A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Intensification

Holger Hoff

Stockholm Environment InstitutePotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Ressourcennutzung in der Landwirtschaft Effizienz als Schlüssel zur Nachhaltigkeit?

FATA 20./21.8 2013

The great acceleration

a resource constrained and environmentally limited world growing demand for and appropriation of biomass (food, feed, fibres, fuel….) resource and ecosystem degradationclimate change

OECD 2011

new resource conflicts and cartells risk of transgressing critical thresholds, e.g. planetary boundaries -> regime shifts

Need for sustainable intensification

maize Germany wheat USA soy Brazil palm oil Indonesia

conventional intensification / yield maximization / monocultures:negative environmental and resource externalities

simplified landscape configurations: loss of diversity and resilience and overall resource use efficiency (Cardinale et al. 2012)

Need for sustainable intensification

higher water- / energy- intensity, eutrophication & dead zones, salinization, soil erosion & reservoir degradation, GHG emissions

new solutions are often more resource-intensive:

non-conventional water resources (fossil ground water, seawater): higher energy demand, loss of long-term resilience

biofuels:water- (& land-) intensive

 gas coal /

oil hydropower biofuels

m3 / MWh ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 60 ~ 180

as feeding one person for a day

conventional intensification / yield maximization / monocultures:negative environmental and resource externalities

1 liter of biofuels requires about as much water

Nexus for sustainable intensification

reversing land degradation can increase use resource availabilities & efficienciese.g. enhancing soil organic carbon

linking agricultural and rural development to renewable energy strategies, e.g. biofuels for cooking stoves from crop residues (replacing wood & charcoal)

nexus approaches all along the supply chain

generating co-benefits, recycling, cascading use, reducing external inputs,mobilizing un-used potentials, increasing use efficiencies across resources

Nexus for sustainable intensification

multi-functional systems (IAASTD)e.g. agro-forestry or crop-livestock systems

generating co-benefits, recycling, cascading use, reducing external inputs,mobilizing un-used potentials, increasing use efficiencies across resources

Brazil, Couto 2011

ecosystem approach (CBD) landscape approach (World Bank) IWRMintegrated pest management

The nexus is not completely new:

Nexus for sustainable intensification

multi-functional systems (IAASTD)e.g. agro-forestry or crop-livestock systems

generating co-benefits, recycling, cascading use, reducing external inputs,mobilizing un-used potentials, increasing use efficiencies across resources

ecosystem approach (CBD) landscape approach (World Bank) IWRMintegrated pest managementecological / productive / sustainable sanitation

The nexus is not new:

-> recycling of nutrients & water plus improved soil moisture utilization from better nutrient status, hence

higher water use efficiency (Andersson et al 2013)

Nexus for sustainable intensification

lower yields?

Green Agriculture / agro-ecological principles: an application of the nexus approache.g. nutrient recycling, reduced external inputs

nexus solutions are context-specific, complex and knowledge intensive –> R4D & capacity building integration of scientific information with local knowledge

„organic yields are typically lower than conventional yields…..these differences are highly contextual….with good management practices organic systems can nearly match conventional yields.“ (Seufert et al 2012, 300+ yield comparisons)

the dichotomy agricultural systems <-> natural ecosystems is outdated (anthromes, land sharing …..)

Ecosystems are central elements of a nexus approach

ecosystems serve as natural infrastructure, substituting / complementing energy and GHG intensive hard infrastructure ´ ecosystems maintain landscapes’

long term productivity

e.g. wetlands: water treatment, water storage, flood protection e.g. terrestrial ecosystems: water cycling, erosion control

ecosystems (and biodiversity) are not “externalities”but interact with agricultural systems(-> new TEEB for agriculture quantifies services and disservices)

IUCN-IWA Infrastructure Initiative

poor smallholder farmers depend even more on ecosystem services (and local natural resources) than larger commercial farmers:

Ecosystems are central elements of a nexus approach

FAO: “maximize options for crop production intensification through the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services”

Rio+20 - The Future We Want: “need to maintain natural ecological processes that support food production systems”

limited access to agro-chemicals / other artificial inputs, higher vulnerability to shocks,adopt nexus-approaches (e.g. recycling, use of natural infrastructure) by necessity

need support for sustainable intensification, e.g. innovation, diversification, risk taking

-> R4D & capacity building

Nexus example

multi-functional systems

„from vicious to virtuous cycles“

agroforestry (fruit and fuel trees)

nitrogen fixation, recycling of crop residuals, increasing soil organic carbon

higher agricultural productivity

preventing erosion, land restoration

climate adaptation AND mitigation, external carbon financing (climate smart agriculture)

Lager 2012

Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project

Local nexus approaches are not enough

globalization inter-connects resource supplies and demands across large distances, through international supply chains

Anseeuw et al . 2012

trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) externalize resource & ecosystem utilization, exploitation, and degradationand accordingly also provide opportunities for nexus approachesand sustainable intensificationthrough knowledge transfer and cooperation

Bubble size: area of FDIFDI happens largely in areas with low resource use efficiency

Local nexus approaches are not enough

R4D & capacity building:enabling landholders / farmers to implement and benefit from

nexus approaches

after GIZ 2011

nexus opportunities across regions (trade & FDI):

outgrower schemes, contract farming, nucleus estates

Local nexus approaches are not enough

nexus opportunities across regions (trade & FDI):

“sourcing of agricultural inputs or products”:

external water use internal water saving

BUT: a full nexus assessment needs to go beyond water footprints: land / nutrient / ecological footprints

brown color: virtual water content according to export countries water productivityyellow: water savings according to importing country‘s water productivity

Local nexus approaches are not enough

costs & benefits of nexus approaches e.g. climate and biodiversity protection may not always coincide in space, time and scale

Zomeret al 2006

nexus opportunities across regions:

hence compensation mechanisms , e.g.payments for ecosystem services or REDD+may be required

hypothetical runoff decrease when

exploiting all afforestation potential

Conclusions / discussion

nexus / integrated approaches can help to close demand-supply gaps

„the nexus“ can bring new impetus to concepts of integrationwhich have not yet been systematically implemented, outscaled and transferred

R4D & capacity building -> „EZ trifft Wissenschaft“

ecosystems are central in a nexus approach: reconnecting to the biosphere” (Folke et al. 2011)

“there is no fundamental trade-off between eradicating hunger as well as providing full access to modern energy, on the one hand, and achieving environmental sustainability, on the other” (PBL 2012, Roads from Rio+20)