Assessing the Climate Footprint of Tropical Agricultural Systems: Integrating Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Agricultural systems in tropical regions—including Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific—stand at the frontline of global climate challenges. They simultaneously contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and offer substantial potential for carbon sequestration through soils, vegetation, and integrated agroecosystems. Yet, these dual roles remain under-characterized, largely due to the ecological complexity of tropical landscapes, the diversity of production systems, and persistent gaps in measurement capacity. This Research Topic brings together studies that advance the quantification, understanding, and mitigation of climate impacts across tropical agricultural systems. Recent scientific advances shed light on how tropical agroecosystems can operate as both sources and sinks of carbon. Improved monitoring technologies—such as eddy covariance flux towers, automated static and dynamic chambers, spectroscopic tools, and direct livestock emission measurements (e.g., GreenFeed, SF₆ tracer)—now allow unprecedented resolution of carbon and GHG fluxes at multiple scales. Coupling these tools with remote sensing, geospatial analysis, and process-based models enhances our ability to capture spatial variability and seasonal dynamics that are particularly pronounced in tropical environments.Across pastoral, agro-pastoral, silvopastoral, and crop-based systems, evidence increasingly demonstrates that well-managed tropical landscapes can mitigate emissions through soil carbon accumulation, tree integration, improved pasture management, and sustainable intensification pathways. Case studies from the Sahel and the Amazon show that context-specific practices—such as rotational grazing, maintaining woody cover, legume–grass mixtures, and optimized animal load—can substantially offset enteric methane and soil GHG emissions. These findings challenge long-standing narratives portraying tropical livestock and smallholder systems as uniformly climate-damaging and highlight the importance of ecosystem-based approaches.Nevertheless, methodological and institutional barriers remain. Many low- and middle-income tropical countries still face limited access to high-resolution data, insufficient measurement infrastructure, and inadequate capacity for advanced modeling or national GHG inventory refinement. Strengthening local research systems, co-developing measurement protocols, and integrating socio-economic dimensions are crucial steps toward more accurate climate footprint assessments and effective mitigation strategies.This Research Topic invites contributions that span field measurements, modeling innovations, system-level carbon accounting, and policy-relevant analyses. We particularly welcome interdisciplinary studies linking ecological processes, land-use change, and farming practices with climate outcomes. By consolidating emerging evidence and methodological advances, this collection aims to foster a deeper understanding of how tropical agriculture can contribute meaningfully to climate mitigation while sustaining livelihoods and food security. Topic editors: Mohamed Habibou Assouma, Luc Hippolyte Dossa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/76983/assessing-the-climate-footprint-of-tropical-agricultural-systems-integrating-carbon-sequestration-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions