 Remote sensing of agricultural land use for enhanced climate policy implementation STEFAN ERASMI1*, MARCEL SCHWIEDER1, ALEXANDER GOCHT1, ROLAND FUß2, FELIX LOBERT1, JAVIER MURO1, TOM BRÖG1, LUKAS BLICKENSDÖRFER1 1 Thünen Institute of Farm Economics, 2 Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture; * Corresponding author: stefan.erasmi@thuenen.de With the adopted amendment of the EU regulation 2018/841 on the inclusion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), the EU member states agreed that – starting with the report in 2028 – the calculation of emission pools at national level should make use of geographically- explicit data. Earth Observation (EO) can support the implementation of the regulation by providing timely, seamless and high-resolution information for monitoring land use activities and land management practices related to GHG emissions and removals. Frequently, EU-wide mapping initiatives that make use of data from the Copernicus program and derived products provided by the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) are complemented by national-level approaches that usually aim at generating more tailored datasets for specific monitoring requirements. In this context, the project KlimaFern, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, evaluates the potential of new EO-based national datasets on agricultural land use to enhance climate reporting in the LULUCF sector for Germany. We will present a proof of concept for the implementation of EO data in monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) in the context of climate reporting and will outline first results of mapping area- wide GHG-related land use activities in agricultural land such as crop rotations, grassland conversion or planting of hedgerows and coppices. These products are derived on a national scale using state-of-the art machine and deep learning algorithms and multi-modal satellite image time series (e.g., Sentinel-1 and 2, Landsat, PlanetScope). All products are compared against available data and products at national level (e.g. agricultural statistics) to assess their potential for improving climate reporting and are evaluated in terms of quality, accuracy and consistency against existing and foreseen products of the CLMS. The presentation will cover the conceptual framework and highlight challenges for a successful implementation of EO data for monitoring obligations taking Germany as an example. It will also point out synergies and relationships of climate related land use monitoring efforts with other policy initiatives at national and EU level. An in-depth view of the methodological development of the EO datasets will be provided by two accompanying poster presentations (Brög et al., Muro et al.). Keywords: remote sensing, climate reporting, land use 2 Talks 22 Quantifying the Intensity of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Using Inbred and Hybrid Rice under Two Different Field Management Conditions in the Philippines NNAEMEKA SUCCESS ESIOBU1 AND BJÖRN OLE SANDER2 1 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Banos Philippines; Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria; email: esiobunnaemekasuccess@gmail.com 2 International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Bangkok, Thailand Rice is one of the most essential staple food in Southeast Asia and is especially significant in the Philippines. About one-third of the Philippines’ arable lands are used for rice farming. Incidentally, in the Philippines, conventional rice is produced in soggy soil, which is among the most critical sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission, particularly methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Rice production in soggy soil produces GHGs because of the lack of oxygen in the soil, creating conditions conducive for GHG-emitting bacteria to flourish. Therefore, reducing GHG emission from rice becomes increasingly critical in Philippines. It was against these backdrops that the experiment was conducted. The experiment employed a split plot Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) using two factors (water management and type of rice variety). The treatments consisted of three (3) replicates. Factor A represented the water management approach and included two levels; A1 - Continuously Flooded (CF) and A2 - Mid-season Drainage (MSD). Factor B represented the different rice varieties under investigation. It included three (3) levels: B1 - IR139216H (hybrid variety), B2 - NSIC Rc480 (inbred variety), and B3 - NSIC Rc222 (non-GSR inbred variety). Gas flux measurements were conducted using the static closed chamber method. The gas chromatograph utilized was SRI GC-8610C (SRI Instruments, CA USA) with a 63Ni electron capture detector (ECD) for N2O analysis and a flame ionization detector (FID) for CH4 analysis. The study also utilized Source-selective and Emission-adjusted GHG CalculaTOR for Cropland (SECTOR) to calculate the GHG emission. Result revealed that CF and MSD treatment maintained a desired standing water level of 5cm and above throughout the season. Also, the hybrid variety resulted in the lowest CH4 emissions for both CF and MSD