Transforming rural livelihoods and landscapes: Sustainable improvements to incomes, food security and the environment
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This document discusses approaches for sustainably improving rural livelihoods, food security, and the environment. It notes the challenges of feeding a growing global population while maintaining sustainability. Key points include: - Integrated management approaches that increase smallholder productivity and resilience to climate change are needed. - Governance and infrastructure support are important to provide smallholders access to markets and resources. - Landscape approaches address complex interactions and require stakeholder involvement. - Examples from CABI's work demonstrate improving nutrition through crop diversity and leveraging mobile technology to connect smallholders.
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Transforming rural livelihoods and landscapes: Sustainable improvements to incomes, food security and the environment
- 1. Transforming rural livelihoods and landscapes: sustainable improvements to incomes, food security and the environment Trevor Nicholls, CEO CABI Global Landscapes Forum Paris, December 5th 2015
- 2. Context • Increasing demand for 4Fs to satisfy ∼9 billion people • Balancing the imperative to increase yields/outputs whilst securing the sustainability of the production environment • Only sustainable through an innovative systems approach to agricultural development • Address the challenge of improving global food security by disseminating science-based development solutions
- 3. The perfect storm…… Growing world population Climate change Water shortage Dwindling mineral resources
- 4. By 2050…. • There will be over 9 billion people on the planet • We will need to produce 60% more food • Over 60% of the population will be living in cities • Nearly 40% of the population will be under 18 But…. • 40% of the population will still be working in agriculture • Smallholders and family farms will produce over 70% of world food • Over 1 billion people will still be at risk of malnutrition and hunger “Increasing smallholder farmers’ productivity and access to markets can have a profound impact on the livelihoods and general prosperity of literally millions of the world’s poor” – World Bank
- 5. Greater competition for land use
- 6. Man cannot live by cereals alone
- 7. Landscape challenges • Multiple & complex interactions (soil, water, crops, animals, humans, biodiversity, ecology) • Agriculture vs Ecosystem services • Farm vs Non-Farm Occupations • Cross-Border issues • Government priorities and cooperation • Need to make trade-offs and capture synergies • Lack of good metrics
- 8. Sustainable improvements to incomes, food security and the environment • Increase smallholder productivity • Scale-out integrated management approaches • Build greater capacity for climate change resilience and adaptation • Provide good governance and policy support • Improve infrastructure and access
- 9. Increasing Productivity Close yield gaps and increase climate resilience through: • Better soil fertility management • More effective water utilisation • Preventing and adapting to salinisation • Improved access to better varieties and seeds • Promoting greater crop diversity • Losing less to pests, diseases and invasive weeds
- 10. Integrated Crop Management • understand interactions between biology, land management and environment • focus on managing crops profitably but with respect for the local conditions • aim to minimize dependency on chemical inputs • integrate production practices to optimize crop health • selection and adaptation to local situation Healthy plants, people & animals living in a healthy environment
- 11. The Broader Context • Need for integrated landscape planning to support both development and conservation • Recognize complex system interactions and transboundary issues • Preserve or restore ecosystem services • Protect biodiversity and combat invasive species • Develop new agriculture practices to adapt to climate change • Improve land use planning to adapt to climate impacts
- 12. Ensure local support • Communicate widely to gain buy-in of all stakeholder groups • Integrate local knowledge, customs and traditions • Actively involve women and youth • Put research into use packages with simple information support • Provide evidence of impact
- 13. How Governments can help • Joined up policies for agriculture, health and trade • Local, national, regional perspectives • Communications – particularly mobile • Physical access – goods in and out • Access to finance, credit, insurance • Infrastructure, health and education • Stimulate private sector partnerships
- 14. More viable communities • Reducing risk • Increasing sustainability Crop/fertilizer/water mix for better nutrition and yield Crop types and practices for resilience to change Improved knowledge of and access to markets Control of invasive species Lose less to increase output/ quality with fewer inputs Protection of biodiversity on and off farm Management of ecosystem services, practices and use Involvement of women Better nutrition, increased incomes, greater opportunity Improved quality of life, greater social stability
