The interplay between agriculture, greenhouse gases, and climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Agriculture is the leading sector that is responsible for global climate change through its significant contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Intriguingly, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing higher temperatures and lesser rainfall due to climate change enhanced by anthropogenic GHG emissions. Agriculture and energy use in the SSA predominantly influence the anthropogenic GHG leading to global warming. Therefore, reducing agricultural GHG emissions (such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) plays a significant role in climate change adaptation. This paper reviews the potential implication of agriculture and energy use on climate change and its implications on environmental sustainability in SSA. Herewith, we explored various GHGs emitted through agriculture-energy use, their effects on climate change, as well as several climate change adaptation mechanisms, and gaps in existing knowledge that necessitate more research, were also explored. We found that agriculture had negative implications on climate change impacts in the SSA countries and that a more focused strategy that is both economically and technically feasible in terms of preferences for land use, effective energy use, and food supply would aid in GHG emission reduction and environmental sustainability. Adapting to the projected changes in the short term while investing in long-term mitigation strategies might be the only way toward a sustainable environment in this region.

Agro-technology for climate-smart agriculture and resilience to climate extremes in sub-Saharan Africa

“…However, the intensification and expansion of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa can be expected; hence, studies show consistent projections of how much it might cost in terms of GHG emissions to reduce yield gaps in the region, in particular nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions (Leitner et al 2020, Lemarpe et al 2021. According to Omotoso and Omotayo (2024), 64% of total N 2 O emissions during 2020 in SSA came from agricultural soils.…”