Sete Lagoas Concensus
 

Sete Lagoas “Consensus” on Integrated Crop-Livestock-Tree Systems for Sustainable Development (IC-LSD) 26 March 2010

 

Already, mixed production systems generate close to 50% of the world’s cereals and most of the staples consumed by poor people: 41% of maize, 86% of rice, 66% of sorghum, and 74% of millet production. They also produce the bulk of livestock products in the developing world, that is, 75% of the milk and 60% of the meat, and employ many millions of people in farms,
formal and informal markets, processing plants, and other parts of long value chains. Recognizing that 9 billion people will need to be provided for in a sustainable way by the year 2050, participants of the Sete Lagoas Consultation on integrated crop-livestock-tree systems for sustainable development (IC-LSD) reached consensus that small and medium scale farmers, in particular, can meaningfully benefit and contribute to food and nutritional security and sustainable development through improved production intensification, environmental quality and livelihoods.

Integrated crop-livestock system (IC-LSD), implying a diverse range of integrated ecological, biophysical, socio economic conditions, have been a foundation of agriculture for hundreds of years. In recent decades, there have been practical innovations that harness synergies between the production sectors of crops, livestock and agroforestry that ensure economic and ecological sustainability while providing ecosystem services. IC-LS increase environmental resilience through increased biological diversity, effective/efficient nutrient cycling/recycling, improved soil health, provide ecosystem services, enhance forest preservation and contribute to adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Within the economic and production dimension, the IC-LS enhance livelihood diversification and potentially efficiency through optimization of production inputs including labour, offer resilience to economic stresses, and reduce risks. From a socio-cultural perspective, these systems are meant to assist farmers to diversify and meet their livelihood aspirations, ensure equitable social dynamics, particularly for elders, women and youth, and increase nutrition security and food safety while meeting consumer choice and demand. 

The group identified that there are multiple ways in which integration can be interpreted and implemented. Integration can be on-farm as well as on an area-wide basis that may involve some specialisation. The participants recognized the importance of an intentional integration that reflects a synergistic relationship among the components (the whole is greater than the sum of the parts) of crops, livestock and/or trees and that this synergistic relationship when appropriately managed results in enhanced social, economic and environmental sustainability and improves the livelihoods of those farmers who manage them. Successful crop-livestock integration should be seen through the lens of nutrient use efficiency and nutrient cycling benefits, which are strong public goods issues. The successful integration should also be seen through the lens of arresting land degradation. In many fragile ecosystems, livestock is the main stay of livelihoods but at the same time free and uncontrolled grazing by livestock leads to pasture and land degradation. Under such cases the whole issue of mutually beneficial integration must be addressed at the community and regional level involving grazing management, species composition and matching stocking rate to carrying capacity.


Several types of IC-LS in the dryland ecologies, moist savannahs and forest margin environments within the lowland and highland socio-economic conditions were identified. These included crop-livestock systems with or without trees or aquaculture; agropastoral systems with or without trees; and landscape level sectoral activities that require functional re-integration of components. Small and medium holder systems that include animal traction were also highlighted as important. Note was also taken of the diversity of integrated systems and demand for livestock depending on the level of agricultural intensification and economic development of the region and countries.