Carbon farming in Brazil and implications for food (in)security in Africa in support of the south-south cooperation

Autor(es)

Nwaogu, Chukwudi ; Thame, Denny ; Castro, Douglas ; Cherubin, Mauricio Roberto

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH; v. 24, p. 21-pg., 2025-12-01.

Resumo

Carbon farming (CF), also known as low-carbon agriculture or climate-smart agricultural system, has gained significant attention in recent years as a potential nature-based solution for mitigating climate change and food shortage. However, there is a common misconception that CF opposes food security, thus hindering its widespread adoption. There is also a knowledge gap on the roles of the Brazilian government in supporting food security in Africa through its training and support for agricultural practices associated with CF system. In this paper, we accentuated that CF and food security have no opposing objectives but can be achieved simultaneously through integrated agricultural systems (IAS). We further investigated CF, its practices, and agricultural outputs (here referred to as 'products') including food crops, animal products, and by-products resulting from CF systems by sampling the farmers' perceptions in Africa. We also highlighted the agricultural evolutionary reforms in Brazil, the agroecological similarities between Brazil and Africa, and how these contributed to the success of Brazil's agricultural and food security vis-a-vis support to Africa. Additionally, our work identified major Brazil's food security projects in Africa by mapping their distribution across the continent. Finally, we examined the implications of Brazil's CF for food security in Africa by identifying the driving policies, challenges and prospects of the support in improving food security for the rapidly growing African population. This study underscores Brazil's relevance as a model for carbon farming implementation in tropical regions due to its shared agroecological conditions with Africa and its demonstrated success in transforming food systems through integrated, low-carbon agricultural policies. The study will also awaken and reinvigorate the zeal in stakeholders in Africa to follow the footsteps of Brazil in developing their agricultural reforms to be self-reliance in providing enough food for the Africans. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/50279-4 - Brasil Research Centre for Gas Innovation
• Beneficiário: Julio Romano Meneghini
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa Centros de Pesquisa Aplicada
• Processo FAPESP: 21/10573-4 - Centro de Pesquisa de Carbono em Agricultura Tropical (CCARBON)
• Beneficiário: Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão - CEPIDs
• Processo FAPESP: 21/11757-1 - Avaliação dos estoques de carbono do solo em sistemas agrícolas integrados no Brasil: uma abordagem geoinformática
• Beneficiário: Chukwudi Nwaogu
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 23/05122-9 - Acoplamento de geoestatística e MLA para modelagem e previsão da dinâmica espaço-temporal de estoques, drivers e trade-offs de SOC em sistemas agrícolas integrados brasileiros
• Beneficiário: Chukwudi Nwaogu
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 20/15230-5 - Centro de Pesquisa e Inovação de Gases de Efeito Estufa - RCG2I
• Beneficiário: Julio Romano Meneghini
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa Centros de Pesquisa Aplicada