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Agroecology and COMPETE: A Comprehensive Approach to Sustainable Development

of Arid and Semi-arid African Regions?

Seminar on Sustainable Development UPC Barcelona

Phase II Group 4

Anayensing Maria Elena Lopez Christopher Platzer

Jean-Baptiste Thomas Katarina Praper

Laura Gomez Rodriguez

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Table of Contents

List  of  Abreviations   2 Introduction   3 Project  Aims   4 Objectives   4 Limitations   4 Agroecology  and  permaculture:  cultivation  for  environmental  symbiosis   5 Greening  the  desert   6 Biofuels  in  Africa   9 COMPETE  in  Africa  :  structure  and  applicability   11 Concluding  remarks   13 Bibliography   14

List of Abreviations

WP Work Package COMPETE Competence Platform on Energy Crop and Agroforestry Systems GIS Geographic Information Systems INRA Institue National pour la Recherche en Agriculture WHO World Health Organisation IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

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Introduction It has been over a decade since the Millenium Development Goals were established by 193 world leaders present at the World Summit in 2000, and never before has the political arena been so persistently united in defeating extreme poverty, disease, gender inequalities, environmental degradation, malnutrition and thirst. Lately, the Guardian published a report (Pearce, 2012) pinning hope on particular attention being focused at Rio+20 on famine affecting rural Africa and drought in the Sahel. Nevertheless countless organizations, from the WHO to the IPCC, are warning us that things will get a lot worse before they get better, unless we can gain control over population growth, climate change, consumerist culture and environmental degradation, while rapidly reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Nowhere are these concerns more acute than on the African continent, home to the most chronic cases of extreme poverty, environmental and thus agricultural decline, desertification, deforestation, Malaria, malnutrition and HIV related deaths, massive income inequalities and corruption. The Competence Platform on Energy Crop and Agroforestry Systems (COMPETE) in Africa, to summarise it simply, is an EU funded project held throughout 2007 to 2009, that addresses specifically “the interrelated problems of low quality of life, limited energy access, and lack of livelihood opportunities in rural Africa” (COMPETE 2010). As such the COMPETE framework attempts to make a ‘win-win’ situation of biofuel production in the African continent, by protecting and enhancing the environment, nurturing local economies, and promoting the exchange of knowledge and expertise with the EU. To manage this colossal task, 7 work packages (WPs) were established each focusing on specific tasks and actively working together, hopefully, to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Yet the problems of rural Africa cannot be solved by simply creating a new and sustainable biofuels industry on the continent: they are far too complex, far too numerous. Desertification for instance, or malnutrition, are problems that are absolutely colossal in scale. They require a fundamental change. Nonetheless the methodology employed is exemplary in its scope and what can only be put as ‘goodwill’. It will be argued in this report that the twin perspectives of agroecology and permaculture would enrich the COMPETE framework further, by influencing the design of agricultural and biofuel policies made at a national level, and by improving productivity, food security and quality of life on the local scale.

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Project Aims Thus the aims of this report are twofold. First it will evaluate the potential of the COMPETE project findings, for instance the GIS mapping, in terms of their use when applying agroecology. The COMPETE project will then be examined using the perspective of agroecology to understand its multi-problem solving potential in African arid/semi-arid regions.

Objectives 1. Carry out a literature review to establish a holistic understanding of the science of

agroecology and similar agrarian-based movements such as permaculture, with a focus on their potential to improve quality of life in arid and semi-arid climates in Africa using case-studies.

2. Establish the major problems faced in rural areas of arid and semi-arid Africa, and highlight how these have been worsened by the development of Africa’s capacity to produce biofuels.

3. By investigating the structure of the COMPETE project and its major findings, the integration of agroecology into the framework will be considered in terms of it’s potential to induce a more comprehensive approach to sustainable development in Africa.

