18 June 2012 | Agriculture & Rural Dvelopment Day | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil

Ecological and Social Intensification of

Agriculture for Food Security & Poverty

Eradication

FEATURING

• Vandana Shiva and the Navdanya Network (India)

• Sue Edwards and the Institute for Sustainable Development (Ethiopia)

• Andre Leu and the Organic Farmers of Australia

• Hans Herren and the Biovision Africa Trust (Kenya)

• Laercio Meirelles and Centro Ecológico (Brazil)

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Africa’s agricultural challenges

Agriculture is diverse, with both Traditional Knowledge

and genetic resources under-valued and poorly

studied

Sparsely populated, e.g. DCR is the size of Europe

but has a population the same size as Belgium

Population is young, 75% under 30

Many Lost to ‘brain drain’

Infrastructure investment has focused on extraction

(minerals) and not on people centered development

Very poor R&D investment, particularly for agriculture

Current solutions promoted by agribusiness for an

African Green Revolution will not be sustainable

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AFRICA’S

AGRICULTURAL

SYSTEMS

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Ethiopia classified

as Highland

Temperate Mixed

Ethiopia – agroecological challenges

Source: FAO

Where ISD

is working

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Dry and/ or cold areas w ith

low product ion potent ia l

Low soil suitability

Low and errat ic rainfall

Steep slopes and m ountains

Severe and very severe land

degradat ion

Low to m edium clim at ic

product ion potent ia l

High clim at ic product ion

potent ia l

Ecological Degradation in Ethiopia Land degradation, particularly soil erosion, is a core

challenge for Sustainable Development in Africa

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Ecological Intensification

• For a Green Revolution to succeed, Africa and Ethiopia need a BROWN REVOLUTION

• Soil built up and maintained through establishing effective cycling of nutrients

• Returning living carbon – HUMUS – to soil

• Organic fertilizers:

– Compost (including bioslurry)

– Cover crops

– Agroforestry with multipurpose trees

• Restored soil gives doubled crop yields IN 4 YEARS

• Improved local hydrology

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Ethiopia’s opportunities for change

• Over 14 million smallholder farmers

• 5,000 years of farmers’ knowledge and skills

• Agro-biodiversity wealth

–Vavilov Centre with over 190 crop species still

cultivated

–Great varietal diversity within crops

–Very low use of external inputs, e.g. chemical

fertilizer

–Farmers’ dislike / distrust of debt

• Governance in the hands of local communities

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Biodiversity Intensification A few of Ethiopia’s sorghum varieties

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Origin of the Tigray Project

In mid-1990s, ISD asked by the Ethiopian Government for an alternative to the Sasakawa Global approach promoting increased use of chemical fertilizer, but suitable for only about 10% of the country--classified as high production potential areas

• ISD established in 1996 to implement the Project “Sustainable Development and Ecological Land Management with Farming Communities in Tigray” = The Tigray Project

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Ecological & Social Intensification Bylaws - communities restore local control

Biological and physical water & soil conservation, through using multipurpose local trees, i.e. Sesbania and local grasses

Managing grazing, stopping access to vulnerable land (watersheds), so grass, herbs and trees can grow

Restoring soil fertility through compost, and helping farmers avoid debt paid for chemical fertilizer

Mature compost Sesbania in flower Making compost

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Ecological Intensification at Landscape

Level, started in 1996, pictured in 2003

Pond Rehabilitated

gullies

Sesbania

trees and

long grasses

Composted fields

growing tef, wheat

and barley

Faba bean

Rehabilitated

biodiverse

hillside for bee

keeping

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The 4 Principles of Organic Agriculture

Applied

• Ecology – restores and maintains ecosystem

services (good soil, water availability, pollinators)

• Health – maintains and restores both natural

and agricultural biodiversity

• Fairness – Involves all social groups in the local

communities, women, men, disadvantaged

groups such as elderly couples, landless youth,

families challenged by HIV/AIDS, etc.

