ecogical agriculture - providing food security, mitigating climate change,
TRANSCRIPT
8/7/2019 Ecogical Agriculture - Providing Food Security, Mitigating Climate Change,
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ConferenCe on
eCologiCal agriCulture:Mitigating CliMate Change,
Providing food SeCurityand Self-relianCe for
rurallivelihoodSin afriCa
ConCluSionS andreCoMMendationS
Afian Union Heaquate
Ai Ababa, Ethioia
26-28 Noembe 2008
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TWNThird World Network institute
for
sustainable development
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8/7/2019 Ecogical Agriculture - Providing Food Security, Mitigating Climate Change,
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the green revolutionin aSia:leSSonS for afriCa
Hia Jhamtani, TWN Inoneia
Associate TWN researcher
based in Bali, Indonesia
Month 2009
Afian Union Heaquate
Ai Ababa, Ethoia
26-28 Noembe 2008
ConferenCe on eCologiCal agriCulture:
Mitigating CliMate Change,
Providing food SeCurity and Self-relianCe for
rurallivelihoodSin afriCa
ConCluSionS and reCoMMendationS
F o o d a n d A g r i c u l t u r e O r g a n i z a t i o n o t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n s | 2 0 1 0
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The designations employed and the presentation o material in this inormation product do not imply the
expression o any opinion whatsoever on the part o the Food and Agriculture Organization o the United
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© FAO 2010
pHOTO crEdITscover & background image: courtesy o Marzio Marzot
previous page: ©FAO/J. Isaac
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ContentS
INTrOdUcTION ..................................................................................................................1
GENErAl vIEWs ...............................................................................................................2
MAIN cONclUsIONs .........................................................................................................3
rEcOMMENdATIONs .........................................................................................................5
Policy and planning .............................................................................................................................5
Research and development ..................................................................................................................6
Demonstration projects and technical assistance ............................................................................. 7
Implementation ..................................................................................................................................... 7
annex
Annex A: Standing committee on ecological agriculture ........................................................ 9
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ConferenCe on eCologiCal agriCulture: Mitigating CliMate Change, Providing food SeCurity
and Self-relianCe for rural livelihoodS in afriCa-ConCluSionS and reCoMMendationS
introduCtion
The Conerence on Ecological Agriculture: Mitigating Climate Change, Providing
Food Security and Sel-Reliance or Rural Livelihoods in Arica was held in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia on 26-28 November 2008. It was organised by the Arican Union
(AU), Food and Agriculture Organization o the United Nations (FAO) and the
Ministry o Agriculture and Rural Development o Ethiopia, in collaboration with
the Institute or Sustainable Development (ISD), Ethiopia and the Third World
Network (TWN).
Over 80 participants rom 15 Arican countries - Benin, Burundi, Djibouti,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe - attended the Conerence. The participants
included policy makers, agriculture experts representing governments, NGOs,
armers’ organizations, universities, and international and regional bodies such
as the AU, FAO, United Nations Conerence on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
the UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and
Development (CBTF), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),
International Assessment on Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology
or Development (IAASTD) and World Food Programme (WFP).
The Conerence was preceded by a eld visit to the Axum area in Tigray Regionin northern Ethiopia on 23-25 November 2008, to visit some o the communities
o smallholder armers that the Tigray Regional Bureau o Agriculture and Rural
Development o Ethiopia and ISD have been working with on ecological agriculture
since 1996. This was an appropriate experience to help ocus attention on the
aspects o the ecosystem that can easily respond to appropriate management, so
as to stimulate discussion on experiences relevant or raising agricultural production,
mitigating and adapting to climate change, and achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) in Arica.
The ollowing are among the signicant views, conclusions and recommendations
expressed by participants during the Conerence.
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Afian Union Heaquate, Ai Ababa, Ethioia, 26-28 Noembe 2008
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a general viewS
The Conerence heard several presentations and discussed the challenges acing
Arican agriculture, not least among them the global ood crisis, climate change
and the conficts with inappropriate biouels development. Moreover, land degradation
and the consequential loss o soil ertility, which are exacerbated by pests and
erratic rainall associated with climate change, are major constraints to improving
agricultural production in Arica. Consequently, many local communities in Arican
countries are ood insecure. Trade policies also have implications or Arican ood
security and rural development, which need to be addressed, to stop the worrying
trend o ood import dependency and increasing vulnerability to external shocks.
