**13. Adopting evidence based Innovative technology for environmental sustainability**

There is need for countries and communities to adopt research based innovations that have proved effective in addressing food insecurity and environmental sustainability. The following are some of the examples;

*Integrated pest management:* The aim is to produce quality crop yields with techniques that minimize environmental impacts. Pest outbreaks can thus be prevented or limited, by developing and using green mechanical, biological, chemical and other controls only as needed.

*Fertilizers:* The use of fertilizers helps increase cultivated soil carbon reserves by increasing the photosynthetic conversion of CO2 to biomass that is subsequently converted to soil organic matter.

*Water management:* Agriculture depends on water availability and water quality, thus it will be increasingly important to develop innovative strategies for sustainable water management. Innovative methods for conserving water on the farm-level will be important, such as im‐ proved irrigation techniques and indigenous furrow/pans irrigation.

*Improved seeds:* Where appropriate, improved seeds, including those derived through biotech‐ nology, have the potential to make a major contribution to increasing crop yields, nutritional content, and productivity, and mitigating environmental impacts such as climate change. Drought-tolerant crop varieties, for example, have the ability to help protect yield potential when water is scarce, while other crop varieties can be produced with genetics that protect against yield losses due to flood conditions. Salt-tolerant crops can be developed to allow land that has become unproductive for crops to be used for food production. Breeding of plants with improved water efficiency will be important. Plants with an improved nitrogen-efficiency can grow and produce high yields with lower amounts of fertiliser or have much higher yields under the same fertiliser input. Such plants would also help to minimise the emission of nitrous greenhouse gases (GHG) and save energy on the production of nitrogen fertiliser an energy intensive process [34].

*Reduction of GHG from livestock:* Livestock waste products are a source of GHG emissions. There are a number of examples of how best practices can help reduce emissions. For instance, research to reduce GHG from livestock is looking at selective breeding and biological means of reducing emissions. Examples include biogas production from animal waste by using codigestion.

*Using information technology (IT) for agriculture development*: Cell phones offer a means of providing valuable information and advice to farmers in remote places. IT applications in agriculture are limited in the developing countries thus there is significant potential for maximising gains in agriculture through various IT applications, such as drought and flood management coupled with climate and weather information, waste reduction, risk mitigation and market development. Local operators of ICT can search for answers in a central database and provide information on either crop prices, weather forecasts for irrigation, water man‐ agement and plant diseases. Therefore, it is critical to build capacity among farmers and create conditions that would allow them to access and apply these IT applications.

*Minimizing harvest losses:* The reduction in pre and post harvest losses would in itself contribute in a major way to food security. There is an urgent need for replacing the rudimentary pre and post-harvest practices with innovative, scientific and low cost models.

*Adjustment in farm practices:* Farm mechanization will be essential for increasing food produc‐ tion in developing countries. Machinery and implements have to be tailor made to the conditions in each of the agro-climate zones. In addition, the development of prediction tool models and on-site diagnostics can optimize farm practices by minimizing the inputs (fertil‐ izer, water, agrochemicals) and maximizing the yield.

*Carbon Sequestration:* The process of transferring atmospheric CO2 into soil and biotic pools can enhance soil quality, increase agronomic productivity, improve quality of natural waters, and lower rates of anoxia (decrease in the level of oxygen) or hypoxia (dead water) in coastal ecosystems.

*Conservation agriculture:* Conservation agriculture techniques such as low or no-till agriculture, made possible through the use of herbicides and biotechnology-derived crops, prevents wind and water erosion and loss of ground moisture, improves soil biodiversity, increases soil fertility, and in appropriate, carefully managed cases has the potential to reduce carbon emissions. In addition, by limiting soil disturbance and promoting a permanent soil cover, conservation agriculture can contribute to limiting emissions from agriculture by increasing soil carbon content (i.e. reducing emissions) and preventing erosion.