treatments, with values of 7,069 and 4,811 kg CO2 eq ha-1 season-1, respectively. In contrast, the inbred variety had the highest CH4 emissions in the CF treatment, while the check variety had the highest in the MSD treatment. No significant differences were observed in N2O emissions, which ranged from 123 to 168 kg CO2 eq ha-1 season-1 across all treatments. CH4 accounted for 98-99% of the Global Warming Potential (GWP) in the CF treatment and 97-98% in the MSD treatment. In the CF treatment, the inbred variety had the highest total GWP of 17,776 kg CO2 eq ha-1 season-1. On the other hand, the hybrid and check varieties produced 7,192 and 14,264 kg CO2 eq ha-1 season-1, respectively. In the MSD treatment, the hybrid variety resulted in the lowest emissions with 4,953 kg CO2 eq ha-1 season-1 and significant grain yield of 6,986 kg/ha. The inbred and check varieties followed with emissions of 8,604 and 9,565 kg CO2 eq ha-1 season-1, respectively. Implementing the MSD reduced GHG emissions for all varieties resulting in hybrid (19%), checks varieties (20%) and inbred (35%) reductions. The study recommends that using effective water management strategies along with hybrid rice varieties is a possible way to mitigate GHG emissions without comprising rice yield and income in Philippine. Keywords: greenhouse gas emissions (CH4 and N2O), SECTOR, water management, continuously flooded (CF); mid-season drainage (MSD), checks varieties rice 2 Talks 23 A behaviour change perspective on food system transformation towards climate resilience and emission reduction SARAH FREED1, RACHEL VOSS2, ANNE RIETVELD1, THOMAS FALK3*, RAHMA ADAM2 1 Alliance Biodiversity-CIAT, 2 WorldFish, 3 International Food Policy Research Institute * Corresponding author: t.falk@cgiar.org Integrating agroecological practices such as cover crops, residue retention, or silvo-pastoral systems can increase sequestration of organic carbon in soils and vegetation. Decreasing production and application of in-organic fertilizers reduces emissions. There is evidence that a transition to agroecological approaches can substantially reduce agricultural GHG emissions. It remains a challenge to identify leverage points supporting such a transition. We present and apply a conceptual framework for analyzing individual and collective agency and behavior change in transforming agri-food systems (the ACT framework) by integrating multidisciplinary concepts including behavioral change models, Ostrom’s social-ecological systems framework, and concepts related to agricultural innovation systems. Critical is the notion of ‘opportunity spaces’, which represent actors’ resource access, power, and agency as well as of ‘action situations’ in which actors interact and make individual and collective choices among available options in light of expected benefits and costs of potential behaviors. Drawing from case studies in five countries, we used the ACT framework to identify how and for whom agency and behavior change were enabled or impeded in past projects, programs or social movements related to agroecology. We reviewed process documents and interviewed case experts to identify assumptions in the theories of change. Our findings indicate a strong focus on changing the behavior of farmers or other producers, most often through technical assistance, training, demonstrations, and other approaches. Supporting the adoption of technologies which increase carbon sequestration and reducing practices which create emissions is critical. However, in 46% of cases there were reports of the interventions being poorly aligned with actor needs. The behaviors of consumers and governance decision-makers were least often considered and addressed, being targeted in less than a quarter of cases. Structural approaches to influence agency and behavior change, such as addressing barriers imposed through social norms and relations, and/or resource, economic or governance systems, were uncommon. In contrast, case experts, expressed that market and value chain linkages, partner and institutional support, social learning and collaboration among actors, and efforts to address power and agency in multi- stakeholder engagements were key influencing but hardly targeted factors to enable behavior change towards agroecological principles. Based on the results from our review, we developed recommendations that can guide future efforts to enable agri-food systems transformation through actors’ agency and behavior change. These include: i) investigating the factors influencing agency and behaviors across agri-food system actors during an initiative’s design phase; ii) co- developing with the agri-food system actors the vision for their agri-food system integrating implications on GHG emissions; iii) developing a clear Theory of Change that lays out the steps from current situation to the envisioned change, along with clear descriptions of the behavioral assumptions embedded in each step; and iv) implement and reflect on progress in an inclusive, participatory, and iterative way. Keywords: conceptual framework, behavioral change, agroecology, food systems, transformational change 2 Talks 24 Climate change induced heat and drought stress hamper