Space Education & Strategic Applications Volume 2, Number 1, Fall 2020/Winter 2021 | Page 92

Space Education and Strategic Applications Journal

vironmentally and socially sustainable way , to strengthen farmers ’ resilience to climate change , and to reduce agriculture ’ s contribution to climate change ” ( Oremo , 2013 , p . 14 ). Examples of CSA practices already proposed or being practiced on a small-scale in southern Belize include mulching and soil nutrient enrichment . Adopting CSA in Belize practices can enhance small farmers ’ adaptation to climate change and sustainably mitigate climate change impacts and support food security under a changing climate ( FAO , 2013 ; Hellin & Fisher , 2019 ; Kongsager , 2017 ; Mugambiwa & Tirivangasi , 2017 ).

By examining climate-smart adaptive practices of Belize milpa farmers , one can see system influences of the small-scale practices with both micro-scale impacts ( i . e ., less site erosion , lower input costs ) and macro-scale implications on Earth systems sustainability . Promoting the increase of CSA practices on traditional milpa practices such as mulching and soil nutrient enrichment can have overall positive environmental , economic , and socio-cultural influences and adaptive technology potential on milpa sustainability and resilience , as perceived by milpa farmers and Extension officers ( Drexler , 2020 ; Ong & Kho , 2015 ).

Conclusion

It is

critical for governments to implement planetary sustainability measures , taking into account the SDGs and socio-ecological systems framework , to mitigate future climate change impacts on both micro- and macro-levels . The socio-ecological system impacts of climate-smart agriculture adaptions to small-scale milpa agriculture in Belize has implications for sustainability on an Earth system level . Although milpa farming has been sustainable for centuries , global climate change and other factors such as poverty , population growth , and forest loss have made the practice less so over the last 50 years . Promoting the increase of CSA practices such as mulching and soil nutrient enrichment has overall positive environmental , economic , and socio-cultural influences and adaptive technology potential on milpa sustainability and resilience , as perceived by milpa farmers and Extension officers ( Drexler , 2020 ).

With the ability of space-based observation to predict climate change impacts and mitigation , the technology potential of space-based observations will be critical for food and livelihood security of not just Belize milpa farmers as found in this case , but other global farmers as well . Since farmers rely directly on SES systems ( water , climate , soil nutrients , markets , governance and policies ), they are invested stakeholders and should partners in solution-finding

processes . CSA adaptive practices at the milpa farming community-level have positive SES indications that can be applied at the planetary systems level with wider implications for more sustainable global farming systems , food and livelihood security , and resiliency to climate change impacts .

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