Keywords: Climate change, Organic agriculture, Community based adaptation, Cambodia I. INTRODUCTION Generally, climate is one of the main determinants of agricultural production and climate alteration might cause variability in agricultural production. Agriculture is proved to be one of the most adaptable human activities to varied climate conditions 1. However, agriculture which it is practiced today across most of the world is not part of the solution to mitigate the climate change; it is, instead, part of the problem. Rather than mitigating climate change, it is a main producer of greenhouse gas emissions both directly through conventional farming practices that deplete soil carbon stocks while emitting nitrous oxide (N2O), and indirectly through land-use change. Additionally, the intensification of livestock production and rice paddy agriculture has exacerbated release of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4). According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the agricultural sector account for 10-12% or 5.1-6.1 Gt of the total anthropogenic annual emissions of CO2 equivalent. However, this accounting includes only direct agricultural emissions; emissions due to the production of agricultural inputs such as nitrogen fertilizers, synthetic pesticides and fossil fuels used for agricultural machinery and irrigation are not calculated 2. Shifting agriculture from a source of carbon pollution to a potential carbon sink is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emission. Agriculture that reduces carbon is also agriculture that addresses our planetary water crisis, extreme poverty, and food insecurity while protecting and enhancing the environment now and for future generations. Hence, practicing organic agriculture is improving the resources rather than destroying or depleting its and it is aligned with forms of agro-ecology practiced by farmers concerned with food sovereignty over the world 3 & 4. Changing farming practices to organic, regenerative and agro-ecological systems can increase soil organic carbon stocks, decrease greenhouse gas emissions 5, maintain yields 6 & 7, improve water retention and plant uptake, improve farm profitability, and revitalize traditional farming communities while ensuring biodiversity and resilience of ecosystem services 8 & 9. Moreover, organic farming has been adapted for many climate zones and local conditions; as a result, much and detailed situation-specific information on organic farming is available, and it is not only a specific agricultural production system, but it is also a systemic and encompassing approach to sustainable livelihoods 10. Poor and vulnerable people are particularly affected by climate change impacts, such as floods, droughts and other extreme weather events. Community-based adaptation (CBA) can offer a cost-effective, sound way totackle the impact of climate change by capturing the wealth of knowledge and experience that communities have on dealing with climate variability and change 11. CBA is a community- led process which it is based on communities’ priorities, needs, knowledge, and capacities that should empower people to plan for and cope with the impacts of climate change. CBA needs to start with communities’ expressed needs and perceptions, and to have poverty reduction and livelihood benefits, as well as reducing vulnerability to climate change and disasters. CBA may start by identifying communities in poor countries that are most vulnerable to climate change, or these communities may themselves ask for assistance 12. In recent years, CBA has shown that it can also operate at scale but with communities remaining central to planning and action, for example through mainstreaming into government processes. Many of the participatory tools/ 314 Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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