Is there a sustainable agriculture option?

Transcription

1 Is there a sustainable agriculture option? Overseas Development Institute 20 th June 2001 Professor Jules Pretty, Centre for Environment and Society, University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK jpretty@essex.ac.uk

2 Three agricultural options expand the area of agriculture, by converting new lands to agriculture, but losing forests, grasslands and other areas of important biodiversity increase per hectare production in agricultural exporting countries, mostly industrialised, so that food can be transferred or sold to those who need it increase total farm productivity in developing countries which are going most to need the food by purchasing inputs/technologies? by using locally-available assets and resources?

3 Best options for the poorest? Which work best for the poorest great success in past but still 790 million people food poor Key questions: to what extent can farmers improve food production with low-cost and locallyavailable technologies and inputs? What impacts do these methods have on environmental goods and services, and the livelihoods of people relying on them?

4 Five Assets of Rural Systems (livelihoods, communities, economies) Natural Capital: nature s goods and services (waste assimilation, pollination, storm protection, water supply, leisure, wildlife) Social Capital: cohesiveness of people and societies - trust, reciprocity, rules and norms, networks and institutions Physical Capital: infrastructure Human Capital: the status of individuals - health, skills, knowledge Financial Capital: money, savings

5 Assets - inputs and outputs Agriculture transforms: natural capital (functional biodiversity, soil health) social capital (connectedness, cooperation, trust) human capital (knowledge, skills) together with physical and financial capital But it also indirectly affects all three renewable assets some forms of agriculture increase the asset base other forms decrease assets, and leave less for future generations

6 Contextual factors: agroecological climatic cultural economic legal political social Shaped by: external institutions and policies Renewable natural capital Social capital: vertical and horizontal participatory New skills and technologies Non-renewable inputs Farm, Livelihood or Community System With access to and stocks of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Physical capital Financial capital Positive Functions Negative Functions Accumulation of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Food and other marketed produce Finance: income, credit, grants Depletion of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Assets-based model of agricultural systems

7 Contextual factors: agroecological climatic cultural economic legal political social Shaped by: external institutions and policies Renewable natural capital Social capital: vertical and horizontal participatory New skills and technologies Non-renewable inputs Farm, Livelihood or Community System With access to and stocks of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Physical capital Financial capital Positive Functions Negative Functions Accumulation of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Food and other marketed produce Finance: income, credit, grants Depletion of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Assets-based model of agricultural systems flows and outcomes in modernised systems

8 Contextual factors: agroecological climatic cultural economic legal political social Shaped by: external institutions and policies Renewable natural capital Social capital: vertical and horizontal participatory New skills and technologies Non-renewable inputs Farm, Livelihood or Community System With access to and stocks of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Physical capital Financial capital Positive Functions Negative Functions Accumulation of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Food and other marketed produce Finance: income, credit, grants Depletion of: Natural capital Human capital Social capital Assets-based model of agricultural systems flows and outcomes in sustainable systems

9 Sustainable Agriculture Audit and Research Aims audit recent progress in developing countries towards sustainable agriculture, assess the extent to which such projects/initiatives have increased local food production Surveyed 208 projects in 52 countries using questionnaires, project reports and evaluations, and verifying experts purposive sampling - not random

10 Cases rejected where: no obvious sustainable agriculture link participation in projects was for direct material incentives as there are doubts that ensuing improvements persist after such incentives end where there was heavy or sole reliance on fossil-fuel derived inputs, or on their targeted use alone this is not to negate these technologies, but these were simply not the focus of this research; where the data provided was too weak or the findings unsubstantiated

11 Farmers and hectares 208 projects/initiatives 8.98 million farmers have adopted sustainable agriculture practices and technologies million hectares equivalent to 3.01% of the 960 million hectares of arable and permanent crops in Africa, Asia and Latin America 8.44 m ha if discount large farms adopting zero-tillage in South America

12 proportion of total area Cumulative proportion of total area by project size according to region Latin America Asia Africa avg area/farmer (ha) per project

13 Food production increases intensification of a single component of farm system with little change to the rest of the farm ~ home garden intensification, vegetables on rice bunds, introduction of fish ponds or a dairy cow; addition of new productive element to a farm system such as fish in paddy rice, or agroforestry, which provides a boost to total farm food production; better use of natural capital to increase crop intensity water ~ water harvesting and irrigation scheduling land ~ reclamation of formerly unproductive land improvements in per hectare yields of staples through introduction of new regenerative elements into farm systems (eg legumes) improvements in yields through introduction of new and locally-appropriate crops and animals

