Merry Christmas from ICROFS
The ICROFS secretariat has with great satisfaction noted that terminologies such as agro-ecological approaches, ecological or eco-functional intensification are being used more and more frequently.
The present global food system is far from ideal and it is not sustainable nor does it provide food for all. Agriculture and food production depends on biodiversity and ecosystems services and at the same time impacts positively or negatively the natural capital. |
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FAO has stated that ‘Ecosystem services sustain agricultural productivity and resilience’ (Plant Production and Protection Division, www.fao.org/ag/AGP) and advocates production intensification through ecosystem management. However, approximately 60% of the ecosystem services examined in the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment are being degraded or used unsustainably (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment – Synthesis, 2005).
There is an increased understanding that the challenges of producing enough food and biomass while preserving soil, water and biodiversity necessary for ecosystem services cannot be solved by prevalent types of conventional agriculture and that agro-ecological approaches and ecological intensification is fundamental for our future food production. The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science & Technology for Development (IAASTD, 2009) was one of the first reports to opt for this. The report concluded that ‘business as usual is not an option’; that a fundamental shift in AKST is required to successfully meeting development and sustainability goals; that research, innovation and extension should account better for the complexity of agricultural systems within the diverse social and ecological contexts; and that an interdisciplinary and Agro-ecosystems approach to knowledge production and sharing will be important for solving these needs.
Higher agricultural productivity and stability of yields has to be achieved by means of appropriate ‘eco-functional intensification’ achieved by higher input of knowledge, observation skills and management and improved use of agro-ecological methods. It is therefore important to consider agro-ecological methods as elements in an overall strategy for an intensification of food systems.
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Also the UN Special Raporteur on the right to food promotes agro-ecological agriculture as a model that holds great promise for the roughly 500 million food-insecure household around the world. (for example in ‘The New Green Revolution: How Twenty-First-Century Science Can Feed the World’)
Likewise, in 2009 the Committee on Agriculture of FAO consisting of member
country representatives "endorsed the proposal that public and private investments be made in agroecological research, at both national and international levels" and the committee stressed that "an ecosystem approach be adopted in agricultural management in order to achieve sustainable agriculture, including integrated pest management, organic agriculture and other traditional and indigenous coping strategies that promote agroecosystem diversification and soil carbon sequestration" (FAO COAG, 2009). FAO has also recently launched the terminology ‘climate smart agriculture’ being one that ensures that agriculture transcends the multiple issues with which it is currently associated – GHG emissions, loss of biodiversity, water misuse, soil and land degradation and socio-economic inequities which are compromising the world's capacity to feed its population’.
The need to focus on agroecological approaches and ecological intensification has developed from being disputed to be included in many strategies, outlooks and guidelines. Some examples published in 2011 are: ‘Healthy Harvest: The Benefits of Sustainable Agriculture in Africa and Asia’ (Christian Aid); Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation – Agriculture Sector’ (UNEP); ‘Save and Grove. A policymaker’s guide to the sustainable intensification of smallholder Crop Production’ (FAO); ‘Climate Change and Food Systems Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa’ (FAO); ‘Growing a Better Future – Food Justice in a Resource-constrained World’ (Oxfam).
Underinvestment in the agricultural sectors in many developing countries has limited the necessary uptake of agroecological methods, which are knowledge intensive and that extension services that teach farmers –often women – about agroecological practices are particularly vital. This has been stated by the UNs special rapporteur on the rights to food.
There is a need for development and adoption of farming systems which seek to create synergy between food production and sustaining ecosystem services and are more resilient to climate change. We need combinations of participatory on-farm research, controlled experiments and more basic research. Thus eco-functional intensification requires investments in research and development of ecological approaches and knowledge on their functionality and impacts on eco-systems. However, this new emphasis on agroecological knowledge and practices as fundamental for our future food production have made us optimistic - perhaps ICROFS ‘big hairy audacious goal’ that ‘the principles of organic agriculture have become a global reference for sustainability in agriculture and food systems due to evidence based on research and adaptive management’ may not be so audacious after all.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
The International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, ICROFS
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