(African Economic Research Consortium, 2021-10-25) Adjaye, John Asafu-
This study investigates the impact of climate change on land-use change and land cover (LCLUC)-induced greenhouse gas emissions in Africa. In particular, it tests the
hypothesis that increasing agricultural productivity can be a land-based climate
mitigation strategy to address the issue of LCLUC-induced emissions. The results
confirm the well-known fact that climate change will have a devastating impact on
Africa’s agricultural sector and therefore the welfare of the people. However, the results
also clearly demonstrate that technology can be leveraged to improve agricultural
productivity, which will not only enhance food production and improve food security
but also mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, we show that employing
agricultural intensification strategies based on lifting total factor productivity can
increase agricultural output with less land use, thereby saving millions of hectares
of land from being brought into cultivation for staple crop production.