The steep rise in petroleum prices and the consequent increase in the cost o
chemical ertilizers and pesticides are making it essential to improve soil ertility
and agricultural productivity in Arica through eective management o the local
resources that are ound in the agricultural and surrounding ecosystems. Many
diverse and creative ecological agriculture (including organic agriculture) practices
based on rich traditional knowledge and agrobiodiversity are ound in Arica.
Where supported by appropriate research and policy, it has been shown that these
have been eective in tackling poverty and improving livelihoods.
In addition, this opens up the opportunity or Arica’s smallholder armers tobecome recognized as organic armers producing or the growing global market
etching air prices or their products. The global organic market growth has been
about 15 percent per year over the past decade. Internal markets or organic
products are also developing rapidly, particularly where consumers are made aware
o the improvements to health rom eating organic ood.
The Conerence heard presentations on the potential o ecological agriculture,
including organic agriculture, to meet ood security needs in Arica. Concrete
examples and lessons learnt were presented rom several Arican countries on
practices that have successully increased productivity and yields o crops, provided
ecologically sound pest, weed and disease control, resulted in better water availability,
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ConferenCe on eCologiCal agriCulture: Mitigating CliMate Change, Providing food SeCurity
and Self-relianCe for rural livelihoodS in afriCa-ConCluSionS and reCoMMendationS
met household and local ood security needs, increased household income and
improved livelihood opportunities, especially or women who are the majority o
Arica’s armers. Other presentations ocused on the potential o ecological
agriculture to mitigate climate change, and to provide armers with the means to
adapt to climate change.
Participants discussed the need or appropriate national policies to support and
build the capacity o armers and agricultural proessionals to implement and
mainstream ecological/organic agriculture in Arica. Some o the major barriers
and challenges to a transition to ecological agriculture were identifed, and
recommendations or charting the way orward in terms o policies, action plans
and regional and international cooperation were made.
Main ConCluSionS
1. Ecological agriculture holds signiicant promise or increasing the productivity
o Arica’s smallholder armers, with consequent positive impacts on ood security
and ood sel-reliance. This is demonstrated by eorts such as the Tigray Project,
now working with over 20 000 arming amilies in Ethiopia, where crop yields
o major cereals and pulses have almost doubled using ecological agricultural
practices such as composting, water and soil conservation activities, agroorestryand crop diversiication. Although Tigray was previously known as one o the
most degraded Regions o Ethiopia, yet over the 12 years o the introduction
and expansion o ecological agriculture, the use o chemical ertilizers has
steadily decreased while total grain production has steadily increased.
2. As most poor armers, particularly in degraded lands and in market-marginalised
areas, are not able to aord external inputs, the principles and approach o the
Tigray Project, based on ecological agriculture, oer armers and their amilies
a real and aordable means to break out o poverty and achieve ood security,
provided that relevant government commitment, support and capacity-building
is provided to them.
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Afian Union Heaquate, Ai Ababa, Ethioia, 26-28 Noembe 2008
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a 3. Ecological agriculture also provides many other beneits, including to the
environment, such as addressing land degradation and reducing the use o
polluting chemical inputs, with consequent beneicial health impacts. Ecological
agriculture helps oster agrobiodiversity and other essential environmental
services, which improve agroecosystem resilience, helping armers to better
ace risks and uncertainties. The productivity and diversity o crops also increase
incomes and improve rural livelihoods.
4. Ecological agriculture has high climate change mitigation potential; or example
avoiding the use o synthetic ertilizers results in reduced greenhouse gas
emissions, particularly nitrous oxide. Ecological agriculture practices such as
using leguminous crops, crop residues, cover crops and agroorestry enhance
soil ertility and lead to the stabilization o soil organic matter and in many
cases to a heightened sequestration o carbon in the soils.