14 Mechanisms Frequency of occurrence of each type of mechanism by projects, farmers and area Proportion of total (%) Intensification of single component (i) New productive element (ii) Projects (%) Farmers (%) Area (%) Better use of water and land (iii) Per ha food crop yield improvements (iv & v) Other (plantation and fibre crops)

15 relative yield change after/with project 7.0 Sustainable agriculture projects/initiatives - crop yield changes (89 projects) maize sorghum/millet beans/soya/peas/groundnut rice wheat potato/sweet pot/cassava cotton vegetables no change yields before/without project (kg/ha)

16 marginal increase in household. food production (t/yr) Increase in annual household food production with sustainable agriculture hectares per household

17 The velvetbean in Central America Velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) Multiple cropped with maize Fixes 150 kg N/ha per year Produces tonnes biomass per ha/year Improves and regenerates soils 45,000 families in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua growing mucuna Crop yields up from kg/ha to kg/ha social capital critical - farmers groups, experimentation, and extension

18 Zero-Tillage in Brazil and Argentina Zero-tillage No ploughing of soil Brazil - 11 million hectares Argentina million hectares Benefits better input use, water retention, diverse rotations, increased organic matter in soils (thus more carbon sequestration) reduced erosion and water pollution yields: maize up from 3 to 5 t/ha (Brazil); wheat up from 2 to 3.5 t/ha (Argentina)

19 Soil and Water Conservation in Niger and Burkina Faso 100,000 ha of abandoned and degraded land improved with tassas/zaï cm holes with residues/manures; harvest water and aid infiltration Yields up % ~ highest in dry years Household food security ~ from 153 kg deficit to 644 kg surplus Reverse migration Key elements: action-research approach, openness to farmer initiatives, immediate results, ability to be integrated into existing cropping systems, technological package can be adjust to changing local context

20 Better land husbandry, Kenya ABLH using double-dug beds with composting, green and animal manures ~ last 4-6 seasons Better water holding capacity and higher organic matter ~ beds more productive, more diverse and are able to sustain vegetable growth into the dry season Benefits for women and children 75% of households free from hunger during the year (up from 43%); Households buying vegetables during year has fallen from 85% to 11%; Proportion selling vegetables up from 20% to 77%; 48% of households maize self-sufficient (up from 22%).

21 Sri Lanka: Water Users Groups 33,000 water users associations 500,000 farmers on million hectares irrigated rice main crop Benefits increased water use efficiency increased cropping intensity greater total production reduction in complaints and conflicts 1998 water available for only 14% of area farmers associations persuaded government to release water - successfully produced whole rice crop and earned country $20 million foreign exchange

22 Positive effects on livelihoods natural capital: increased soil water retention; improvements in water table (with more drinking water in the dry season); reduced soil erosion & improved organic matter in soils; better carbon sequestration; increased agro-biodiversity social capital: more and stronger social organisations; new rules and norms for managing collective natural resources; and better connectedness to external policy institutions human capital: more local capacity to experiment and solve own problems; increased self-esteem in formerly marginalised groups; increased status of women; better child health and nutrition, especially from more food in dry seasons; reversed migration

23 Confounding Factors Critical trade-offs between assets roads for markets and loss of forests land closed for rehabilitation - poor sell livestock more work for women additional incomes go to men Increasing assets may tempt the powerful to take over? Aspirations rural people may want to get away from rural parochialism Backlash strong social capital (groups and networks) become new power bases - and tempt backlash? Changing markets for inputs reduced demand for agro-chemicals?

24 Summary of recent progress Technologies and social processes for local level sustainable agriculture are wellestablished Social and institutional conditions for spread are less well-known, but have been established in several contexts; Political conditions for the emergence of supportive policies are least well established, with only a very few examples of real progress

25 Policies out of step? Much evidence of transformed thinking everyone in favour of sustainability some willing to change words alone some willing to change practices Most policy structures still encouraging `old modernist agriculture Need to go beyond `greening the edge to `greening the middle of farming Supportive policies Core challenge for next decade

26 What is a good policy for sustainable agriculture? Integrated across sectors Promotes multifunctionality enhances positive externalities and reduces negative externalities Knowledge-based and nature-based builds renewable assets Participatory links up different stakeholders bottom-up Mixture of instruments economic, advisory, regulatory

27 Marcus Cato (200 BC) author of Di Agri Cultura And when our ancestors would praise a worthy person, their praise took this form: good husbandman, good farmer (bonum agricolam bonumque colonum); one so praised was thought to have received the greatest commendation