Limitations The amount and quality of sources available were fairly limited, particularly the annexes and findings of COMPETE, because the www.compete-bioafrica.net webpage was for private access only (not a public webpage). It would seem that this website is the official home of the COMPETE findings, notably of the GIS for current land use (WP1) and the published results of all the other WPs. As such and in terms of the COMPETE findings, this report is very much limited to online sources and the Final Activity Report dating to April 2010, referenced to henceforth as COMPETE 2010. The arid and semi-arid ecosystems of rural Africa, in this report, are limited to include the steppe biome, the savannah and desert lands, particularly when considering small-scale techniques employed in typical agroecology or permaculture projects.

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Agroecology and permaculture: cultivation for environmental symbiosis Conventional industrialised farming relies on expensive inputs, fuels climate change and is not resilient to climatic shocks. For many places around the world, this is simply not viable or the best choice anymore. Agroecology can provide an alternative, basically by the application of countless generations of agrarian knowledge, our scientific capabilities, and our ability as human beings to design and cooperate, in order to provide food, fuel, fibre and health. Growing in popularity along side other similar movements, it calls for a simplification and diversification of agricultural production. The extent of its purpose in the rural Africa context has already been intuitively phrased by Altieri:

“Agroecology can provide the ecological guidelines to point technological development in the right direction, but in the process, technological issues must assume their corresponding role within a strategy of rural development that incorporates social and economic problems.”

(Altieri, 1989:37) Almost identical to agroecology in many respects, is the almost cult-like ‘permaculture’ agricultural school of thought developed by Holmgren and Mollison since the 1960s. It offers natural regeneration strategies based on design and a systems understanding of nutrient, material and energy flows between different actors: the ‘perma-’ referring to permanence, and ‘-culture’ to food and plant productivity as well as the anthropic actors of the system. At a core level, it is defined as a design process of:

“…protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single project system.”

(Mollison, 1979) These systematic approaches are in both cases usually perceived as three dimensional: it involves protracted observation of the area, traditional practises and available resources, teaching and applying knowledge of specialised agricultural and landscaping micro- and macro-techniques, and the integration of the anthroposphere into a tailored system to minimize impacts of cultural practices and maximise resilience to overgrazing and wood felling. Having been developed in Europe, North America and Australia, it is thus predominantly western, but western ideals have a history of not helping the African cause; will such procedures, or any of the tried and tested techniques, be of value in the arid/semi-arid regions of Africa? To better answer that question, first the region subject to the COMPETE framework must be understood. As mentioned in the limitations, the arid and semi-arid ecosystems of rural Africa are restricted in this report to the steppe biome, savana and desert lands. In essence, the steppe is the transition ecosystem between the desert and savana, and it is characterised by a very hard and crusty soil, resulting in rapid surface run-off of water which does not replenish the water table during the heavy downpours of the wet season. With climate change, the droughts affecting these regions are worsening (Ward, 2007), thus the need for better water management has never been greater. Bad farming practices such as the excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and herbicides literally kills the soil, removing all life holding it together resulting in depletion (Cloudsley-Thompson, 1978). Together with the

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increasing environmental stresses made by an ever increasing population, it is thought that the Sahel is growing and the desert is reaching further south year by year (Bertola, 2003). Clearly, the challenges in these arid and semi-arid regions are partially due to bad agricultural practices, no doubt encouraged by the rush to grow crops for the biofuel industry. It is a vicious circle that must be broken. As the latter parts of this report will show, the COMPETE framework does much to improve the situation, addressing complex issues and involving many stakeholders and scales. First, let us look at a few examples of how simple strategies developed by agroecologists and permaculture practitioners can be imported to these regions and make a big difference.