5. Ecological agriculture assists armers in adapting to climate change by establishing
conditions that increase agroecosystem resilience to stress. Increasing an
agroecosystem’s adaptive capacity allows it to better withstand climate variability,
including erratic rainall and temperature variations and other unexpected
events. Drawing on strong local community and armers’ knowledge and
agrobiodiversity, ecological agriculture improves soil quality by enhancing soil
structure and its organic matter content, which in turn promotes eicient water use and retains soil moisture. Such conditions simultaneously enhance soil
conservation and soil ertility, leading to increased crop yields.
6. The development and growing o biouels should not compete with ood
and other crops, and thus require comprehensive impact assessments.
Locally-controlled bioenergy production that makes use o agricultural
waste and biomass, such as through biogas digesters, could provide sustainable
energy generation.
7. Food and energy demand and climate change are inducing land use changes
and land access issues, which threaten the viability o arming and rural
livelihoods. The resilience o agroecosystems can only be built by empowering
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Afian Union Heaquate, Ai Ababa, Ethioia, 26-28 Noembe 2008
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a 4. Trade policies should be crated so that they are supportive o ecological/organic
agriculture. Governments are urged to ensure that commitments made at the
multilateral and bilateral levels provide enough policy space to enable support
or the agriculture sector, expansion o local ood production, and eective
instruments to provide local and household ood security, armers’ livelihoods
and meet rural development needs.
5. Governments are urged to provide support in linking armers to markets, in
the development o domestic and regional markets or organic agricultural
products, and in assisting armers to access regional and international markets.
Building awareness on the environmental and health beneits o organic
products, and creating linkages between producers and consumers through
short supply chains or ecological produce, are needed in order to stimulate
local demand and local markets.
reeah an eeoment
6. Institutions involved in ecological agriculture are requested to pool their
expertise and identiy ways to establish an Arican Centre o Excellence on
Ecological Agricultural Research. Research priorities along the value chain,
including key ood crops and animals, best practices, economic aspects, mainproblems and solutions to these problems, should be identiied in a participatory
manner. Farmers’ knowledge is a basic and important component o the research/
development continuum and research rom the scientiic community can
complement and build on this.
7. The Conerence participants agreed to establish a resource centre on ecological
agriculture (e.g. an electronic library) to document best practices (including
local knowledge and skills) and enable better communications, sharing o
inormation and experiences on ecological agriculture.
8. Governments are urged to develop awareness, training and educational materials
and curricula on ecological agriculture, including or students in schools, tertiary
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ConferenCe on eCologiCal agriCulture: Mitigating CliMate Change, Providing food SeCurity
and Self-relianCe for rural livelihoodS in afriCa-ConCluSionS and reCoMMendationS
educational institutions, graduate schools, extension oicers and armers. There
is a need to include the mass media in awareness-raising eorts and to encourage
consumers to appreciate the values o local organic products. Guidelines must
be developed or training o trainers (e.g. extension oicers) on watershed
environmental management strategies and climate change adaptation practices
through ecological agriculture. Improving soil ertility in dry and poorly
vegetated areas must be given speciic consideration.
demontation ojet an tehnia aitane
9. Pilot projects on ecological agriculture should be established in each country to
demonstrate the beneits o ecological agriculture to ood security and rural
livelihoods. In locations where Green Revolution projects are being launched or
implemented, ecological agriculture pilot projects should be given the same inancial
and other kinds o support in order to allow comparative assessment o the two
management systems’ perormance, including periodic documentation, monitoring
and evaluation o impacts over the short-, medium- and long-terms. Where
ecological agriculture projects already exist, they should be scaled up so as to
encourage a wider impact on the environment and uptake by rural communities.
10. The training and technical assistance needs in relation to ecological agricultureshould be identiied and a list o experts compiled and targeted or continued
capacity-building and training.
Imementation
11. The international community and Arican regional and national organisations,
including the co-organisers o the Conerence, are urged and encouraged to
undertake ollow-up activities, including providing policy and technical
assistance to Arican governments, particularly the Ministries o Agriculture,
Environment and Trade, in order to vigorously support ecological/organic
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Afian Union Heaquate, Ai Ababa, Ethioia, 26-28 Noembe 2008
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a agriculture plans and programmes. Eorts should also include assisting
Governments to tap climate-related unds in order to support capacity-building
work in ecological agriculture.
