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Linking Agriculture and Climate: Resources from Agrilinks and Climatelinks

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11 Dec, 2023

This post was originally published on Climate Links

Linking Agriculture and Climate: Resources from Agrilinks and Climatelinks
jschoshinski
Thu, 12/07/2023 – 20:26

Today’s COP28 program focuses on food, agriculture, and water. Climate change increases water and food scarcity, displacement, and the need for humanitarian assistance globally. Although affected by the climate crisis, agriculture may also contribute to it by emitting greenhouse gasses through excessive use of fertilizers, methane-releasing rice paddies and livestock, over-tilling of soil, and the conversion of forests and other ecosystems to agricultural uses. Climate-smart agriculture can decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the sector and build communities’ resilience to climate change. 

Addressing the climate crisis requires a holistic approach to development. USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy recognizes every USAID Mission and the sectors in which they work has a role to play in transforming global systems to address the climate crisis. The Strategy’s two main Strategic Objectives of Targeted Direct Action and Systems Change highlight how a systems approach–such as transforming food systems to be more resilient, less wasteful, and less environmentally destructive, or transitioning value chains to be less carbon-intensive–can mitigate climate change and build resilience in ways that are comprehensive, equitable, and locally led.

With this intersection between agriculture and climate change in mind, Agrilinks and Climatelinks are highlighting some resources that explore the issue in depth. Agrilinks is a hub where agriculture, food security, and development professionals can connect, share, and learn. It is part of USAID’s Feed the Future initiative and has become the go-to source for informative discussions that further resilience, food security, and poverty reduction.

Here are some climate-related resources on Agrilinks to help food security and agricultural development practitioners understand how their work intersects with climate change programming.

Cocoa Farmers in Ghana Show Strong Interest in Solar-Based Irrigation, but Pump Costs Are Often Too High

In Ghana, climate change negatively affects the production of cocoa, which is essential to the country’s economy and contributes around 30 percent of its export earnings. Cocoa farmers are willing to invest in solar-powered irrigation pumps as a climate-smart adaptation measure, but high costs and limited credit options restrict their ability to invest. Understanding these challenges can help policymakers and private sector businesses who promote climate-smart technologies design market-oriented strategies for the promotion of solar-powered irrigation pumps to Ghanaian cocoa farmers.

Site-Specific Nutrient Management for Balanced Nutrient Application and Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Rice Fields

Rice is known to be both a contributor to and a victim of climate change. As the global population increases, the demand for rice production will follow suit. Scientists are working toward the integration of climate-smart technologies into rice production to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from rice fields and save it from the impacts of climate change. 

Norman Borlaug, the Groundnut Improvement Network for Africa and Climate Change

Decades before climate change became a threat to food security, Norman Borlaug, the Father of the Green Revolution, put shuttle breeding to work. Shuttle breeding allowed breeders around the world to evaluate new breeding lines of rice and wheat in multiple environments each year–helping address food security by allowing multiple harvests to occur in a single growing season. The Groundnut Improvement Network for Africa is now replicating that success for groundnuts on the African continent and beyond.


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These resources can help agricultural development practitioners understand how their work intersects with climate change programming.

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Sun, 12/10/2023 – 12:00

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ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB receives EPD status for gearless mill drive ring motor

ABB has gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) status for its Gearless Mill Drive (GMD) ring motor — technology used to drive large grinding mills in the mining industry.

An EPD is a standardised document that provides detailed information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle. Based on a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the EPD highlights ABB’s commitment to transparency, environmental responsibility and supporting customers in making informed decisions on sustainability in their supply chains.

ABB analysed the environmental impact of a ring motor across its entire life cycle from supply chain and production to usage and end-of-life disposal. The study was conducted for a ring motor of a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill with an installed power of 24 MW and was based on a reference service life of 25 years.

“Sustainability is at the core of our purpose at ABB, influencing how we operate and innovate for customers,” said Andrea Quinta, Sustainability Specialist at ABB. “By earning the Environmental Product Declaration for our ring motor, we emphasise our environmental stewardship and industry leadership for this technology. We adhered to the highest standards throughout this process, as we do in the ABB Ring Motor factory every day. This recognition highlights to the mining industry what they are bringing into their own operations when they work with ABB.”

The comprehensive LCA was conducted at ABB’s factory in Bilbao, Spain, and was externally verified and published in accordance with international standards ISO 14025 and ISO 14040/14044. It will remain valid for five years.

The ring motor, a key component of the GMD, is a drive system without any gears where the transmission of the torque between the motor and the mill is done through the magnetic field in the air gap between the motor stator and the motor rotor. It optimises grinding applications in the minerals and mining industries by enabling variable-speed operation, leading to energy and cost savings.

The full EPD for the ABB GMD Ring Motor can be viewed on EPD International.

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