Ecoagriculture : An Ecosystem Approach in Agricultural Landscapes

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Ecoagriculture An Ecosystem Approach in
Agricultural Landscapes

• Seth ShamesEcoagriculture Partners
• CBD Africa Regional Workshop on Sustainable Use
• Nairobi, Kenya, December 2006

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Ecosystem Services Biodiversity Our Natural
Infrastructure
Food, fiber, bio-compounds
Watershed protection and regulation
Plant pollination
Genetic, species diversity
Carbon sequestration and storage Soil formation
and fertility
Decomposition of wastes Landscape
beauty
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Importance of Agriculture for Food Security and
Poverty Reduction

• Over 840 million people food-insecure
• Half smallholder farmers
• A fifth rural landless
• Micronutrient malnutrition 2 billion
• Anticipated 50-100 increase in food demand in
  LDCs by 2030
• 2/3 of rural poor in marginal lands
• Low productivity in degraded farmlands, depleted
  forests, fisheries, game, range
• Rural populations growing in poor LDCs

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Population in Global Biodiversity Hotspots
Population in Global Biodiversity Hotspots
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Importance of Agricultural Landscapes for
Biodiversity Conservation
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Ecoagriculture
Our Vision
Agricultural landscapes managed to enhance rural
livelihoods and sustainable agricultural
production (of crops, livestock, fish and
forest), while conserving or restoring ecosystem
services and biodiversity.
Putting food security at the heart of
conservation Putting conservation at the
heart of food security
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Ecoagriculture Vision
Our Vision
To integrate wide range of approaches and
strategies to achieve landscape-scale impacts
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From sites to landscapes
Our Vision

• Integrating the management of
• Protected Areas
• Watersheds
• Degraded forests
• Farms and Plantations
• To accommodate
• Livelihood options
• Species habitat conservation needs
• Ecological processes
• Opportunities to recognize and reward land use
  innovations
  (e.g. payments for environmental services)

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Ecoagriculture Strategies
Make space for wild species in agricultural
landscapes

• Create biodiversity reserves that also benefit
  local farming communities
• Develop habitat networks in in-between spaces,
  compatible with farming
• Prevent (or reverse) conversion of wild lands to
  agriculture by raising the productivity of land
  already being farmed

Chibememe Earth Healing Association, Zimbabwe
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Ecoagriculture Strategies

• Enhance Habitat Value of Productive Farmland
• Reduce agricultural pollution
• Modify management of soil, water, natural
  vegetation
• Mix species to mimic the structure function of
  natural ecosystems

Chibememe Earth Healing Association, Zimbabwe
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Taking Ecoagriculture to scale
1) Intensify conservation efforts in agricultural
landscapes 2) Increase research on ecological
interactions of wild domestic species, for
management 3) Develop production technologies
with ecosystem co-benefits 4) Explicitly address
how to manage agricultural land uses within
landscape mosaics 5) Institutions to support
integrated planning 6) Harmonize agriculture,
environment, poverty policies

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Motivations of Farmers and Communities Who Engage
in Ecoagriculture

• Reduce production costs, raise or
• stabilize yields, improve quality
• 2) Conserve biodiversity critical to
• their own livelihoods
• 3) Access product markets seeking
• biodiversity-friendly sources
• 4) Earn payments for ecosystem
• services
• 5) Comply with env. regulations
• 6) Protect rights to farm/herd/harvest wild
  products in PAs
• 7) To reduce conflicts with other groups in the
  landscape
• 8) Protect important cultural, spiritual or
  aesthetic values

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The Case of Mt. Elgon
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Multistakeholder Collaboration
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Thank you! For more information..

• www.ecoagriculturepartners.org

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Ecoagriculture Vision
Our Vision
Agricultural landscapes around the world
transformed to ecoagriculture systems that
enhance rural livelihoods and agricultural
production, while conserving or restoring
ecosystem services and biodiversity at a
landscape scale.
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Inter-Dependence of Agriculture,
Ecosystems and Livelihoods
Our Vision
Wild biodiversity
Some ecosystem processes and functions help to
maintain wild biodiversity.
Conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem
services

• Ecosystem process function, such as
• Primary production
• Decomposition
• Nutrient cycling
• Gene flow evolutionary processes
• Hydrology

Some ecosystem processes and functions benefit
humans directly. These are ecosystem services.
Ecosystem services

• Beneficial services within landscape, such as
• Pollination
• Pest control
• Soil fertility
• Water quality

• Beneficial services outside landscape, such as
• Carbon sequestration
• Flood protection
• Habitat for valued species

• Community and household-level benefits such as
• Protection of natural capital
• Wild foods, fuel, medicines
• Compensation payments for ecosystem
  services

Sustainable agricultural production
Sustainable livelihoods
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Importance of Biodiversity for Rural Livelihoods
Our Vision

• Direct consumption of wild foods, medicines and
  fuel (esp. micronutrients, safety net)
• Income from sale of wildlife and ecosystem
  services
• Farm inputs (wild spp as fodder, fertilizer,
  packaging, fencing)
• Crop/livestock genetic diversity
• Local ecosystem services water, pollination,
  soil fertility, pest disease control, nutrient
  cycling, detoxification