Greening the desert A tried, tested and resoundingly successful measure used today is known as the ‘swale’, quite simple a trench. The digging of swales following the exact contours of the land slows down surface run-off and encourages rainwater to accumulate and infiltrate the soil (Mollison 1994). Rather than wasting the little water the Sahel gets, swales harvest it and allow it to permeate the soil, thus storing it underground safe from the wind and evaporation, and where plant roots can still reach it. Vegetation is then selected and planted along the swale, to bind the soil, produce food, fuel and shade, act as wind breaks, help to build up humus layers and soil, provide habitat for microorganisms and fungi – all to help regenerate the area. Figure 1 below, an illustration borrowed from Mollison (1994), shows the cross section of a typical semi-arid swale; note how the trench channels the little local resources there are to bring a variety of species, shade and a habitat very different to the harsh, exposed, sun-baked steppe.

Only over the last decade have swales become widespread in popular alternative agriculture, but the success stories go back decades. In the deserts of Jordan, permaculture designer Geoff Lawton was given an insignificant 10 acres of salted, arid desert upon which to attempt to produce food. By digging contour swales into the land, introducing fruit bearing and fast

Figure  1:  Trees  planted  off  swale  bank  can  take  advantage  of  wet  season  

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growing trees, basic management of livestock and strategies to reduce soil salinity, he successfully turned the area into one which now sustains a village of a dozen families (see figure 2). It remains one of the most striking success stories of counter-desertification: this barren piece of land was producing dates and figs within 6 months. A few years later it was discovered that mushrooms were releasing a waxy substance which repels salts from the soil, while rendering these salts inert and insoluble in the decomposition process (Greening the Desert 2009).

Figure   2:   «  Greening   the   Desert  »   an   initiative   by   Geoff   Lawton,   Permaculture   consultant.   Left,   the   plot   during   initial  landscaping  (swale  digging)  in  the  90s  ;  Right,  the  result  a  few  years  later.  

Under the instructions of INRA, a public mission-oriented French agricultural research institute, a permaculture technique was established as a viable solution to the problem of food production in Burkina-Faso. The ‘half moon’ technique has now become widespread in sub-saharan Africa, notably in Burkina-Faso. It is described as very low cost and easy to implement. It is based on four points, illustrated in figure 3: - First, low stonewalls are constructed using stones from the surrounding fields, in order to trap the water, trap the minerals and humus, to act as a wind shield and to reduce surface run-off and erosion. - Within and following these walls, half moon shapes are dug out to act as reservoirs to harvest storm water and encourage it to be absorbed by the ground. Trees that need more water are usually planted in the middle of these half moons, to make efficient use of the water store. - Next, holes are dug on the whole field, and filled with manure and ash, and the seeds. This manure/ash combination acts as a sponge when it rains, and the holes act as further pools in which rainwater can collect and replenish ground water. - The final step involves planting shrubs and trees around the field, to fix the soil, provide shade and habitats for micro- and other organisms, act as a wind shield and further contribute to the development of a healthy soil.

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Figure  3:  Left,  preparing  the  “half-­‐moon”  after  the  construction  of  the  stone  wall  behind  ;    Right,  seeding  within  holes  of  ashes  and  manure      Through the application of ‘half moon’ water harvesting techniques and efficient use of resources, it is estimated that 10% of once cultivated land that had been abandoned on account of desertification, has now been restored to productive use. Further still, INRA estimate that agricultural yields of Burkina-Faso have increased by 30% since their involvement began (Sciama 2008). So why is it that with such miraculous successes permaculture and agroecology have not resulted in their acclamation and fame, why have they been relegated to the back bench? One reason is certainly that the resulting productive ecosystems are too labour intensive, others that they are not profitable on the industrial scale. These arguments may be true, but the know-how remains the same and the potential to help people is undeniable.

