Experts advocate efficient nitrogen fertilizer use to bolster food security
Livelihood Adaptation to Climate Change (LACC) Project - Improving adaptive capacity to climate variability and change for sustainable food and livelihood security in drought prone and coastal regions of Bangladesh. The project promotes climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction processes and capacities for sustainable livelihoods and food security in the rural sectors including crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry and other key factors of rural livelihoods in the drought prone and coastal regions of Bangladesh. Under the overarching objective of CDMP to strengthen the capacity of the Bangladesh disaster management system, in particular related to Component 4b which seeks âto establish an integrated approach to manage climate risks at the national and local levelsâ, the immediate project objectives are to: (i) introduce, improve and further strengthen institutional and technical capacities for improved adaptation to climate variability and change; addressing technology needs for adaptation, awareness raising and climate information needs. (ii) implement in a participatory way and jointly with local communities good practices and strategies to effectively address climate change adaptation and disaster preparedness and develop strategies for their long term sustainability. (iii) provide recommendations for up-scaling and mainstreaming of successfully pilot tested livelihood adaptation options into development planning and policy decision making.
Orisemeke Benjamin
The rise in nitrogen fertilizers over the past century has significantly contributed to enhancing agricultural production and bolstering food security and nutrition for an expanding global population, a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has said.
Nevertheless, the UN agency warned that improper use of nitrogen can severely damage air, water, and soil quality, result in biodiversity loss, and exacerbate climate change.
A new report provides a comprehensive overview of nitrogen use and the resulting challenges in agrifood systems. It emphasizes the importance of ensuring sustainable use and offers recommendations to achieve this goal.
Nitrogen is an essential component of food constituents, particularly amino acids and proteins required for the growth of plants, animals, and humans.
Thanks to the invention of the Haber–Bosch process in the early 20th century, humans have been able to convert unreactive nitrogen, abundant in the atmosphere (the same nitrogen that makes the sky blue), into useful substances like ammonia, which is now commonly used as fertilizer.
The report notes that livestock are the main contributors to nitrogen emissions and are responsible for about one-third of the total nitrogen emissions produced by human activity. Synthetic fertilizers, land-use change, and manure emissions are the main causes of nitrogen pollution in this area.
Nitrogen pollution is most severe in North America, Western Europe and certain Asian countries, where fertilizers have been extensively used and misused for decades.
In some low- and middle-income countries restricted access to fertilizers leads to the depletion of nitrogen, which reduces soil nutrients and leads to soil degradation.
A judicious use of nitrogen in agriculture, therefore, helps prevent soil degradation and nutrient depletion while increasing crop yields. In contrast, excessive use exacerbates global warming, degrades air and water quality, and depletes stratospheric ozone. Nitrogen pollution poses risks to human health by increasing the incidence of respiratory and heart diseases.
Therefore, sustainable nitrogen management that focuses on minimizing external inputs and losses and maximizing recycling is more urgent than ever.
Assistant Director-General and Director of the Animal Production and Health Division at FAO, Thanawat Tiensin states that “Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) has seen improvements in recent years, which is encouraging. However, significant work remains to be done. This report provides a detailed set of recommendations to further enhance NUE, helping to reduce pollution while promoting environmental and human health,” stated,
