Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

for a world without hunger

Agriculture and

Consumer Protection Department

Agroecology for Food

Security and Nutrition

Barbara Gemmill-HerrenFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations



Agriculture and


• In the recent past: summary of the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrtion

18-19 September, 2014

• In the future: plans for 2015 and beyond



Agriculture and


Goals of the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrtion

18-19 September, 2014

• Provided a forum for taking stock of the current state of science and

practices of Agroecology,

• Facilitated exchange of information on agroecology activities in the

context of the FAO Strategic Framework;

• Produc(ing) scientific proceedings and other information material



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Participation

Private sector

Academia

Presenters

Civil Society

IGOs, foundations, media

Government representatives



Agriculture and


From Hainzelin presentation; Inspired from Wezel et al, 2009

Agroecology

Scientific Disciplines

Ecology of

plots, fields,

herds

Ecology

of

Food systems

Ecology

of

agrosystems

Environ-

mentalism

Rural

Development

Sustainable

agriculture

Technologies

Social MovementPractices

5



Agriculture and


Key points from Opening Plenary

• 97% of all the farms in the

world are family farms (500

million households)

• 70% of the active farmers are

women

• They produce about 50% of the

food consumed by humans,

farming on 20% of the land

• The world produces 2720 Kcal

of food per person per day

(1800-2100 are required)

From Tittonell presentation



Agriculture and



Problems with the current food

system:

Breaking vicious cycles of food

insecurity and turning them into

“virtuous” circles and synergies

Healthy soils are linked to healthy

crops and healthy diets. There is a

variable crop response to nutrient

inputs. Where soils are degraded

there is usually a poor response to

fertilizers. This applies to 25 percent

of soils worldwide. Farmers cannot

afford to use fertilizers if they are not

effective. Creating socio-ecological virtuous cycles

From Mapfumo presentation



Agriculture and



Systems approaches: Systems need to fit the reality of farmers. The local

context must be of greater importance: a shift from “ready-to-use” to “custom-

made” cropping systems put the producers at the center of local innovation

systems, to combine technologies and traditional knowledge.



Agriculture and


Adapted from M. Griffon 2013

Natural

ecosystem

Conventional

intensified

farming

systems

Agro-

ecological

farming

systems

Uniformization

Simplification

Degradation

Regulated

dynamics

Natural

dynamics

Traditional

farming

systems with

no input

Diversification

“Complexification”

“aggradation”



Agriculture and



Up scaling of Agroecological approaches are based on enhancing interactions,

between functional biodiversity on farms (beneficial insects, etc.) but also

between people.

Smallholders and communities can be empowered through agroecology to

expand their production frontiers.

AfJARE Vol 8 No 1 Mashavave et al.

7

The network structure for non-participant farmers (Figure 2) had fewer dense connections

(ties) compared to that for participant farmers (see Figure 1), suggesting weak collaboration

within the network. Still, intergenerational knowledge was the most outwardly projected

source of information. Within this network type, farmers’ knowledge is usually viewed as

‘know-how’ and not acceptable by scientific research standards (Hagmann et al. 1998). Other

less common sources of information were universities and direct research, as evidenced by

their projection and few connections. Extension was viewed as the medium through which

research-based knowledge was passed on to farmers, as evidenced by the lack of direct links

between the farmer and research. Innovation dissemination was mainly through

national/private extension agents (Roux et al. 2006) or farmer unions. There were few spaces

along the value chains where farmers, extension agents and other agro-service providers met

regularly to collectively develop/share new knowledge and strategies. This subsequently

limited the farmers’ ability to realise economies of scale and hindered the farmers from

developing stable relationships with suppliers or traders. Currently, exchanges with local

farmers were mostly incidental and consisted of informal dialogue devoid of sufficient

information to constitute ‘purposeful interaction’. Generally, farmer-to-farmer interactions

were along dimensions such as age, religion and gender, a characteristic known as homophily

in social network analysis (McPherson et al. 2001; Leonard et al. 2008).

