To what extent can agroecological and other innovative approaches, practices and technologies improve resource efficiency, minimize ecological footprint, strengthen resilience, secure social equity and responsibility, and create decent jobs, in particular for youth, in agriculture and food systems? practices and technologies improve resource efficiency, minimize ecological footprint, strengthen resilience, secure social equity and responsibility, and create decent jobs, in particular for youth, in agriculture and food systems?
Resource efficiency - - agroecological approaches reduces soil erosion and nutrient depletion, reduces reliance on energy intensive inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides and energy intensive mechanical expenditure (reduced ploughing, reduced mileage for spraying and fertilizer application ..), reduces emissions, maximize water use (greater water infiltration and retention, reduced evaporation, greater soil moisture storage capacity ..) light (by utilizing biodiversity fallow time can be reduced and even eliminated, "crops" and livestock of various types can be grown for 12 months of the year,(only in the rainy season) and space (multilayered agriculture and aquaculture means that various plants can be used that fill niches from ground cover through to tree height and in the case of aquaculture - different fish species occupy different elevations in the water body) .
Minimize ecological footprint - there is some repetition with the above, especially on reducing reliance on energy intensive inputs and actually having a positive ecological footprint (carbon sequestration, reduced temperatures and wind speeds, buffering of climatic extremes, and functionality of the four ecosystem services ( energy cycle, mineral cycle, water cycle and biodiversity)intensive energy inputs and actually having a positive ecological footprint (carbon sequestration, reduced temperatures and wind speeds, buffering of climatic extremes, and functionality of the four ecosystem services (energy cycle, mineral cycle, water cycle and biodiversity)
Strengthen resilience - agroecological approaches (AEA), especially when conducted at landscape scale play a significant role in strengthening resilience. i) healthy, environment environments buffer the extremes in environmental and climatic shocks. Eg in heavy rainfall periods, more water is absorbed, runoff and hence flood is reduced; during dry spells, because more moisture is retained in the soil profile, and humidity is greater, what rain does fall is more effective, there is less evaporation, lower temperatures and lower wind speeds - resilience to these types of shocks increases. Even in the case of insect and disease outbreak, agroecological approaches promote greater biodiversity - not all plant species and animal species and breeds are susceptible to the same shocks, and not to the same degree - so, greater diversity results in greater resilience. AEA tend to result in greater diversification - thus, instead of reliance on a few vulnerable enterprises (eg, rain fed agriculture with just 1-3 annual crop species) farmers and communities have greater opportunities for income generation (honey production, fodder, livestock fattening , traditional medicines, fuel wood and timber salts, tree crops such as nuts and fruits ...). Trees in particular act as a proxy bank account as they hold in reserve timber, fodder and other products which can be drawn on at times as well as in times of need. AEA approaches canned in ground water recharge, opening up the opportunity for irrigated agriculture and this effectively not only drought proofs a community
Secure social equity & responsibility - sustainable management of a shared natural resource base (land, water, vegetation, livestock and wildlife) requires stakeholders to come together, define common goals, means of achieving those goals and rules and regulations to ensure they will be met . If conducted well and with every body's best interest at heart, the very act of bringing people together to discuss common issues, select solutions and create and execute an action plan helps build responsibility and builds social equity.
Create decent jobs, in particular for youth in agriculture and food systems - AEA helps create employment opportunities because input costs are reduced, while total yield and diversity of production increases over most traditional agricultural systems. Through careful value chain development and connection with markets for selected high value and high in-demand products, new employment opportunities will arise.
What are the controversies and uncertainties related to innovative technologies and practices? What are their associated risks? What are the barriers to the adoption of agroecology and other innovative approaches, technologies and practices and how to address them? What are their on FSN in its four dimensions (availability, access, utilization and stability), human health and well-being, and the environment?
What are the controversies and uncertainties related to innovative technologies and practices? Adoption is a big issue - changing the paradigm, convincing people to do things differently - if not handled well can end in failure. Communities already living on the line tend to be risk averse and most new / innovative technologies and practices may not have been tested, or have not been tested in the target region. It is important to start slowly and small, to minimize risks and to encourage people to try things on a small scale - and be shy on making big claims and promises of what a new technology will do, while being bold on keeping your word on the promises you do make.
What are their associated risks? Failure is a risk. When introducing AEA it could take 2-3 years for the land to respond. A transition period is called for and / or, a gradual treatment of the land taking on say 25% per year. Poor implementation is a big risk - if the innovation you are introducing fails because of poor implementation it will get a bad name and nobody will try it again - or listen to any other of your 'good ideas'. So it is very important to take every precaution, plan carefully, follow up and trouble shoot promptly. Any new innovation will generate rumors and false beliefs and will attract traitors - some of whom can even remove sinister. Active steps must be taken to create an enabling environment and to contest negative and false information when it arises.trouble shootpromptly Any new innovation will generaterumorsand false beliefs and it will attract traitors - some of whom can even be removed sinister. Active steps must be taken to create an enabling environment and to contest negative and false information when it arises.
