18 June 2012 | Agriculture & Rural Dvelopment Day | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil
Ecological and Social Intensification of
Agriculture for Food Security & Poverty
Eradication
FEATURING
• Vandana Shiva and the Navdanya Network (India)
• Sue Edwards and the Institute for Sustainable Development (Ethiopia)
• Andre Leu and the Organic Farmers of Australia
• Hans Herren and the Biovision Africa Trust (Kenya)
• Laercio Meirelles and Centro Ecológico (Brazil)
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Africa’s agricultural challenges
Agriculture is diverse, with both Traditional Knowledge
and genetic resources under-valued and poorly
studied
Sparsely populated, e.g. DCR is the size of Europe
but has a population the same size as Belgium
Population is young, 75% under 30
Many Lost to ‘brain drain’
Infrastructure investment has focused on extraction
(minerals) and not on people centered development
Very poor R&D investment, particularly for agriculture
Current solutions promoted by agribusiness for an
African Green Revolution will not be sustainable
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AFRICA’S
AGRICULTURAL
SYSTEMS
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Ethiopia classified
as Highland
Temperate Mixed
Ethiopia – agroecological challenges
Source: FAO
Where ISD
is working
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Dry and/ or cold areas w ith
low product ion potent ia l
Low soil suitability
Low and errat ic rainfall
Steep slopes and m ountains
Severe and very severe land
degradat ion
Low to m edium clim at ic
product ion potent ia l
High clim at ic product ion
potent ia l
Ecological Degradation in Ethiopia Land degradation, particularly soil erosion, is a core
challenge for Sustainable Development in Africa
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Ecological Intensification
• For a Green Revolution to succeed, Africa and Ethiopia need a BROWN REVOLUTION
• Soil built up and maintained through establishing effective cycling of nutrients
• Returning living carbon – HUMUS – to soil
• Organic fertilizers:
– Compost (including bioslurry)
– Cover crops
– Agroforestry with multipurpose trees
• Restored soil gives doubled crop yields IN 4 YEARS
• Improved local hydrology
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Ethiopia’s opportunities for change
• Over 14 million smallholder farmers
• 5,000 years of farmers’ knowledge and skills
• Agro-biodiversity wealth
–Vavilov Centre with over 190 crop species still
cultivated
–Great varietal diversity within crops
–Very low use of external inputs, e.g. chemical
fertilizer
–Farmers’ dislike / distrust of debt
• Governance in the hands of local communities
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Biodiversity Intensification A few of Ethiopia’s sorghum varieties
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Origin of the Tigray Project
In mid-1990s, ISD asked by the Ethiopian Government for an alternative to the Sasakawa Global approach promoting increased use of chemical fertilizer, but suitable for only about 10% of the country--classified as high production potential areas
• ISD established in 1996 to implement the Project “Sustainable Development and Ecological Land Management with Farming Communities in Tigray” = The Tigray Project
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Ecological & Social Intensification Bylaws - communities restore local control
Biological and physical water & soil conservation, through using multipurpose local trees, i.e. Sesbania and local grasses
Managing grazing, stopping access to vulnerable land (watersheds), so grass, herbs and trees can grow
Restoring soil fertility through compost, and helping farmers avoid debt paid for chemical fertilizer
Mature compost Sesbania in flower Making compost
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Ecological Intensification at Landscape
Level, started in 1996, pictured in 2003
Pond Rehabilitated
gullies
Sesbania
trees and
long grasses
Composted fields
growing tef, wheat
and barley
Faba bean
Rehabilitated
biodiverse
hillside for bee
keeping
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The 4 Principles of Organic Agriculture
Applied
• Ecology – restores and maintains ecosystem
services (good soil, water availability, pollinators)
• Health – maintains and restores both natural
and agricultural biodiversity
• Fairness – Involves all social groups in the local
communities, women, men, disadvantaged
groups such as elderly couples, landless youth,
families challenged by HIV/AIDS, etc.
