Nourishing the PlanetWorldwatch Institute Project on Hunger and Poverty Alleviation

Danielle NierenbergSenior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute

dnierenberg@worldwatch.org http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/

www.worldwatch.org

Nourishing the Planet Part III: Sharing Agricultural

Innovations

Agricultural innovations should allow farmers to increase productivity while also maintaining a sustainable system to ensure a reliable food

source for future generations

Source: World Bank

Innovations: Fertilizer Trees

• A study in Southern Africa concluded that maize yields in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe increased from less than a ton per hectare to two or more tons per hectare after using fertilizer trees

• Fertilizer trees have been found to increase soil fertility, decrease erosion, and aid biodiversity conservation

Source: World Bank

Innovations: Perennial Crops

• Perennials have the capacity to retain more nutrients and sequester more carbon than annuals:– In one study, a U.S. farm with harvested native hay

meadows retained 179 tons of carbon and 12.5 tons of nitrogen per hectare, while annual wheat fields retained 127 tons of carbon and 9.6 tons of nitrogen per hectare, even with 70 kg per hectare of nitrogen added annually for years

• Perennials vs. Annuals– 80% of world cropland is dominated by 10 annual cereal grains– Perennials can be used to produce

food, oils, and livestock feed, and to increase soil fertility and overall biodiversity

Source: New Agriculturist

Innovations: Cover Crops

• Between planting periods, alternate crops can be used to increase soil fertility by keeping the soil completely covered

• By using cover crops there are opportunities to: – Increase nitrogen and

other nutrients in the soil– Protect the soil– Control weeds and pests

Source: FAO

Innovations: Including Women

• African women own 1% of the land and receive 7% of the agricultural extension services (New Agriculturist, Bufana 2008)

• According to the World Bank, in Kenya, giving women the same inputs and education as male farmers, could increase yields by more than 20 percent

(IFAD, Gender in Africa Sourcebook,

2009)

Source: Bernard Pollack

Innovations: Urban Agriculture

According to UNDP, 800 million people are involved in urban farming worldwide – Of these, 200 million

produce food for the market; the rest use the harvest to supplement their household diets

This practice:– Increases income and job

opportunities– Improves nutrition

Source: Bernard Pollack

Innovations: Small-scale Livestock Production

• Livestock production provides livelihoods for some 1.3 billion people and contributes about 40% to global agricultural output (FAO 2006)

• A study in Kenya revealed that 42% of households that moved out of poverty in the last 25 years did so because livestock was added as a source of income (FAO, Livestock Policy Brief 2009)

Source: Bernard Pollack

Innovations: Rainwater Harvesting

• Provides water and fodder for livestock and poultry

• Allows for nutrient flow through land

• Increases crop productivity• Decreases soil erosion

and flooding (UNEP 2009)

• Sudanese farmers who adopted water-harvesting techniques:– Increased average sorghum

yields from 32 to 353 kg/ hectare

– Increased income by 41% (IFAD 2000)

Source: Bernard Pollack

Innovations: Integrated Fish and Crop Production

• Closed-loop system provides food and income with less pollution

• In Songkhram River basin, Thailand, fish farming in rice fields has been used for over 2,000 years. – Mimics a wetland

ecosystem– Can reduce pests (FAO)

Source: FAO

Innovations: Orphan Crops

• Reintroducing orphan crops into agriculture:– Diversifies diets– Increases nutrition– Increases crop

biodiversity• Examples:

– Sorghum– Sweet potato– Teff– Mung bean– Cowpea– Cassava

Source: New Agriculturist

Policy Innovation: Index Insurance Contract

• Helps farmers mitigate effects of climate change

• Definition:– A defined set of parameters that objectively matches yield cost

with a specific weather event such as rainfall or change in temperature (World Bank, WDR 2008)

• Index insurance can be used:– To decrease risk for investors, increasing access to credit

– For disaster relief efforts and various weather events(IRI, Climate and Society No. 2, 2009)

Source: FAO

Policy Innovation: Ensuring Access to Markets

• In developing countries, 16% of rural people live in areas with poor market access (World Bank, WDR 2008)

• Need better infrastructure; easy access to roads

• Trading associations limit corruption, allowing smallholders to profit

Source: Bernard Pollack

Innovations: Payments for Ecosystem Services

• Farmers can change on-farm practices to increase income while supporting the environment and local ecosystems

• Pay farmers for ecosystem services including:– carbon sequestration – watershed services– biodiversity conservation

(FAO, PES)

Source: World Bank

Focusing on Innovations• A new generation of innovative

approaches to hunger alleviation has emerged from private organizations, universities, and agribusiness, including:

• Heifer International• Slow Food International• Rodale Institute• Cornell University• Syngenta

• There have been few systemic, comparative assessments of agricultural innovations from a sustainability perspective

Source: Bernard Pollack

Focusing on InnovationsEvidence that a combination of approaches is more effective in terms of productivity, income generation, and resilience than any one approach

• conventional practices paired with agro-ecological approaches

• input-driven agriculture that also protects natural resources

Source: Bernard Pollack

Focusing on Innovations

• Current agricultural practices tend to focus on single, isolated approaches rather than on multiple factors:– Yield– Impact on soil quality– Impact on water

availability– Use of biodiversity

• Research is rarely comparative across technologies

Source: Bernard Pollack

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