• An estimated 500 million hectares of agricultural land are already degraded in Sub-Saharan Africa, this is the same land that feeds majority of its inhabitants.

• Soil carbon sequestration, through which nearly 90 percent of agriculture’s climate change mitigation potential could be realized, is outside the scope of the CD Mechanism.

• Agricultural land is able to store and sequester carbon. Farmers that live off the land, particularly in poor countries, should therefore be involved in carbon sequestration to mitigate the impact of climate change.

• There should be an integrated approach that combines energy processes, agriculture, food systems and pro active policies to design mechanisms that with dual benefits to both farmers and the climate.

• Conventional agriculture depends of predictable systems (inputs and outputs) and well controlled micro-ecosystems. Food production for the masses needs to be more innovative and borrow from the natures tried and tested crops that are resilient to extremes such as sorghum, millet and cassava.

• Between 1990 and 2005 agricultural emissions in developing countries increased by 32%

Agricultural practices that improve land use and management, through increasing and maintaining soil carbon stocks can, if properly implemented, generate multiple benefits: climate change mitigation, increased agricultural and food production, pro-poor income generation, environmental services and improved resilience/adaptive capacity of farming systems.   Alexander Mueller Assistant Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)