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Biofuels in Africa Although biofuel production has the potential to create a new industrial frontier for African farmers, there is a growing fear that the shift to biofuel agriculture could endanger national food security. When the profit from growing crops for biofuels becomes greater than from growing crops for food, then the potential exists for a widespread food shortage. However, by introducing “pro-food production land use policies,” biofuel production could be limited and the food supply maintained (Lediju, 2008). Biofuel production happens in several ways, one of which is limited to local and personal use. Crops or trees are cultivated and used as biofuels by their growers or their community. Such a cash crop has opened up opportunities and jobs, which has subsequently been lowering poverty rates. However, as mentioned above, this often has negative rebound effects. The government in South Africa feared biofuel production’s strain on the national food supply, so they developed a governmental strategy that “specifically banned corn as a feedstock for ethanol.” (Wolde-Georgis and Glantz, 2009) Biofuels are currently being produced from grain crops (soybeans, corn, and nuts) and non-grain crops (cassava, sugarcane, oil palms, and grapeseeds). The competition from biofuel crops has shifted “land use, water use, and human capital resources away from [food] production” (Wolde-Georgis and Glantz, 2009). This provokes a new competition for existing resources, such as land and water. It also has a trickle-down effect that can harm other markets; for example if the majority of corn harvests are being used to make biofuel, and the resulting price of consumable corn rises as an effect, then livestock and poultry raisers will find it increasingly difficult to feed their animals. They could eventually go out of business and become impoverished themselves. Another example of how biofuel production has a serious effect is through deforestation. Indonesia plans to increase biofuel production by expanding its production of oil palm trees. However, these trees are large contributors to forest and land fires, which have been degrading biodiversity and endangering humans for decades. The increasing external demand for oil palm biofuel has put pressure on the Indonesian government to increase their supply. Unfortunately, the future is unclear for the safety and conservation of Indonesia’s people and resources (Jhamtani and Dano, 2007). There has been a lot of hype over biofuels, largely because they are an alternative form of energy. Moreover they yield more profits for farmers than standard food crops. Because ‘taste’ is not something farmers have to worry about, they grow for quantity over quality, resulting in a widespread use of genetically modified (GM) crops and dependence on seed suppliers like Monsanto (Cezanne, 2008). A lot of biofuel production in the United States comes from genetically modified crops (corn = 52%; soy = 89%; canola = 50%). The biofuel hype has also figuratively pulled the wool over some peoples’ eyes because it is an alternative fuel source. Alternative fuel sources tend to carry a ‘green’ connotation with them, however, many biofuels are far from efficient. Studies have provided evidence that biofuels are in fact less efficient than their fossil fuel counterparts, often because the fertilizers used come from fossil fuels themselves (Stratton and Wong, 2011). The question of fossil fuels also extends to the fact that the industrial machinery used to seed, till, plough and harvest the crops themselves are fossil fuel dependent. The industrial farm is

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not commercially viable, unless the machines themselves run on biofuels. One must envisage a post-petroleum age, one where cheap chemical sprays will not be available to industrial farms, and one must prepare for such a time. Thus if the goal is a truly sustainable biofuel production, then Africa should avoid the industrial scale and make use of an almost inexhaustible resource characteristic of a continent plagued by unemployment: cheap labour. Production could be de-mechanised, intensity moderated, and the small scale man and beast-powered farms supported in exchange for a seasonal contribution to the national stock of biofuel crops. It is clear to see that without some kind of government intervention, biofuels could have a bubble effect that bursts within rural Africa. Increasing biofuel crops could outnumber feed crops, small farmers could lose their farms to inventors, and the circle of poverty would simply continue. On the other hand, a well-handled and designed set of policies could make light of the situation; by helping locals design resilient food and fuel yielding ecosystems that also contribute to the national biofuel strategy.

