Farmers may be the unsung climate change heroes

Greenhouse gas emissions are blamed on agriculture, but these farmers seek new ways to lessen their environmental effects and future-proof their companies.

The need to secure food for future generations has never been greater due to an expanding global population, rising production costs, and an impending climatic crisis. As the backbone of our food systems, farmers are frequently held accountable for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. However, since agriculture can be a powerful tool in the battle against the crises of climate change, food security, and biodiversity, we must empower farmers and encourage the farming industry to adopt more sustainable methods. The whole food value chain must collaborate to discover solutions to safeguard the future of food for our people and our planet since climate change puts a third of the world's food supply in danger.

Fortunately, farmers everywhere are rising to the occasion, embracing cutting-edge new methods and technologies and working together on projects that will lessen their environmental effects and ensure their industry is sustainable for future generations. The Future of Food, a recently released documentary series, exposes some of the global efforts being undertaken by farmers to bring about change. The film series was produced in collaboration with the World Farmers' Organisation (WFO), an international organisation representing more than 1.2 billion farmers, and premised during COP28.

According to Mary Robinson, Vice-President of the WFO, "We're trying to inspire a positive change, to encourage people to think deeply about the agricultural sector by promoting farmers' best practices to mitigate and adapt to climate change while feeding the world every day in a more sustainable way."

Filmmakers travelled to farms across America, Abu Dhabi, Mexico, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other countries for the 16-video series. All farmers, whether they have been in business for a few years or several generations, are dedicated to improving the sustainability of their farms daily. It entails utilizing renewable energy sources, enhancing animal welfare, and figuring out how to lower methane emissions from cattle.

Soil health is among the most urgent issues. Extreme weather and human activity have deteriorated soils, making it more difficult to grow crops and reducing their capacity to store carbon. It has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

A film in the series looks at how farmers use seaweed as a regenerative resource to preserve and stimulate crops. Another examines how a farm in North Dakota uses robots rather than herbicides to fight weeds. The solar-powered Aigen Element device is self-sufficient and can distinguish between weeds and crops. According to Rich Wurden, co-founder and CEO of Aigen, Wee uses machine learning to identify weeds in the field. Then we have two-axis robot arms that pull the weeds out of the ground as the robot drives by."

In the meantime, Spanish tomato growers are utilizing technology to increase productivity. They can use insecticides sparingly using an app that provides up-to-date information on pest threats. Another problem is water scarcity, but farmer Luis Joaquin Sanchez shows how to manage the hydration systems using his phone. These kinds of advancements give him optimism. He states, "As a farmer, I need to get good crop prices and yield to make my business sustainable over time." "Agriculture has a bright future, and I want to continue farming." It is who I am and what I enjoy doing.

One grower in the UAE has managed to cultivate blueberries despite the harsh heat and all the obstacles. Elite Agro Holdings has invested in smart greenhouse technology to shield crops from harsh weather. However, they do more than just profit from technology; they also share their expertise by teaching rural African people sustainable gardening techniques. Additionally, they have created a "smart farm," a mobile device that runs on solar power and can be powered off the grid to run an irrigation system and a cold store.

Farmers must also worry about biosecurity since illnesses constantly threaten their livestock and crops. An estimated 131 million birds died from avian flu in 2022 alone.

According to Josh Watson of Oakwood Eggs in Bedford, England, Avian flu would be a catastrophe for their farm. He explains, "You wake up every day hoping nothing bad happens to us." "The most important thing you can now concentrate on is biosecurity." He is utilising Livetec Systems software that warns farmers about possible dangers. According to Watson, it is always tracking where avian flu is."It alerts people to what is happening, which is information we must have."

A fifth-generation family farm in Canada called Colborn Farms is the subject of another movie in the series. Cadence, Shawn Colborn's sixteen-year-old daughter, is already picking up the skills, and he hopes it will stay in the family. "Those who came before us did a fantastic job of adjusting to technological changes and laying the groundwork for future generations to build upon. Moreover, educating the future generation is our aim. He believes that artificial intelligence will be used more frequently in the future, which should improve the appeal of farming as a career option for the coming generations. "We need to establish an environment where people may find that working on a farm appeals to them as a potential career path due to the technology that farms provide."

Despite the enormous issues facing the agricultural sector, as the Future of Food series demonstrates, farmers—innovators by nature and necessity—are meeting these challenges head-on, cooperating and exchanging ideas to develop fresh, sustainable approaches to food production.

"It is critical that farmers contribute to the fight against climate change," says Ed Towers, a dairy farmer at Lancashire's Brades Farm who has used cutting-edge, new cattle diets to cut emissions by 30%. Our goal was to operate a sustainable company. We did not want to manage a company, turn a profit, and then look back on our lives and regret what we did because it affected the environment negatively.