• Care – the communities take responsibility for

caring for their environment through bylaws

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Yield of Faba Bean without

compost 250kg/ha

Yield of Faba Bean with

compost 2,500 kg/ha

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Grain yield of 5 staple crops from farmers (2000 to 2006) Based on samples from 900 plots

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Barley(n=444)

Durum wheat(n=546)

Maize(n=273)

Teff (n=741) Faba bean(n=141)

Crop (n=number of observations/fields sampled)

Check Compost Chemical fertilizer

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Raised Yields from Ecointensification through the use of organic fertilizer, particularly compost

Average crop yields doubled and

Percentage of grain (grain index) in

harvested crop increased

– Durum wheat: from 34% to 39%

– Maize: from 33% to 43%

– Sorghum: from 35% to 41%

– Teff: from 32% to 36%

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Water-holding and infiltration capacity

of soil increased

Crops survive dry gaps and stay green for 2

weeks longer than others at the end of rains

Water tables raised (farmers dig shallow hand

dug wells)

Springs reappear, streams persist and run for

longer through the year

Farmers grow 2 or more crops/year

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High Yielding Resilient Organic

Agriculture

• Organic systems have higher yields than

conventional farming systems in weather

extremes such as heavy rains and droughts. – (Drinkwater, Wagoner and Sarrantonio 1998; Welsh, 1999; Lotter 2004)

• The Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems

Trials found that organic yields were higher in

drought years and the same as conventional in

normal weather years. – (Posner et al. 2008)

• The Rodale FST showed that the organic

systems produced 30 per cent more corn than

the conventional system in drought years.

– (Pimentel D 2005, La Salle and Hepperly 2008)

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Conventional

Organic

Picture: FiBL DOK Trials

Organic Matter Intensifies

Water Infiltration

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Soil Organic Carbon Intensifies Climate

Change Mitigation and Adaptation

• Higher corn and soybean

yields in drought years

• Increased soil C and N

• Higher water infiltration

• Higher water holding cap

• Higher microbial activity

• Increased stability

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Soil Organic Matter

Living Carbon

• Holds up to 30X its weight in water

• Cements soil particles and reduces soil erosion

• Increases nutrient storage & availability

• Humus can last 2000 years in the soil

Electron micrograph of

soil humus

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Research Shows that Organic Systems use Water More Efficiently

Volume of Water Retained /ha (to 30 cm) in relation to soil organic matter (OM): • 0.5% OM = 80,000 litres (common conventional level) • 1 % OM = 160,000 litres (common conventional level) • 2 % OM = 320,000 litres • 3 % OM = 480,000 litres • 4 % OM = 640,000 litres • 5 % OM = 800,000 litres

Ecointensification of

water retention #IFOAMRio

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Ecointensification of

water retention

Organic Conventional

Better infiltration, retention, and delivery to

plants helps avoid drought damage

Picture: Rodale Institute

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Livelihood benefits of ecological

intensification with compost

Soil and crops with increased resistance to wind

and water erosion

Farmers avoid debt from getting chemical fertilizer

on credit – now costing USD 80 per 100 kg

– Farmers making bioslurry compost can sell one

sack (approx. 100 kg for ETB 100 or USD 5.8

– Competent farmers make 35 to 100 sacks a year

Women say the food tastes better and their families’

hunger is satisfied more easily

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Wheat infested with stripe rust

and sprayed – gave yield of 1.6

t/ha

Wheat grown on composted soil resisting the rust – gave

yield over 6.5 t/ha

Impact of compost on crop health &

disease resistance

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Planting with Space

Another example of ecointensification

An adaptation of SRI, by growing in rows either from transplanting seedlings or direct sowing, gives

Increased yields with easier and timely management of weeds, pests and easier harvesting e.g. Finger millet and tef, seed rate reduced by 90%

compared to broadcasting, hence more efficient use of seed resources, and

Grain and straw yields doubled, i.e. for finger millet from 1.4 t/ha to 3 t/ha grain, and for tef from 1.2 t/ha to 2.5 t/ha or more of grain

Because, root growth greatly increased giving many more productive tillers (greater root mass = greater shoot mass)

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Participatory Planting with Space #IFOAMRio

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Ecological Intensification of

Tillering Potential – Teff

Tiller production increased

At harvest impact of ecological

intensification on biomass

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Finger Millet & Sorghum yields

from 3 farmers

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Yehdegu Abay Giday G/Hair Laike Markos Giday G/Hair

Yield q/ha equivalent

Finger millet Sorghum 'Lequa'

Sorghum has 1200 seeds per head

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Rearranging the cropping system for

pest and weed management

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Push-pull in action…. #IFOAMRio

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ECONOMICS OF INTEGRATING EDIBLE

BEANS IN THE ‘PUSH-PULL’ SYSTEM (source Z Khan et al)

b

d

e

d

a

b

c

b

a

b

b

b

a

a

a

a

b

c

d

c

-500

0

500

1.000

1.500

2.000

2.500

3.000

Total labour costs Total variable costs Total gross revenue Net benefits

Cu

rren

cy (

US

$)-

(1U

S$/6

5 K

ES

) p

er h

a.

