Dialogue Session: ES and Resilience of three basins (Volta, Nile, and Mekong)
What’s poverty got to do with it?
M Sanjayan
P. Kareiva
Where are conservation efforts most needed and most likely to improve the human
condition?
Can we identify “life raft ecosystems” ?
= Areas with:
• high rates of poverty (% undernourished)
• large portion of economy dependent upon nature (agriculture, fisheries, logging)
• severely degraded ecosystem services
Slide by Kareiva and Sanjayan
Water Land and Ecosystem Vision:A world in which agriculture thrives within vibrant ecosystems, where communities have higher incomes, improved food security and the ability to continuously improve their lives
6
Rockstrom et al. (2009) Nature 461:472-475
Challenges
Foley et al. 2011
Minimum Goals for 2050
Environmental Goals Development Goals
Total Agricultural Production
Nutritionally Complete Production
Biodiversity Conserved
Carbon Sequestered Improved Water Quality
Water Conserved
Soil Formed
Food Security Goals
Food Distribution and Access
Conserve agrobiodiversity
Increased Farmer LivelihoodsAnd Resilience
Improve Human Health
Increase Farm Self Reliance
Adapted from Foley et al 2011
Production Goals
Ecosystem Conservation as
a result of
poverty alleviation
Ecosystem Conservation as
means to
poverty alleviation
Trade-offsSocial structure, demand,
accessibility
Financial mechanisms
Land and governance decisions, processes and investments
Landscapes
Food, energy, fiber
Income
ES benefits
Temporal processes
Climate
Knowledge and information availability
Economy
Markets, PESFarming practices
Ecosystem services
Biophysical Access and use
Social needs (demography, preferences)
LivelihoodImpactLivelihood
Impact
LivelihoodimpactsPeople
Trade-offs
system state, structure and
processes
tate, structure and processes
(Agro)-ecosystem state, structure and
processes
Agriculture
Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services
Space Groups
Time
Principles
• People are fundamental• Human and Natural systems are tightly coupled.• Ecological processes in the portfolio of options.• Multifunctionality: trade-offs, synergies,
interactions• Resilience: shocks, transformation and feedbacks• Recognize we might have to modify ecosystems• Multi-scale: basin as maximum extent + Global
Processes
0
20
40
60
80
100
1-Oc
t-80
1-No
v-80
1-De
c-80
1-Ja
n-81
1-Fe
b-81
1-M
ar-8
1
1-Ap
r-81
1-M
ay-8
1
1-Ju
n-81
1-Ju
l-81
1-Au
g-81
1-Se
p-81
Flow
(m3 s
-1)
Daily flow with and without floodplain
Without floodplain (simulated) With floodplain (observed)
Flow Regulation in the Luswishi Floodplain
Understanding how ecosystems affect livelihoods
M. McCartney (IMWI)
Ecosystem Services by whom and for whom?
Rainfall less than 900 mmyr-1
Greater than 900 mmyr-1
F. Kizito (CIAT)
Facilitating intervention decisions: what and where?
DeClerck (Bioversity)
Recognizing the value of Ecosystem Services Provided by Farming Communities
M. Q
uint
ero
(CIA
T); W
. Zha
ng (I
FPRI
); F.
DeC
lerc
k (B
iove
rsity
)
My farm participates in the Management of the
ReventazonRiver Watershed (ICE)
Through targeted impact pthways in focal regions and at the global level
South East Asia: Mekong Focal Region
GOAL:better targeted investments in water, land, energy and agriculture writ large so they are sustainable and socially inclusive, and national growth and poverty goals can be met by supporting the natural resource base
What is the nature, distribution and value of ES in an increasingly commercialized agricultural system & how is it going to affect local livelihoods in the future?
How would management of water, land and other ecosystem need to be adapted to improve food and nutrition security in the least food-secure GMS countries?
What policies and institutions can communities &
policymakers use to enhance the resilience of
the GMS ES in the long term under pop & ec
growth, CC & globalization?
To move toward resilient ecosystems in the Greater Mekong Region while also achieving growth and poverty
reduction goals will require tradeoff analysis at the regional, basin-wide, GMS-wide and global level under
alternative development pathways that consider investments and policies across water, land and energy; in
food and nutrition; and associated governance and institutions.
West Africa: Volta Niger Focal Region
Resource degradation, poverty, climate change sensitivity, emigration
Crop-livestock competition, ethnic and religious conflicts
Urbanization, immigration, poverty re-distribution*; environmental degradation Humid forest
Sahara
*In 12 years from now, the majority of the poor in Africa will be living in urban as opposed to rural areas.
Main questions for WLE
Can WLE guide investors and decision makers to
(i) Better target sustainable agricultural
investments (in the rural north)?
(ii) value and manage ecosystem services under
increasing demands on water, food and energy in
both, the fragile north, and the growing peri-urban
landscapes of the south?
Small Reservoirs
East Africa – Nile Basin Countries
The Opportunity
• Huge development investments in most countries, affecting land use Include growth corridors, commodity corridors,
irrigation and hydropower dam development, upper watershed conservation, food security programs
• Multiple futures are possible in this evolving context
The challenge is to support a sustainability agenda within existing and evolving processes and investments to achieve green, resilient and equitable growth in the countries of the Nile Basin.
Trends and Intervention Areas• Huge diversity in resources, political and economic development• Strong dependence on agriculture, especially rainfed, and natural
resources• Rapid population growth and other demographic pressures,
urbanization, feminization, marginalization• Degradation of natural resources and ecosystem functioning is
pervasive
1. Negotiating trade-offs in
ecosystem services during infrastructure development
2. Achieving sustainable land
management in degradation hotspots
3. Strengthening equity and the role of
women during sustainable intensification
wle.cgiar.org wle.cgiar.org/blogs