12. The donor community is called upon to provide the resources required or
ecological agriculture interventions to meaningully support ood security and
rural livelihoods. This entails ensuring that adequate and balanced inancial
allocations are made or ecological agriculture projects. This is especially needed
as heavy investments in industrial and chemically-oriented agriculture create
disincentives to other agricultural management alternatives.
13. The Conerence participants established a Standing Committee on Ecological
Agriculture (see Annex A), which includes representatives rom each participating
country, in order to continue sharing experiences, enhance networking, undertake
ollow-up activities such as national workshops, and urther the implementation
o ecological/organic agriculture in their respective countries and at regional
and international levels.
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ConferenCe on eCologiCal agriCulture: Mitigating CliMate Change, Providing food SeCurity
and Self-relianCe for rural livelihoodS in afriCa-ConCluSionS and reCoMMendationS
AFrIcAN UNION (AU)Dr Sarah OlemboSenior Advisor Department o Rural Economy and AgricultureAddis Ababa
INTErNATIONAl FEdErATIONOF OrGANIc AGrIcUlTUrEMOvEMENTs (IFOAM)
Hervé BouagnimbeckArica Ofce Coordinator IFOAM Head OfceBonn, Germany
BENINValery LawsonSecretary GeneralNGO JINUKUN / COPAGEN CotonouMikpon ToussaintResearcher National Agricultural ResearchInstitute o BeninCotonou
BUrUNdIAnnick Seziber Legal RepresentativeCAPADBujumburaPascal BaridomoDirector Inades-Formation BurundiBujumbura
dJIBOUTIHoussein RaylehDirector o Djibouti Nature/ Coordinator o the Horn o AricaRegional Environment NetworkDjiboutiChamake Mohamed Youssou Djibouti Government employee
ETHIOpIASue EdwardsDirector Institute or Sustainable Development Addis AbabaGebremedhin BiregaManager Eco Consumers’ Associationo EthiopiaAddis Ababa
KENyAMonica MueniAssistant Director o AgricultureNairobiZacharia MakanyaPELUM-KenyaCountry Coordinator Thika
MAlAWIEsther KamlongeraCounsellor Malawi Embassy Addis Ababa
MAlINiaba TemePlant Breeder Researcher Mali Institute o Rural Economy BamakoSalikou SanogoCoordinator o Institute or Research & the Promotion o Alternatives in Development Ministry o AgriculturePlanning and Statistics Department Bamako
annex a
Standing CoMMittee on eCologiCal agriCulture
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Afian Union Heaquate, Ai Ababa, Ethioia, 26-28 Noembe 2008
NIGErIAOlugbenga AdeOluwaDepartment o Agronomy,
Faculty o Agriculture and Forestry University o Ibadan/ National Secretary Network o Organic Agriculturein Nigeria (NOAN)IFOAM Contact Point Coordinator or NigeriaIbadan
rWANdAAloys SemakuzaCoordinator o BAIRGisenyi
sOMAlIlANdKhadra Omer ChairpersonBawaaqo Voluntary Organization(BVO)Hargeisa
sUdANSumaia ElsayedAhad University or WomenUmdurnamanHayat Ahmed ElmahiSudanese Women General Union(SWGU)Khartoum
TANzANIABashiru Abdul HasaniSenior Program Ofcer AGENDA(Action or Environment & Development)Dar es SalaamOmbaeli LemweliPrincipal Economist National Food Security DivisionMinistry o Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives
Dar es Salaam
UGANdACharles SsekyewaDirector o Research
Ugandan Martyrs University KampalaDoleera JacksonExecutive Director DERC (Development o the Rural Economy)Masindi
zAMBIAKusiyo Mbikusita LewanikaExecutive Director Lyambai Institute o Development Mongu
Bernadette LubozhyaSmallholder armer andBoard member o OPPAZ (Organic Producers & ProcessorsAssociation o Zambia)Lusaka
zIMBABWEMedicine MasiiwaDirector, AIPAD Trust, HarareMukura TamukaEconomist, Ministry o Agriculture,Harare
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