Enhancing Vietnam’s Nationally Determined Contribution with Mitigation Targets for Agroforestry: A Technical and Economic Estimate

Abstract

The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of several non-Annex I countries mention agroforestry but mostly without associated mitigation target. The absence of reliable data, including on existing agroforestry practices and their carbon storage, partially constrains the target setting. In this paper, we estimate the mitigation potential of agroforestry carbon sequestration in Vietnam using a nationwide agroforestry database and carbon data from the literature. Sequestered carbon was estimated for existing agroforestry systems and for areas into which these systems can be expanded. Existing agroforestry systems in Vietnam cover over 0.83 million hectares storing a 1346 ± 92 million ton CO2 equivalent including above-, belowground, and soil carbon. These systems could be expanded to an area of 0.93–2.4 million hectares. Of this expansion area, about 10% is considered highly suitable for production, with a carbon sequestration potential of 2.3–44 million ton CO2 equivalent over the period 2021–2030. If neglecting agroforestry’s potential for modifying micro-climates, climate change can reduce the highly suitable area of agroforestry and associated carbon by 34–48% in 2050. Agroforestry can greatly contribute to Vietnam’s 2021–2030 NDC, for example, to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of the agriculture sector.

Simulating Agroforestry Adoption in Rural Indonesia: The Potential of Trees on Farms for Livelihoods and Environment

“…Hence the findings stress the importance of agroforests like the illipe rubber mix as a safety net in the light of the ongoing climate change as they contribute to increased income, risk diversification, and resilience for small-scale farmers [18,96,106] The simulations further demonstrate that climate change negatively affects biodiversity, but higher levels can be expected in the IRA scenario, which again underlines the role of agroforests in conserving biological diversity [67,113,115]. Besides, the positive effects agroforestry has on carbon sequestration make this agricultural practice an attractive tool for climate change mitigation [29,119,124]. Overall, by combining adaptation and mitigation measures, agroforestry poses a win-win-strategy for farmers and nature to address major local and global environmental challenges including climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation [6,23,29,120].…”

Agroforestry-Based Ecosystem Services

“…The absence of reliable data, including on existing agroforestry practices and their carbon storage, partially constrains the target setting. A study for Viet Nam [16] tried to fill this gap by synthesizing above-and belowground vegetation and soil carbon for the close to 0.8 M ha of existing agroforestry systems identified. Estimates are that expansion to 0.9-2.4 M ha of agroforestry is technically and economically feasible, to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of the agriculture sector by 2015.…”

Do Digital Climate Services for Farmers Encourage Resilient Farming Practices? Pinpointing Gaps through the Responsible Research and Innovation Framework

“…The last question is warranted in the case of greenhouse gas mitigation interventions when supporting ecosystem services are ignored. The fact that diversified farming systems repeatedly are outperforming monoculture in terms of delivering food security and ecosystem benefits to farmers in Africa [107,108] and Asia [109,110], seems to be accepted in national adaptation policies in Vietnam and Philippines and the region [111][112][113], yet receives surprisingly little traction in high-level policy and visions for digital agriculture as these are predominantly supporting the status quo [42]. For example, with the ambition of attracting USD7 billion in investments for digital climate-informed advisory services, the World Resources Institute drew up six principles for success, including data quality, equity, co-creation, accountability, financial sustainability, and scalability [74].…”