Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture Dr Zareen Pervez Bharucha University of Essex / Essex Sustainability Institute [email protected]@b_zareen 20 th March 2015, London Why ‘sustainable’ intensification? What is it? Does it w ork? Key lessons? Globally, agriculture is doing well Relative chan ges i n net agricultural pro duction (tonnes of f oo d produced, 1961–2012) [FAOSTAT] Per capita yields are growing …exce pt in sub-Sah aran Africa Relative chan ges i n p er ca pita agric ultural pro duction (tonnes of f oo d pr odu ced , 1961–2012) [FAOSTAT] Prevalence of un dernourishment (%) - 3 year s aver ag e [FA OSTAT] We arecombatting hunger But lots to be done Under-nourishment: 870 million (1 in 8) Micronutrient malnutrition: 2 billion Over-nutrition: 1 billion
Transcript
Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
Dr Zareen Pervez Bharucha University of Essex / Essex Sustainability Institute [email protected] @b_zareen
20th March 2015, London
Why ‘sustainable’intensif ication?
What is it?
Does it w ork?
Key lessons?
Globally, agriculture is doing well
Relative chan ges i n net agr icultural pro duction (tonnes of foo d produc ed, 1961–2012) [FAOSTAT]
Per capita yields are growing
…exce pt in sub-Sah aran Afr ica
Relative chan ges i n per capita agr ic ultural pro duction (tonnes of foo d produ ced, 1961–2012) [FAOSTAT]
Prevalence of un dernour ishment (%) - 3 years average [FA OSTAT]
We arecombatting hunger
But lots to be done
Under-nourishment: 870 million (1 in 8)
Micronutrient malnutrition: 2 billion
Over-nutrition: 1 billion
Loss of diversity
60% of the world’s protein & calories from rice, maize, wheat 12 plant species contribute to 80% of dietary intake 75% of plant genetic diversity lost in
Breached planetar y boundaries
Agricultural GHG emissions: ≈1/3rd of global GHG emissions from agricultural sector
Nutrient cycling: Phosphorus: 20 Mt mined / yr, 8-95 Mt released into oceans [8x over natural rate]
Biodiversity loss: Agriculture drives 80%of all forest loss &
Growing demands
[Source]
12% of China’s l an d is arabl e20-30% arable l and polluted 0.08 ha / person [0.37 in Brazil] Insecure l and-tenure
A huge resource footprint
Not just ‘more calories’
Prevalence of overweight and obesity in African males aged 15+ [WHO 2012]
“Undernutr ition… is the biggest cause of lat ent TB infection progressing to active tuberculosis i n India, adding over a milli on cases of the 2 .3 million new cases each year…”
≈ 500 million small farms (< 2 ha) 2 billion people ½ global burden of undernourishment M ost of t he global burden of povert y [Hazell 2011. Five Big Questions about Five Hundred Million Small Farms.]
Small farmers at the frontline
“My vi sion of a po vert y-free Ind ia will be an India where a vast majorit y, somethin g like 85 perc ent, will e ventual ly li ve in cit ies.”- P. Chidambaram, 2008
Agriculture matters for human development
10% yield increase: 5-7% reduction in poverty (Asia, Africa)
No equivalent effect from manufacturing & services
[World Bank, 2008; Wiggins and Slater, 2010]
Dichotomies: Small v industrial agriculture
"We need their acres… ”- G. Page, 2012
“[Small food producers and consumers] are the primary global investors in agriculture, as well as the primary providers of jobs and livelihoods in the world”- Declaration of the
Dichotomies: Land-sparing v land-sharing
Sustainable Intensification
What is ‘sustainabl e’ i ntensificati on?
“…producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts and at the same time increasing contributions to natural capital and the flow of environmental services.”Pretty et al. 2011
Rationale: Do we need more?
Vision: Productivist? Oxymoron? Trojan horse?
Definitions and measurements: What counts, how do we count it?