- 15. AIRCA members have • Expertise across range of ecosystems & substantive crop diversity • Core competencies in health of humans, plants, animals & landscapes • Integrated & holistic approaches to solving development problems at scale • Ability to respond rapidly & efficiently in the face of new problems • Long-established track record of working with member-country
- 16. AIRCA’s Vision and Mission Vision: Healthy landscapes for improved livelihoods and food security Mission: Putting research into use by strengthening capacities for sustainable improvements to incomes, food and nutrition security in healthy landscapes
- 17. What can we contribute? • Experience of varied and challenging ecosystems (geography, climate and politics) • Expertise in a wide range of crops • Focus on diverse crops of high economic, nutritional or cultural value • Development of metrics (economics and biology) • Innovative mechanisms for communication, knowledge transfer and capacity building • Creative strategies to assess outcomes and impact
- 18. What have we learned (1)? Food and nutrition security • Indigenous crops and animals are often best suited to the region • New crops and varieties can improve climate resilience or resistance to pests and diseases • Crop/diet diversity essential for nutritional security • Understand culture and tradition around food, not just the calories
- 19. What have we learned (2) Improving livelihoods • Link farmers to markets, support with information • Improve access to alternative value chains and markets • Help farmers organise, brand and market their crop • Develop agroforestry systems (fruit, coffee, bamboo) • Improve plant health systems and promote IPM approaches • Consider non-farm and off-farm alternatives 19 of XX
- 20. Click icon to add picture ●More Efficiency: $1.13 vs $8.50/farmer (mobile vs. physical extension) ●Greater reach, broader coverage −Weather −Alerts, early warning −Market prices, locations −Best practice advice −Crop health, pests and disease −Input supplies −Animal health and husbandry −Crop Calendar-based advice −Finance, credit and insurance −Nutrition What have we learned (3)? Leveraging the power of mobile
- 21. Landscape – Lake Victoria Basin • Shared water resource between Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ugan • Combined population of 130 million, 70% smallholder farmers
- 22. Rationale Immediate development issues: • low agricultural productivity • lack of access to markets • low incomes • rising vulnerability of poor people. Longer-term challenges include: • dependence on a few primary commodities • poor human capacity • weak governance • increasing migration to urban areas • low employment of youth and women • climate change.
- 23. Focus on women, youth and nutrition Women play a central role in agriculture: • 43% of farmers in developing countries are women • >60% of economically active women work in agriculture • average of 20 - 30 % lower productivity than men Youth constitute more than 60% of the population • youth unemployment is high and growing. • often lack skills and access to resources Nutrition: 13 million people are at crisis levels of food insecurity • scarcity of food, very low productivity and low incomes. • a large part of the population are malnourished • even where there is access to food the population may be malnourished due to imbalanced diets.
- 24. Ourapproach Establishing agribusiness clusters as the main intervention point, in four key stages: 1. Identify concrete market opportunities for women and youth 2. Establish agribusiness clusters for women and youth in areas identified as facing some of the key challenges 3. Work with these clusters to identify and deliver input packages that are most appropriate for the women and youth groups, based on available AIRCA experience, incl. Partners 4. Extend the number and geography of women and youth engaged in agribusiness clusters throughout the Basin area
- 26. Exemplarinput packages Fruit and vegetables: - traditional African vegetables - underutilized fruit Dairy goats and cows - improved forage production - better on-farm processing Energy and land management - sustainable firewood - improved stoves - biochar
- 27. Ourvision of success - to reach 250,000 women and youth - who will increase their income by 25%, and - 1,000,000 consumers who will have improved access to more nutritious food. The project will create and enhance market access for women and youth, targeting agricultural sectors yielding high income and better nutrition, by leveraging our combined strengths in input packages through agribusiness clusters. Target countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda
- 28. In conclusion…. • To be sustainable, farming must be a respected and profitable rural profession in a healthy landscape • Landscape approaches are challenging due to multiple interactions and transboundary issues • Build broad stakeholder support – top down and bottom up • In addressing landscapes, be ambitious in scale but focussed in scope • Partner, partner, partner…..
Editor's Notes
- ICM is based on a good understanding of the interactions between biology, environment and land management systems. Above all, it focuses on managing crops profitably but with respect for the environment in ways that suit the local conditions, and as such, economy and ecology (relationship between organisms and the environment) form the backdrop. <number>