Climate–smart agriculture vs. agroecology to mitigate GHG emissions in Argentinean Agriculture: a false dichotomy

Abstract

A recent ranking about greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions elaborated by the Climate Action Tracker1 has given Argentina the rank of “highly insufficient commitment”, in spite of the country reduced its intended National Determined Contribution (NDC) from 570 to 483 MtCO2e to be achieved by 2030;2 besides, there has been a governmental effort to estimate GHG emissions at national level, resulting in a new release of the National GHG Inventory (2017), which had not been updated since 2000. The latest GHG inventory is revealing because, even though energy sector has the largest share for GHG emissions at national level (53 %), contributions from agriculture are still considerable (39 %).3 This highlights the need to account with agriculture capable to satisfy the growing food demand but also to be environmentally neutral through a sustainable use of soil, and minimization of GHG emissions.4 In that regard, worldwide agronomists, soil scientists and environmentalists have long conveyed their concerns through elaborated definitions and assessments,5 which can be summarized in two apparently opposite visions: climate-smart agriculture6 and agroecology.7 In this article, it is suggested that both visions of agriculture have points in common; however, the farm scale may define the suitability of either approach, particularly in the Argentinean context.