This book provides standards and guidelines forquantifying greenhouse gas emissions and
removals in smallholder agricultural systemsand comparing options for climate change mitigation
based on emissionreductions and livelihood trade-offs. Globally agriculture is
directlyresponsible for about 11% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and inducesan
additional 17% through land use change mostly in developing countries.Farms in the developing
countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia arepredominately managed by smallholders with 80% of
land holdings smaller thanten hectares. However little to no information exists on greenhouse
gasemissions and mitigation potentials in smallholder agriculture. Greenhouse gas measurements
in agricultureare expensive time consuming and error prone challenges only exacerbatedby the
heterogeneity of smallholder systems and landscapes. Concerns overmethodological rigor
measurement costs and the diversity of approaches coupled with the demand for robust
information suggest it is germane for thescientific community to establish standards of
measurements for quantifying GHGemissions from smallholder agriculture. Standard guidelines for
use byscientists development organizations will help generate reliable data onemissions
baselines and allow rigorous comparisons of mitigation options. Theguidelines described in this
book developed by the CGIAR Research Program onClimate Change Agriculture and Food Security
(CCAFS) and partners areintended to inform anyone conducting field measurements of
agriculturalgreenhouse gas sources and sinks especially to develop IPCC Tier 2 emissionfactors
or to compare mitigation options in smallholder systems.