Maize monocropMaize + DesmodiumMaize + Desesmodium + bean same holeMaize + Desmodium + bean different holeMaize + bean

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The way ahead is people-centred #IFOAMRio

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• Improve and expand extension services (ICT)

• Introduce capacity building (ICT)

• Agriculture is very localized

The Ecological way ahead is:

knowledge & people intensive

www.organicfarmermagazine.org

www.infonet-biovision.org

http://www.biovision.ch

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Social Intensification #IFOAMRio

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Farmers as ToTs

(training of trainers)

• All trainings involve >50% farmers

• Local experts as ‘advisors’

• Development agents for monitoring, including recording yields

• Fully participatory evaluation

• Incentives for farmers

– Improved tools

– Involvement in training outside their own areas

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Intensification of Women’s

Knowledge & Skills

• Intensification of use of herb and spices

• Medicinal plants

• Meat (chickens, goats, sheep)

• Processing milk for butter

• Marketing & entrepreneurism

• Biological control of pests

• Generation of cash based income for family essentials (education, health, salt, sugar, coffee and tea)

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Scaling up and out in Ethiopia

Making and using compost incorporated into the MoA Extension for all crop growing areas, and to

Help combat climate change by applying compost to 40,000 million hectares of cultivated land by 2015

• National research institutes collaborating with farmers on: – Testing advanced lines of bread wheat in an compost-

based organic system to identify the organic HYVs (as against costly NPK HYVs)

– Next steps? • Participatory breeding in an organic system

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Participatory

Guarantee Systems

Laércio Meirelles

Centro Ecológico - Rio Grande Do Sul.

laerciomeirelles@gmail.com

www.centroecologico.org.br

PGS definition

Participatory Guarantee Systems are

locally focused quality assurance systems.

They certify producers based on active

participation of stakeholders and are built

on a foundation of trust, social networks

and knowledge exchange

http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/pgs.html

• Like the conventional certification programs,

provide a credible guarantee for consumers. The

difference is in the approach.

• The participation of farmers and consumers (if

it’s possible) in the certification process is

required.

• The active participation of the stakeholders

result in greater empowerment, but also a bigger

responsibility .

Some PGS characteristics

• To allow access to the organic market;

• Less burocracy

• Facilitate the development of local markets

• It is a work that promotes social organization;

• Favors the building of Knowledge Networks

• Strengthening relations between producers and

consumers

Some PGS consequences… good

ones!!!

INDIA

FRANCIA

And… it’s going on!!!

Latin-American PGS Forum

Influencing national Ethiopia policy on research

Wheat grown on

compost treated

field

Wheat grown with

chemical fertilizers

and requiring

spraying with

fungicide

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AU Framework Policies for

Scaling-Up Organic Agriculture

African Union, Decision on organic farming in January 2011

(EX.CL/Dec.621 (XVIII) / Doc. EX.CL/631 (XVIII)) requests the

Commission and its New Partnership for Africa’s Development

(NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) to:

Initiate and provide guidance for an African Union (AU)-led

coalition of international partners on the establishment of an

African organic farming platform based on available best

practices; and

Provide guidance in support of the development of sustainable

organic farming systems and improve seed quality;

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Key Messages

1. Africa CAN feed itself and provide food for people in other parts of the world

2. Invest in Ecological and social intensification of all traditional agriculture systems for healthy and sustainable food for all

3. Mainstream globally Farmers’ Rights to save and use their own seed, as in Ethiopia

4. Build capacity for fully participatory research and development with farmers to support comprehensive ecological organic agriculture systems

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THANK

YOU

TO ALL OUR FARMERS

Sue Edwards, with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egzibher Dereje Gebremichael, Hailu Araya,

and Arefayne Asmelash

Institute for Sustainable Development, Ethiopia

sustaindeveth@ethionet.et / sustainet@yahoo.co.uk