climate change mitigation in German cereal production LUDWIG RIEDESEL1, DONGHUI MA1, HANS-PETER PIEPHO2, FRIEDRICH LAIDIG2, MARKUS MÖLLER3, CAROLIN LICHTHARDT4, DIRK RENTEL4, BURKHARD GOLLA1, TIMO KAUTZ5, TIL FEIKE1* 1 Julius Kuehn Institute (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Strategies and Technology Assessment, Kleinmachnow, Germany; * Corresponding author: til.feike@julius-kuehn.de 2 University of Hohenheim, Institute of Crop Science, Biostatistics Unit, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany 3 Julius Kuehn Institute (JKI) – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Braunschweig, Germany 4 Bundessortenamt, Hannover, German; 5 Humboldt University of Berlin, Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Berlin, Germany Introduction Agricultural production and climate change strongly influence each other and there are significant efforts to minimize negative impacts in both directions. In particular, breeding progress has succeeded in reducing the carbon footprint (CFP) of cereals over time (Riedesel et al., 2022). However, there is widespread certainty that climate change-related weather extremes have led to stagnation of cereal yields in many global production regions. We assume that climate change-related yield stagnation is also evident in variety trials in Germany, which has to date only been shown for on-farm yields. Furthermore, we expect that the stagnation in yields also leads to a stagnation in the downward trend of CFP, and that heat and drought stress in particular increase the CFP of cereals. In addition, we hypothesize that the site-specific soil quality largely determines stress induced increases in CFP. Materials and methods We conduct a partial life cycle assessment (LCA) with German variety trial data from 1993 to 2021 and determine the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of land (GHGL), as well as the CFP of winter wheat, winter rye, and winter barley. Further, we evaluate the time trends of yield, GHGL, and CFP using linear and quadratic plateau models. In addition, we calculate spatio-dynamic weather indices (WIs) for moderate, severe and extreme heat and drought stress. Using mixed models, we estimate the explanatory power and effect size of heat and drought WIs on the CFP. Finally, we present the spatial differences of heat and drought on the CFP at different soil qualities. Results and discussion We show yield plateaus in all crops and stagnating GHGL trends, resulting in a stagnation of the downward trend of CFP, especially for rye and barley. We highlight that heat and drought increase the CFP of all crops. However, the impact of heat and drought on the CFP varies greatly with soil quality across all crops. We conclude that climate change-induced weather extremes are major challenges not only for cereal production and food security but also for climate change mitigation in the agricultural sector, highlighting the importance of high-yield locations, alongside variety selection and resource-efficient management, for climate change mitigation. This study is the first that proves yield stagnation in German variety trials. Moreover, this study is the first to analyze the impact of heat and drought stress on cereal CFP, a crucial aspect of climate change mitigation in field crops. References Riedesel, L., Laidig, F., Hadasch, S., Rentel, D., Hackauf, B., Piepho, H. P., & Feike, T. (2022). Breeding progress reduces carbon footprints of wheat and rye. Journal of Cleaner Production, 377, 134326. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2022.134326 Keywords: carbon footprint, wheat, rye, barley, heat, drought, LCA, soil quality, variety testing 2 Talks 25 Economic and social valuation of climate change mitigation strategies in livestock systems FERNANDO FLÓREZ1, YIGEZU ATNAFE YIGEZU2, WANE ABDRAHMANE3, MOUNIR LOUHAICHI2, STEFAN BURKART1* 1 The Alliance Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) 2 International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) 3 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) *Correspondence: s.burkart@cgiar.org Socio-ecological systems are framed from a human-in-nature perspective. Human societies are embedded in the dynamics of ecological systems and must survive, co-evolve, and thrive within the limits imposed by the ecosphere. Natural systems produce ecosystem services for human beings, while social systems intervene in natural systems with positive (environmental benefits) and negative externalities. Along with crops, livestock production is one of the economic enterprises that humans engage for their livelihoods using the natural ecosystem while also providing ecosystem services and environmental benefits. Livestock systems embrace all aspects of the supply and use of livestock and livestock products, including the distribution and abundance of livestock, the different production systems in which they are raised, estimates of their current and future production and consumption, the people engaged in livestock production, and the benefits and impacts of keeping livestock. Carbon storage and capture is an ecosystem service present in livestock systems with cultivated forages, rangelands, and