• Care – the communities take responsibility for
caring for their environment through bylaws
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Yield of Faba Bean without
compost 250kg/ha
Yield of Faba Bean with
compost 2,500 kg/ha
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Grain yield of 5 staple crops from farmers (2000 to 2006) Based on samples from 900 plots
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
Barley(n=444)
Durum wheat(n=546)
Maize(n=273)
Teff (n=741) Faba bean(n=141)
Crop (n=number of observations/fields sampled)
Check Compost Chemical fertilizer
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Raised Yields from Ecointensification through the use of organic fertilizer, particularly compost
Average crop yields doubled and
Percentage of grain (grain index) in
harvested crop increased
– Durum wheat: from 34% to 39%
– Maize: from 33% to 43%
– Sorghum: from 35% to 41%
– Teff: from 32% to 36%
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Water-holding and infiltration capacity
of soil increased
Crops survive dry gaps and stay green for 2
weeks longer than others at the end of rains
Water tables raised (farmers dig shallow hand
dug wells)
Springs reappear, streams persist and run for
longer through the year
Farmers grow 2 or more crops/year
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High Yielding Resilient Organic
Agriculture
• Organic systems have higher yields than
conventional farming systems in weather
extremes such as heavy rains and droughts. – (Drinkwater, Wagoner and Sarrantonio 1998; Welsh, 1999; Lotter 2004)
• The Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems
Trials found that organic yields were higher in
drought years and the same as conventional in
normal weather years. – (Posner et al. 2008)
• The Rodale FST showed that the organic
systems produced 30 per cent more corn than
the conventional system in drought years.
– (Pimentel D 2005, La Salle and Hepperly 2008)
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Conventional
Organic
Picture: FiBL DOK Trials
Organic Matter Intensifies
Water Infiltration
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Soil Organic Carbon Intensifies Climate
Change Mitigation and Adaptation
• Higher corn and soybean
yields in drought years
• Increased soil C and N
• Higher water infiltration
• Higher water holding cap
• Higher microbial activity
• Increased stability
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Soil Organic Matter
Living Carbon
• Holds up to 30X its weight in water
• Cements soil particles and reduces soil erosion
• Increases nutrient storage & availability
• Humus can last 2000 years in the soil
Electron micrograph of
soil humus
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Research Shows that Organic Systems use Water More Efficiently
Volume of Water Retained /ha (to 30 cm) in relation to soil organic matter (OM): • 0.5% OM = 80,000 litres (common conventional level) • 1 % OM = 160,000 litres (common conventional level) • 2 % OM = 320,000 litres • 3 % OM = 480,000 litres • 4 % OM = 640,000 litres • 5 % OM = 800,000 litres
Ecointensification of
water retention #IFOAMRio
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Ecointensification of
water retention
Organic Conventional
Better infiltration, retention, and delivery to
plants helps avoid drought damage
Picture: Rodale Institute
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Livelihood benefits of ecological
intensification with compost
Soil and crops with increased resistance to wind
and water erosion
Farmers avoid debt from getting chemical fertilizer
on credit – now costing USD 80 per 100 kg
– Farmers making bioslurry compost can sell one
sack (approx. 100 kg for ETB 100 or USD 5.8
– Competent farmers make 35 to 100 sacks a year
Women say the food tastes better and their families’
hunger is satisfied more easily
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Wheat infested with stripe rust
and sprayed – gave yield of 1.6
t/ha
Wheat grown on composted soil resisting the rust – gave
yield over 6.5 t/ha
Impact of compost on crop health &
disease resistance
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Planting with Space
Another example of ecointensification
An adaptation of SRI, by growing in rows either from transplanting seedlings or direct sowing, gives
Increased yields with easier and timely management of weeds, pests and easier harvesting e.g. Finger millet and tef, seed rate reduced by 90%
compared to broadcasting, hence more efficient use of seed resources, and
Grain and straw yields doubled, i.e. for finger millet from 1.4 t/ha to 3 t/ha grain, and for tef from 1.2 t/ha to 2.5 t/ha or more of grain
Because, root growth greatly increased giving many more productive tillers (greater root mass = greater shoot mass)
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Participatory Planting with Space #IFOAMRio
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Ecological Intensification of
Tillering Potential – Teff
Tiller production increased
At harvest impact of ecological
intensification on biomass
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Finger Millet & Sorghum yields
from 3 farmers
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Yehdegu Abay Giday G/Hair Laike Markos Giday G/Hair
Yield q/ha equivalent
Finger millet Sorghum 'Lequa'
Sorghum has 1200 seeds per head
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Rearranging the cropping system for
pest and weed management
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Push-pull in action…. #IFOAMRio
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ECONOMICS OF INTEGRATING EDIBLE
BEANS IN THE ‘PUSH-PULL’ SYSTEM (source Z Khan et al)
b
d
e
d
a
b
c
b
a
b
b
b
a
a
a
a
b
c
d
c
-500
0
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
2.500
3.000
Total labour costs Total variable costs Total gross revenue Net benefits
Cu
rren
cy (
US
$)-
(1U
S$/6
5 K
ES
) p
er h
a.