What are the barriers to the adoption of agroecology and other innovative approaches, technologies and practices and how to address them? Taking a specific case of FMNR, see the attachments.
What are their on FSN in its four dimensions (availability, access, utilization and stability), human health and well-being, and the environment? Availability, access and stability are all positively impacted by AEA - higher yields and greater diversity is an expected hallmark of AEA. In terms of improving utilization - my understanding is that this requires a capacity building program.
In terms of human health - AEA can provide adequate, nutritious foods for a longer period of time and sufficient and good nutrition contributes to health. Wild foods tend to be rich in micro nutrients and anti oxidants and vitamins. People's outlook and sense of wellbeing tends to improve in healthy functioning landscapes - more greenery, lower temperatures and wind speeds tend to result in less stress which positively health. AEA can result in a more secure and clean water supply - a critical contributor to good health.
What regulations and standards, what instruments, processes and governance are needed to create an enabling environment for the development and implementation of agroecology and other innovative approaches, practices and technologies that enhance food security and nutrition? What are the limits of trade rules, and intellectual property rights on the development and implementation of such practices and technologies? processes and governance mechanisms are needed to create an enabling environment for the development and implementation of agroecology and other innovative approaches, practices and technologies that enhance food security and nutrition? What are the limits of trade rules, and intellectual property rights on the development and implementation of such practices and technologies?
What regulations and standards, what instruments, processes and governance are needed to create an enabling environment for the development and implementation of agroecology and other innovative approaches, practices and technologies that enhance food security and nutrition? There are a number of approaches and that it's not a case of one size fits all. Important principles are wide scale consultation and awareness creation with all stakeholders, inclusiveness in decision making including in development of standards, regulations and processes. For agroforestry, here are some high priority requirements for creating an enabling environment:
ease of access to markets for the forestry products
benefits (economic and other) from agroforestry are higher than from alternatives
a viable forestry production technology is available and known to farmers
farmer access to sufficient areas of land and security of tenure to that land and farmer confidence in being able to control risk, such as fire, pests, theft.
What are the impacts of trade rules, and intellectual property rights on the development and implementation of such practices and technologies? This is not an area I am knowledgeable on, howeverIn terms of uptake of AEA approaches, it is essential that farmers have fair and as convenient as possible access to markets. One of the biggest drivers and motivators of the uptake of FMNR in Africa has been the freedom of practitioners to harvest, utilize and sell timber andnon timberforest products. Many (most?) Governments have restrictions on tree felling on farmland (for environmental reasons) -usually these regulations do not work. However, if farmers have secure ownership or user rights to the trees on their land and are able to freely sell tree products, with good capacity building and follow up, this can result in farmers managing these resources sustainably.
How to assess and monitor the potential impacts on FSN, whether positive or negative, of agroecology and other innovative approaches, practicesand technologies? Which criteria, indicators,statistics and metrics are needed?
How to assess and monitor the potential impacts on FSN, whether positive or negative, of agroecology and other innovative approaches, practices and technologies? Which criteria, indicators, statistics and metrics are needed?
Basically a mix of qualitative and quantitative measures should be applied - focus group and individual discussions, questionnaires, before and after photography including satellite imagery, measurements on soil fertility and moisture, changes in water table levels, soil erosion, temperature, wind speed, diversity - of crops, livestock, indigenous vegetation and wildlife .., crop yield and livestock production, farmers income,. In the case of FMNR and WV Australia we are in the early stages of developing an Application:
The spread of FMNR is the spread of an idea and as such, it is very difficult to monitor what happens beyond project boundaries. However, the FMNR Hub is taking this challenge seriously and has teamed up with the World Agroforestry Center, the World Resources Institute and software developers to better track the spread and impact of FMNR. To strengthen the efficacy and improve the application of training delivered by the FMNR Hub, the FMNR Hub will develop an application called FMNRGrow. The application will be designed to support implementing design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects using the Plan, Learn, Monitor and Evaluate, and Share Toolkits. The FMNRGrow application will also support the FMNR Hub to track the global spread and impact of FMNR at the household and landscape levels. This will be facilitated through implementing partners utilizing the application. Data captured through this application will be stored in a central data portal developed by the FMNR Hub, and used to produce online dashboards and interactive maps on the FMNR Hub website. These dashboards and maps will help stakeholders track the sub-national, national, regional, and global spread and impact of FMNR by tracking indicators such as the total number of people trained in FMNR, the number of HHs practicing FMNR, and the number of hectares of land managed under FMNR. This information will be supplemented and validated by the findings of the impact assessment and landscape analyzes by the FMNR Hub. Identified with 'hot spots', or areas with high numbers of people trained in FMNR. These assessments and analyzes will yield data related to the social and biophysical of FMNR, such as the percentage increase in tree cover in identified hot spots. To validate the landscape impact of FMNR activities in these 'hot spots', the FMNR Hub will use satellite imagery sourced from Google Earth to determine the extent of regreening attributable to FMNR, using a tool called Collect Earth.
Angeline Munzara