*Improved seeds:* Where appropriate, improved seeds, including those derived through biotech‐ nology, have the potential to make a major contribution to increasing crop yields, nutritional content, and productivity, and mitigating environmental impacts such as climate change. Drought-tolerant crop varieties, for example, have the ability to help protect yield potential when water is scarce, while other crop varieties can be produced with genetics that protect against yield losses due to flood conditions. Salt-tolerant crops can be developed to allow land that has become unproductive for crops to be used for food production. Breeding of plants with improved water efficiency will be important. Plants with an improved nitrogen-efficiency can grow and produce high yields with lower amounts of fertiliser or have much higher yields under the same fertiliser input. Such plants would also help to minimise the emission of nitrous greenhouse gases (GHG) and save energy on the production of nitrogen fertiliser an energy

*Reduction of GHG from livestock:* Livestock waste products are a source of GHG emissions. There are a number of examples of how best practices can help reduce emissions. For instance, research to reduce GHG from livestock is looking at selective breeding and biological means of reducing emissions. Examples include biogas production from animal waste by using co-

*Using information technology (IT) for agriculture development*: Cell phones offer a means of providing valuable information and advice to farmers in remote places. IT applications in agriculture are limited in the developing countries thus there is significant potential for maximising gains in agriculture through various IT applications, such as drought and flood management coupled with climate and weather information, waste reduction, risk mitigation and market development. Local operators of ICT can search for answers in a central database and provide information on either crop prices, weather forecasts for irrigation, water man‐ agement and plant diseases. Therefore, it is critical to build capacity among farmers and create

*Minimizing harvest losses:* The reduction in pre and post harvest losses would in itself contribute in a major way to food security. There is an urgent need for replacing the rudimentary pre and

*Adjustment in farm practices:* Farm mechanization will be essential for increasing food produc‐ tion in developing countries. Machinery and implements have to be tailor made to the conditions in each of the agro-climate zones. In addition, the development of prediction tool models and on-site diagnostics can optimize farm practices by minimizing the inputs (fertil‐

*Carbon Sequestration:* The process of transferring atmospheric CO2 into soil and biotic pools can enhance soil quality, increase agronomic productivity, improve quality of natural waters, and lower rates of anoxia (decrease in the level of oxygen) or hypoxia (dead water) in coastal

*Conservation agriculture:* Conservation agriculture techniques such as low or no-till agriculture, made possible through the use of herbicides and biotechnology-derived crops, prevents wind and water erosion and loss of ground moisture, improves soil biodiversity, increases soil

conditions that would allow them to access and apply these IT applications.

post-harvest practices with innovative, scientific and low cost models.

izer, water, agrochemicals) and maximizing the yield.

intensive process [34].

252 Environmental Change and Sustainability

digestion.

ecosystems.

*Enzyme applications:* The number of enzyme applications in food applications has been grow‐ ing. Enzyme technologies can improve the quality and quantity of food products. Some ex‐ amples include reducing the content of unsaturated fat in fat spreads, improving vegetable flavour, increasing cheese yield, improving phosphorous use by certain animals, enhancing fiber digestion, and slowing the staling of baked goods [34].

**Figure 4.** The photo shows adaptive agricultural mechanization in the Kerio Valley Region of Kenya, 2012

A low-carbon economy would be beneficial to the world. Research, development and deploy‐ ment of clean technologies would be the most appropriate for the present and future genera‐ tions not only in food production and distribution but also in all spheres of development. Governments need to encourage this innovation by all players with strong investment frameworks to harness the power of markets and stimulate research, development and deployment. A mechanism to accelerate technology development and transferring support of countries' action on adaptation and mitigation was established at the United Nations climate change talks in Cancun (2010). The mechanism was to be guided by countries' most urgent needs, priorities and national circumstances. They also provided direct in-country advice and support to facilitate prompt action on the deployment of technologies based on identified needs, including through a network of national, regional and international technology centres, networks and organizations. While developed countries have a responsibility to support developing countries to acquire clean technologies, it is important to recognize that new technologies come from all over the world.
