Low-carbon farming needs boost - UN

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Low-carbon farming can both curb climate change and boost food output in developing nations and so must be rewarded under a global climate deal due in December, the UN's food agency said.

Steps to cut carbon emissions on farms in developing countries could also boost yields where food is shortest, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a report published on Thursday.

More than 1 billion people are undernourished now and the world will have to feed an additional 3 billion by 2050, many ints.

An FAO study this year put the extra farm investment needed to boost food yields at US$210 billion (NZ$295b) between now and 2050.

Some of the funding for low-carbon practices could come from carbon markets, whereby rich nations pay for cuts in developing countries to offset against their own emissions.

Low-carbon farming in developing nations could raise up to US$30 billion annually through such carbon finance, Thursday's study said.

One difficulty is the challenge of measuring the carbon cuts, such as the extra carbon locked in the soil as a result of practices such as tilling the soil less and applying more organic fertilisers such as manure and crop waste.

The cost of soil measurement means carbon markets may only work for the most effective carbon-cutting systems, and the rest need public finance. Finding adequate funds to cut carbon emissions in developing countries has been a long-running stumbling block at the two-year UN talks.