Maize monocropMaize + DesmodiumMaize + Desesmodium + bean same holeMaize + Desmodium + bean different holeMaize + bean
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The way ahead is people-centred #IFOAMRio
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• Improve and expand extension services (ICT)
• Introduce capacity building (ICT)
• Agriculture is very localized
The Ecological way ahead is:
knowledge & people intensive
www.organicfarmermagazine.org
www.infonet-biovision.org
http://www.biovision.ch
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Social Intensification #IFOAMRio
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Farmers as ToTs
(training of trainers)
• All trainings involve >50% farmers
• Local experts as ‘advisors’
• Development agents for monitoring, including recording yields
• Fully participatory evaluation
• Incentives for farmers
– Improved tools
– Involvement in training outside their own areas
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Intensification of Women’s
Knowledge & Skills
• Intensification of use of herb and spices
• Medicinal plants
• Meat (chickens, goats, sheep)
• Processing milk for butter
• Marketing & entrepreneurism
• Biological control of pests
• Generation of cash based income for family essentials (education, health, salt, sugar, coffee and tea)
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Scaling up and out in Ethiopia
Making and using compost incorporated into the MoA Extension for all crop growing areas, and to
Help combat climate change by applying compost to 40,000 million hectares of cultivated land by 2015
• National research institutes collaborating with farmers on: – Testing advanced lines of bread wheat in an compost-
based organic system to identify the organic HYVs (as against costly NPK HYVs)
– Next steps? • Participatory breeding in an organic system
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Participatory
Guarantee Systems
Laércio Meirelles
Centro Ecológico - Rio Grande Do Sul.
www.centroecologico.org.br
PGS definition
Participatory Guarantee Systems are
locally focused quality assurance systems.
They certify producers based on active
participation of stakeholders and are built
on a foundation of trust, social networks
and knowledge exchange
http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/pgs.html
• Like the conventional certification programs,
provide a credible guarantee for consumers. The
difference is in the approach.
• The participation of farmers and consumers (if
it’s possible) in the certification process is
required.
• The active participation of the stakeholders
result in greater empowerment, but also a bigger
responsibility .
Some PGS characteristics
• To allow access to the organic market;
• Less burocracy
• Facilitate the development of local markets
• It is a work that promotes social organization;
• Favors the building of Knowledge Networks
• Strengthening relations between producers and
consumers
Some PGS consequences… good
ones!!!
INDIA
FRANCIA
And… it’s going on!!!
Latin-American PGS Forum
Influencing national Ethiopia policy on research
Wheat grown on
compost treated
field
Wheat grown with
chemical fertilizers
and requiring
spraying with
fungicide
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AU Framework Policies for
Scaling-Up Organic Agriculture
African Union, Decision on organic farming in January 2011
(EX.CL/Dec.621 (XVIII) / Doc. EX.CL/631 (XVIII)) requests the
Commission and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) to:
Initiate and provide guidance for an African Union (AU)-led
coalition of international partners on the establishment of an
African organic farming platform based on available best
practices; and
Provide guidance in support of the development of sustainable
organic farming systems and improve seed quality;
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Key Messages
1. Africa CAN feed itself and provide food for people in other parts of the world
2. Invest in Ecological and social intensification of all traditional agriculture systems for healthy and sustainable food for all
3. Mainstream globally Farmers’ Rights to save and use their own seed, as in Ethiopia
4. Build capacity for fully participatory research and development with farmers to support comprehensive ecological organic agriculture systems
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THANK
YOU
TO ALL OUR FARMERS
Sue Edwards, with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egzibher Dereje Gebremichael, Hailu Araya,
and Arefayne Asmelash
Institute for Sustainable Development, Ethiopia