38 SEPTEMBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Michael Conlon is the agricultural counselor at the U.S. embassy in Brasília representing the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The ground under their feet shows diplomats the way to feed a growing planet. BY MICHAEL CONLON FERTILIZER Diplomacy By 2050 there will be an estimated 2.5 billion additional people on the planet. To feed them all, we will need to produce 60 percent more food, yet climate change may hinder our ability to produce this food. We will need to feed the growing global population using more nutritious and climate-resilient crop varieties, less water, less agricultural land, and new agriculture technologies and innovations. One important piece of this challenge is already being addressed by diplomats in the United States and Brazil: developing fertilizers that are more effective and sustainable. The U.S. and Brazil together feed around 25 percent of the world’s population. Without the two countries’ production, the world’s food supply would be critically low. Thus, it makes sense for these two agricultural powerhouses to team up to work for solutions to climate change and food insecurity. As world leaders in agricultural research, the United States and Brazil have made agricultural collaboration a cornerstone of their close relationship over the last several decades, and the work diplomats and scientists are doing now will pay dividends for the future. FOCUS ON THE CLIMATE DIPLOMACY LANDSCAPE At U.S. Embassy Brasília, partnering with Brazil on climate change and food insecurity solutions is a top priority. Brazil will host the Group of 20 (G20) in 2024 and the Conference of Parties (COP) 30 in 2025, giving this partnership a public face and, hopefully, leading to better understanding of the ways fertilizer advancements can make or break climate policy initiatives. As Brazil prepares for the G20 and COP30, the embassy is promoting greater partnership through two major fertilizer initiatives with global implications: the Fertilize 4 Life (F4L) Initiative and the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS). A Major Climate Issue Modern agricultural yields are made possible through fertilizers, which provide the nutrients plants need to grow and thrive. Since the advent of agriculture, perhaps as long as 8,000 years ago, farmers used traditional fertilizers such as manure and wood ash to improve soil fertility. In the 20th century, synthetic fertilizers made from chemical processes became a critical part of modern agriculture, dramatically increasing crop production to feed a growing world population. Since the 1950s, however, there have been few advances in fertilizer technology, and synthetic fertilizers can wreak havoc on the natural environment due to the heavy carbon footprint of modern fertilizer production methods. Manufacturing of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer relies on natural gas, a nonrenewable source of energy that releases greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the environment. Fertilizers also produce GHGs after farmers apply them to their fields. Much of the applied fertilizer runs into waterways
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=