agro-silvopastoral systems. While humans, through consumption, put pressure on natural ecosystems, they also develop, and introduce policy, institutional, and technological innovations, which have the potential to decrease methane emissions from ruminants. Therefore, such interventions have great potential to ensure sustainability of the natural systems and hence the social systems because the combination of carbon storage and capture and reduction of methane emissions in livestock systems generates a better carbon balance, and hence reduces the associated adverse impacts on climate change. While there is evidence for the technical efficacy of these interventions, the cost of inaction, the investment required for implementing them and its economic viability, and their impacts if implemented at large scale are not fully known, thereby limiting our ability to promote their financing. In this study, we aim to formulate a viable method for the economic and social valuation of benefits of action to implement interventions that enhance carbon storage and capture and reduce methane emissions in livestock systems. For the economic valuation we employ market pricing methods. The market pricing method consists of consulting carbon prices in the world's main Tradable Emissions Permit Systems and the economic instruments for emissions regulation used in the country where the evaluation is carried out. For the social valuation, it is necessary to determine the level of knowledge and perception of the stakeholders on the topic. To achieve this, we inquire whether individuals are familiar with the concepts of carbon storage, capture, and methane emissions reduction. We assess their perception of the significance of these measures and use contingent valuation methods, including Discrete Choice Experiments and Public Goods Games, to estimate their willingness to financially support mitigation strategies. We have currently implemented this strategy in three studies in Colombia to evaluate the reduction of methane emissions in silvopastoral systems with improved pastures and the reduction of the carbon footprint in meat and milk production. Our findings show favorable outcomes where the environmental value prevented from being lost or newly generated due to interventions surpasses the costs associated with implementing them. Keywords: carbon storage and capture, reduction of methane emissions, economic and social valuation, mitigation strategies, livestock 2 Talks 26 Implementation of the German peatland monitoring program for climate protection - Open Land STEFAN FRANK1, ARNDT PIAYDA2, ULLRICH DETTMANN3, BÄRBEL TIEMEYER4 Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Germany 1 email: stefan.frank@thuenen.de, 2 email: arndt.piayda@thuenen.de, 3 email: ullrich.dettmann@thuenen.de, 4 email: baerbel.tiemeyer@thuenen.de Peat and other organic soils store large amounts of soil organic matter, which is highly vulnerable to drainage. Thus, drained organic soils contribute around 7% to the total German greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and around 44% to the emissions from agriculture and agriculturally used soils, despite covering less than 7% of agricultural area in Germany. With approximately 90% of the total emissions, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important GHG with regards to drained organic soils. To evaluate possible GHG mitigation measures such as classical re-wetting, paludiculture or adjusted water management compared to the still widespread status quo of drainage-based peatland agriculture, an improved data set on GHG emissions, in particular CO2, and their drivers is needed. Furthermore, spatial data and upscaling methods need to be improved. To meet these needs, a long-term monitoring program for organic soils is currently (2020-2025) being set up for open land at the Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture. A consistent long-term monitoring of soil surface motions, representatively covering a broad range of organic soils and land use types will be combined with the repeated measurement of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks to assess CO2 emissions using standardized and peat- specific methods. Land use types comprise grassland, arable land, paludiculture as well as unutilized re-wetted and semi-natural peatlands. At each of the envisaged approximately 150 monitoring sites important parameters such as groundwater table, vegetation and soil properties are monitored. Together with the updated map of organic soils, all collected data form the basis for improving regionalisation approaches for drivers – particularly water levels and SOC stocks – and CO2 emissions from organic soils in Germany. Here, we will present the general structure of monitoring program, the current state of site establishment as well as first results. Keywords: monitoring, organic soils, surface motions, carbon stocks, hydrology, vegetation, management, regionalisation mailto:baerbel.tiemeyer@thuenen.de 2 Talks 27 The impacts of conservation agricultural practices on soil greenhouse gas emissions in maize production systems in Buea, Cameroon AMAHNUI GEORGE AMENCHWI1,2*, VERONICA EBOT MANGA2, AARON SUH TENI