Note: Black circles indicate sources of ISFM information and knowledge, while grey squares indicate platforms

for access to and sharing ISFM information)

Figure 2: Structural layout for non-participant smallholder social network in Chinyika,

Makoni District, Zimbabwe

Besides extension meetings, other identified platforms for access to and sharing of

information included field days, agricultural shows, external workshops and Master Farmer

Training Programmes being run by the national extension agency, AGRITEX. However,

Master Farmer Training Programmes were the most isolated platform for access to and

sharing of information and knowledge. Information on extension meetings would be

conveyed through village chairpersons by verbal communication, mobile phones and/or

school children. The composition of participants at field days was mostly farmers from within

the community, with very few outsiders, hence such activities were rarely conducted in this

particular area. Farmers in this network failed to organise themselves towards production and

AfJARE Vol 8 No 1 Mashavave et al.

6

Note: Black circles indicate sources of ISFM information and knowledge, while grey squares indicate platforms

for access to and sharing ISFM information)

Figure 1: Social network structural layout for learning alliance participants in

Chinyika, Makoni District, Zimbabwe

The most outwardly projected platforms were exchange visits with local farmers

(exch_visit_local,; external workshops (ext_workshops) and extension facilitated meetings

(extn_meetings), suggesting that these platforms for access to and sharing of ISFM

information were less preferred among these farmers. Learning centre-based meetings

(lc_based_meetings) for joint learning on ISFM and climate change included participatory

action planning (PAP) meetings, which usually are conducted during the pre-season months

of September or early October, followed by the implementation of planned activities as the

season commenced. Joint monitoring and evaluation then followed during the mid-season and

post-season periods, from January to July/August. The activities generally proceeded through

an iterative cycle of learning–action–reflection. Studies have shown that repeated interactions

strengthen social coherence and trust within the group (e.g. Borgatti & Cross 2003). It is also

much cheaper and easier to organise training and agricultural extension services for groups of

farmers than for individual farmers (Hagmann et al. 1998). Field days drew participation

from diverse groups within and outside the community, where ISFM and climate change

information and knowledge were shared through poetry, songs and drama. Key informant

interviews revealed that, as a result of depressed agricultural production, field days and

agricultural shows had become non-existent before the inception of SOFECSA initiatives in

the year 2007, and this could be attributed to declining soil fertility. In particular, maize grain

yields were less than 2 t/ha.

Beside field days and learning centres, the farmers also interacted through seed fairs,

exchange visits with local farmers and agricultural shows. Recurrent interactions within

learning alliances were also found to foster broader comprehension of key ISFM issues,

improved collaboration for better solutions, as well as promote a market-oriented culture

among smallholder farmers. These collective actions provided an opportunity for the farmers

to pool scarce resources, as well as to reduce transaction costs in the acquisition of requisite

ISFM inputs by cutting out middlemen. In addition, the collective acquisition of inputs

increases the farmers’ bargaining power, which can contribute to lower production costs.

Without innovation

platforms/learning centres

(Zimbabwe)

With innovation platforms/learning

centres (Zimbabwe)

From Mapfumo presentation



Agriculture and



Enabling conditions:

There is a need for enabling

environments in favour of Agroecology:

for transition policies for family

agriculture, incentives for ecosystem

services, etc.

Agrobiodiversity, a key component of

resilience, must remain accessible to

small farmers as their a capital for

future adaptation.



Agriculture and


Key points from Scientific Session on Ecological Approaches

• Addressing global challenges in

achieving food and nutrition security

through Agroecology by re-introducing

biological complexity

• Agroecological systems are complex

and knowledge intensive

• Caring for the environment should be a

means to achieve other goals (not an

afterthought). There are win-win

opportunities to close yield gaps and

environmental gaps.



Agriculture and


Belowground interactions, and root zone management in intercropping

systems in China have been shown to influence yields up to 50%

From Zhang presentation



Agriculture and


From Kasina presentation

Yields of pollinator-dependent crops can be increased by more than 40% in diverse

smallholder system with wild pollinators; but this same increase is not possible in large

monocultures with only managed honey bees



Agriculture and


agroecological

conventional0

200

400

600

800

NicaHonds

Guate

Number of mudslides

After Hurricane Mitch,

Central America

From Nicholls presentation

Key points from Scientific Session on Building Synergies



Agriculture and


Species name Jan Feb Mar April May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Vit C Vit A

Lantana camara

Carica papaya + +++

Mangifera indica + +++

Musa x paradisiaca

Eriobotrya japonica +++

Morus alba (+)

Tamarindus indica

Syzygium spp. +++

Annona reticulata (+)

Psidium guajava +++ +

Punica granatum

Casimiroa edulis (+)

Vangueria madagascariensis

Citrus limon +

Citrus sinensis +

Vitex payos +++

Persea americana

Passiflora edulis +

Pappea capensis

Balanites aegyptiaca (+)

