Modernizing Agriculture, Building Climate Resilience

By Avalon Zborovsky-Fenster

This past summer has been environmentally devastating for communities all over the world: floods and “brutal” heat waves in Pakistan, a drought in China, fatal mudslides in South Africa, and more. These events not only impact any given region’s climate, but also have adverse effects on the economy, politics, and standard of living–particularly impacting the poorest countries (Lustgarten, New York Times, 2020). As climate change only continues and catastrophic natural disasters across the globe persist, there will be increased migration from regions that are most affected by these events in response. Thus, it is imperative that nations around the world intervene now to not only support the developing countries which are most impacted, but to also avoid devastating human rights crises in their own countries as a result of an influx of climate refugees.

In light of these issues, if I were the United Nations Secretary-General, I would tell wealthy nations to prioritize immediate financing to developing nations to fund sustainable development projects, particularly to address the climate refugee crisis. Specifically, I would recommend wealthy nations pay special attention to those nations in need of technological modernization when it comes to agricultural infrastructure in an effort to slow climate migration. This recommendation is built on the climate justice approach, which proposes that responding to the impact of climate change should be done by prioritizing those communities which are most vulnerable and bear disproportionate impacts. This recommendation also takes inspiration from Article 8 of the Paris Agreement, which includes that part of the role of sustainable development is to reduce the risk of loss and damage caused by climate change in developing nations, in particular (Byrnes and Surminski, Grantham Research Institute, 2021). Though the poorer nations of the world proportionally contribute the least to climate change, they are impacted the most due to their lack of resources for adaptation, which is the process of adjusting to both present and future realities of climate change, and mitigation, which is the practice of reducing or stabilizing the number of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. This lack of resources leaves these nations at greater risk of experiencing the devastating consequences of a changing environment, potentially threatening their livelihoods and forcing them and their families to migrate.

ALTA VERAPAZ, GUATEMALA. Carlos Tiul, an Indigenous farmer whose maize crop has failed, with his children.

In many developing countries, agriculture is the primary method of income for the individuals who reside there (Lustgarten, New York Times, 2020). In developing nations in regions such as Southeast Asia, due to an increase in monsoons and drought as a result of rising temperatures, more than 8 million people who once lived in rural areas–many of whom have depended on agriculture for their economy and basic life needs–have migrated to city centers across the Middle East, Europe, and North America (Lustgarten, New York Times, 2020). However, large-scale migration as a result of climate change may force climate refugees to endure a continuing cycle of harm. The Red Cross claims that urban growth could pose a threat to peace around the globe, as they warn that 96 percent of that growth will happen in, “some of the world’s most fragile cities,” leading the growing risk of conflict in jurisdictions where political leadership may be inept in addressing it, and where social welfare systems to support migrants may already be experiencing strain (Lustgarten, New York Times, 2020).

TABASCO. Bayron Coto (front) left his home in Honduras to support his family after a hurricane destroyed local maize, bean and coffee crops.

Agriculture modernization initiatives span a variety of areas. For example, “smart farming” uses satellite imagery, drones, and software to help farmers identify areas that need their attention and can save funds on resources for areas that don’t. Agroforestry, which integrates trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming, can support agricultural production and help improve water quality and air quality, soil health, and wildlife habitat (USDA). Forest mapping technology can better show what regions will be affected by natural disasters, and inform where leaders practice agroforestry to quell erosion of our coasts.

Additionally, artificial intelligence has a multitude of potential uses in agriculture (AI). Forbes reported on 10 possibilities and current applications of AI in agriculture:

1. Using AI and machine learning-based surveillance systems to monitor every crop field’s real-time video feeds identifies animal or human breaches, sending an alert immediately.
2. AI and machine learning improves crop yield prediction through real-time sensor data and visual analytics data from drones.
3. Yield mapping is an agricultural technique that relies on supervised machine learning algorithms to find patterns in large-scale data sets and understand the orthogonality of them in real-time — all of which is invaluable for crop planning.
4. The UN, international agencies and large-scale agricultural operations are pioneering drone data combined with in-ground sensors to improve pest management.
5. Today, there’s a shortage of agricultural workers, making AI and machine learning-based smart tractors, agribots and robotics a viable option for many remote agricultural operations that struggle to find workers.
6. Improving the track-and-traceability of agricultural supply chains by removing roadblocks to getting fresher, safer crops to market is a must-have today.
7. Optimizing the right mix of biodegradable pesticides and limiting their application to only the field areas that need treatment to reduce costs while increasing yields is one of the most common uses of AI and machine learning in agriculture today.
8. Price forecasting for crops based on yield rates that help predict total volumes produced is invaluable in defining pricing strategies for a given crop.
9. Finding irrigation leaks, optimizing irrigation systems, and measuring how effective frequent crop irrigation improves yield rates are all areas AI contributes to improving farming efficiencies.
10. Monitoring livestock’s health, including vital signs, daily activity levels, and food intake, ensures their health is one of the fastest-growing aspects of AI and machine learning in agriculture

Image from NATIONAL PORTAL OF INDIA.

There are valid concerns over the ways in which these initiatives would be funded, due to complexities in current climate finance initiatives. Wealthy nations routinely have fallen short of their contribution pledges, the majority of funds are given out as loans rather than grants, and funds often don’t reach the very poorest nations due to technical and bureaucratic challenges (Timperley, Nature, 2021). However, through adopting a holistic climate justice approach, they can sidestep some of these concerns by creating concrete financial commitments with allied nations on what they’ll be contributing, partnering directly with those organizations to push progress, and implementing regular reviews and assessments of the progress of these projects.

In conclusion, if wealthy nations want to curb the future impact that the climate refugee crisis will have on their economy, politics, and society, they ought to invest directly in sustainable development initiatives to modernize agricultural infrastructure in those developing nations which will be most directly impacted by environmental changes. Otherwise, the human rights crises currently caused by climate change will only continue to become more significant, and all nations–whether incredibly wealthy or extremely poor–will incur the consequences.

Avalon Zborovsky-Fenster is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Columbia JSTEP. She is a Junior at Barnard double majoring in Political Science and Human Rights, and double minoring in Philosophy and Science, Public Policy, + Ethics. She studies the intersection between technology, law, and ethics, with a particular interest in issues of AI, IP, privacy, and sustainability as they relate to global human rights and justice. This summer, she worked on Verizon’s Public Policy team as a Federal Public Policy Intern, after serving as the United States Government Relations Intern at Intel within the Global Government Affairs team last summer. She came to these roles with a background in policy and government, bringing experience from her time at the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and leading nonprofits such as March For Our Lives and Pay Our Interns, where she contributed to campaigns that secured $12 million in federal funding to support the creation of paid early-career opportunities at the State Department and White House.