Emerging criticisms
Evidence in smallholder systems
Resource-conservi ng agricul tur e increases yi elds
286 ‘best practice’ projects 7 types of intervention: Aquaculture, IPM, INM,agroforestry, conservation tillage, livestock integration, w ater harvesting
57 developing countries, 37 M ha and 12.6 million farms
Average yield increase: 79% (but w ide spread)
Water productivity increases: >100% in rain-fed systems
Quncho tefStaple for 50 mill ion Ethio pian s Nutrit ious, resili ent
“… disseminatio n is i n a state of self-dr ive…”[Ass fa et al. 2011. IJAS 9(1): 25-3 4]
package of techn olo gies participatory dissemin ation multiple stakehol ders informal see d system
Africa Pl ant Breed ing Ac ademy, Na irobi , 2013
Sequ encin g 100 Afr ican plants important for l ocal foo d se cur ity
International cons ortium of pr ivate an d public sect or partners
NEPAD Mars; World
Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF);
BGI; Life Te chnol ogies ; World Wildlife
Fund; UC Davis; iPlant
Collaborative Bioscienc es
eastern an d central Afr ica -International Livestock Research Institute (BecA - ILR I)
Integrated Pest Managemen t
Pretty J. and Bharucha Z. 2015. In tegrated Pest Management for Sustainable Intens ification of Agriculture in As ia and Africa. Insects 2015, 6, 152-182; doi:10.3390/insects6010152
85 projects
24 countr ies
Yields: +40.9%
Pesticides : -30.7%
Crop loss es to pests = foo d for 1 billion . 600 known cas es of insectici de resistance sinc e the 1950s
Push-Pull in SSA
Source • Stem borers & Str iga = $7 billio n annual losses • Controlled by Desmo dium ( push) and Napi er grass (pull)• International Centre of Insect Physiolo gy an d Ec olo gy (Kenya) &
Rothamsted Rese arch (UK)• 96,000+ smallholder farmers across E ast Afr ica
Yields up…
Yield di fferences in push–pull and control plots in 14 districts in Kenya during the 2005 long rains. [Hassanali A. et al. 2008. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2008;363:611-621]
“our results show that no-till reduces yields, yet this response is variable and under certain conditions no-till can produce
Adding trees
No necessary trade-off between cultivation and tree-cover
Half of all agricultural land has +10% tree cover
≈100 different systems
$1.40 additional value per tree (fertili ty + fruit, fodder, medicine, fuel)
C-sequestration, biodiversity
3 t/ha c ereal yiel ds w ithout addit ion al fert ilizer from Fai dherbi a intercropping+C-sequestration Weed s uppression Increase d w ater f iltration Drought resilienc e
Diversif ication: bee-keeping, forage and fodder produ ction, fruit and medic inal plants
Value-addition, micro-credit
•Millions of Sah elian farmers •Maize, s orghum & millets •Doubling – tr ipling of yiel ds •Adherence high for poor farmers
Burkina Faso & Niger 3-5 Mha ofagroforestryparkland +100 million trees 300,000 ha. rehabilitated Water table up by 5 mAdditional 500,00 -
Tahou , Niger, 1970s & 2000s
Filling in gaps and patches
Tropical agroforestrygardens: >300 plant species
Chagga gardens (Tanzania): 125kg beans, 275 bunches of banana, 280kg of parchment coffee on ½ ha
800 million practicesmallscale urban agriculture
“women farmers used proceeds from their vegetables at will without
interference from their husbands or other family members. This led to a change in
farmers’ perceptions towards farming as a business, and many started viewing
indigenous vegetables as a c ommercial crop”
Muhanji et al. 2011
Lessons
New social infrastructuresBuilding know ledge and trust
Farmer participation matters
New partnershipsPeer-peer learning- video, radio, TV, mobiles- farmer f ield schools
Entrepreneur ial smallholders: value addition, input
“… the good performance of Quncho has brought together coordinated efforts amongst researchers, extension personnel, district administrators and other public stakeholders… private farms… and seed growers... And NGOs…. This was unheard of before the advent of Quncho.”
[Assefaet al. 2011, IJAS 9(1): 25-34]
Strong public sector mandate
Public sector research more important than ever - 10 multinationals : U S $3 billion /yr on R&D - CGIAR: U S $300 million/yr
[Pi ngali a nd Rane y 2 00 5] Participatory planning
Investment in extension and infrastructure
Positive engagement with private sector
Land reform
Regulating land-use change & markets
International cooperation
Taking long journeys together
Developm ent of Fodd er shrubs: 1980s t o the present [Wambugu et al. 2011. IJAS 9(1): 25- 34]