Carissa edulis

Available species 2 4 6 4 4 5 4 2 3 1 2 2

Hunger

gapFruit tree portfolio

in Machakos,

Kenya for vitamin

supply:

Vitamin A and

C supply possible

year-round, where

farms are diverse

From Prabhu presentation




Agriculture and



• Viable food systems need the involvement of

diverse groups in food social programmes

(alliances, wider coalitions, partnerships)

• Integrated crop-livestock systems address

many synergies



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Key points from Scientific Session on People and Economics

From Vanloqueren presentation

Nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs in

Zambia



Agriculture and



• Chronic health issues due to loss

of traditional diets and farming

practices

From Miller presentation



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• The connections between agroecology, markets and the private sector

need to be further investigated and developed. Alternative markets may

help to reconnect producers and consumers.



Agriculture and



• Horizontal (farmer to

farmer) communication and

exchange is a powerful

mechanism for uptake and

spread of agroecological

practices

• Local knowledge of

biodiversity and use, that of

women, is as important as

that of men and that

emphasis should be put on

the knowledge generated

and maintained by women

Reference tree

Before After

From Rosset presentation, above, and Salgado presentation, below



Agriculture and


Agroecology in Practice: Africa, Asia, Latin America & Worldwide



Agriculture and


Agroecology in Practice: Africa, Asia, Latin America & Worldwide



Agriculture and


Key messages identified by many speakers during the Symposium were:

• That various understandings of Agroecology exist;

• The importance of agroecological approaches in achieving

food security and increasing resilience to climate change;

Most losses in resilience are unintended consequences

of a narrow focus on efficiency, and a neglect of

diversity

• The strong linkages between Agroecology and Family

Farming;



Agriculture and



• The need for increased research including farmer-to-farmer

and farmer to scientists platforms

• That there are no “one size fits all” solutions but rather that

agroecological approaches will be location specific



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• The existence of a great number of agroecological practices

used by farmers around the world, that provide significant

benefits for agricultural production and producers’

livelihoods, as a basis for any scaling up of Agroecology



Agriculture and



• The lack of an overview of agroecological practices and a

proposed global “census” on Agroecology;

• Challenges to mainstream Agroecology remain, but

speakers indicated their readiness to strengthen

Agroecology;

• The need for FAO to continue to provide a forum for

dialogue and to facilitate technical and knowledge-based

input.



Agriculture and


What next in 2015 and beyond?

• Planning of three regional meetings on Agroecology in Latin America,

Africa and Asia

o Latin America: in Brasilia in June

o Africa: in possibly Senegal, in September

o Asia: tbd

• Collecting elements to strengthen the evidence base for Agroecology

• Work on farmer-researcher networks and other relevant mechanisms to

strengthen the link between Agroecology and traditional and local

knowledge

• Work on policy mechanisms (supporting EOA in Africa, TEEB, SEEA-Agri,

CBD focus on agriculture and biodiversity)



Agriculture and




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Articulation of policy measures to

enable implemation of

agroecological approaches:

Including:

• Including agroecological

inputs in FAOSTAT

• accounting for natural capital

• connecting consumers with

producers; local food systems

• local government policies

• alternative seed legislation

• support for pollination services

• governance of ecosystem

services by indigenous and

local communities



Agriculture and




Agriculture and


Valuing Ecosystem Services: How do these integrate across a landscape?

In the Philippines…

Food

Water

Fodder

Carbon

Sequestration

Erosion

prevention

Biological Control

Maintenance

of soil fertility

Recreation

and Tourism

Diet diversity

Genetic diversity



Agriculture and

Consumer Protection DepartmentAssessment of multiple goods and services in Asian Rice

Production Systems

Maintenance

of soil fertility



Agriculture and


The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for

Agriculture (TEEB-Agri)

Th

e e

colo

gis

ts’ id

ea



Agriculture and


The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for

Agriculture (TEEB-Agri)

Th

e a

ccounta

nts

’ id

ea



Agriculture and


Systems of Environmental-Economic Accounting,

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Cas

e st

ud

ies

cari

ed

ou

t in

In

do

nes

ia, G

uat

emal

a,

Au

stra

lia a

nd

Can

ada;

gu

idel

ines

un

der

d

evel

op

men

t



Agriculture and


National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans



Agriculture and


THANK YOU