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COMPETE in Africa : structure and applicability The scale and ambition of the COMPETE in Africa project necessitated quite a complex procedural methodology; one that would take into account the perspectives of many stakeholders to solve social problems, dissect and resolve cultural differences, be able to value, protect and cultivate local traditions and agrarian knowledge, all the while developing local economic opportunities and environmental resilience. As mentioned in the introduction, the project was fragmented into work packages (WP). WP7 was developed as a communication node and information exchange platform. An 8th WP, known as WP0, was effectively the organising node of the whole, acting as the managerial command centre. WP1-6 are elaborated below and for each the potential to incorporate agroecology into the framework is considered. WP1 – Current land use patterns and impacts. This work package was developed to produce a benchmark of information through GIS. In essence, it involved mapping out land use to locate and protect fertile and productive areas currently feeding or providing for local populations, but with the potential to be converted or for production to be intensified for biofuel crops, without socio-economic detriment (COMPETE 2010:65). The interactive GIS produced as a result of the WP will certainly prove invaluable in the coming years as a source of agricultural knowledge of these arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in the fight against ‘land-grabbing’ and for the protection and enhancement of the most fragile ecosystems. It could also hold a vital strategic role as a mapping of change in the selected regions, especially for counter-desertification. WP2 – Improved land use: energy crops and agroforestry systems. Dedicated to collecting local knowledge and experiences regarding the production of biomass for energy, this work package operated with a hands-on approach of visiting, talking to and educating locals to collect information and improve productivity of their lands without undermining the local ecology (COMPETE 2010:67). In terms of applying agroecology through the framework, priority should be given to food and water security for locals, to guarantee the basics of a sound livelihood. Those involved with this WP would help with in situ teaching of agroecology and permaculture principles, but also improved technology for use of the biomass in cooking for instance, to help diversify and strengthen the resilience of production, while also correctly harvesting water, nurturing soils and closing nutrient cycles (reducing dependence on synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, etc). This would be the WP responsible for enacting technologies such as the swale, half-moons or cinder pot holes, under the guidance of a mixture of permaculture consultants, agroecologists, botanists, and in extreme cases where water scarcity is chronic, hydrologists. In order to keep investors, biofuel companies, governments and to develop local economies, the locally tailored agroecology systems would have to contribute a considerable amount of biofuel crop to the national biofuel strategy, but once again, priority should be given to food and locals needs. WP3 – Sustainability analysis of alternative land use. The purpose of this group was to systematically analyse the ecological, social and economic sustainability of suggested land use improvements or agroforestry schemes, while also investigating devices that would help define, monitor and reward “good sustainability practice” (COMPETE 2010:8). Herein lies one of the key areas where agroecology shows real promise. Good sustainability practise as understood in COMPETE is focused, as the rest of the framework, on the production of biofuels. Bringing the agroecology perspective to the table of “good sustainability practice” might help diversify the problem solving capacity to address other issues of vital importance

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in arid/semi-arid regions of Africa, for example, water management, counter-desertification (greening the Sahel), improved food security, provision of local economies and livelihoods, adding value to communities, and reducing dependence on foreign aid, imports and fossil fuels by developing and contributing to a national bioenergy strategy (COMPETE 2010:24). WP4 – S/S and N/S cooperation. To a large extent, the relative lack of development in Africa is due to exploitation of the continent but also to a disproportionate spread of knowledge and means. This WP focused on catalysing cooperation and joint ventures between the continents to deliver the latest research and know-how to the front line of COMPETE in Africa (COMPETE 2010:72). Again by adding agroecology and permaculture to the mix, solutions and ideas might emerge from the conferences, workshops and events held as part of the WP. For instance the blueprint for a forest garden might be shared by a farmer in Brazil or Australia, in other words, the mix, relative location and variety of species required to develop a commercially viable forest garden, producing Jatropha, fast growing woods for fuel and a variety of foods, in an arid/semi-arid region. This WP would thus also focus on spreading the word about ‘do it yourself’ sorts of techniques that could be employed in any arid or semi-arid cultivation, or other basic techniques such as those presented earlier. WP5 – Financing of alternative land use and international trade. In essence, the focus here is on developing novel approaches to financing national and local bioenergy projects, whether this is through the use of carbon credits, trade, aid or sponsorship (COMPETE 2010:8). The potential benefits of agroecology in the realm of finance are fairly limited, except for the potential to diversify export products and increase productivity, thus making farms more economically viable and more worthy of investment. There is also the possibility that a form of tradable credits based on carbon credits but oriented toward ecosystem services or nurturing biodiversity could be introduced in the coming years. Such a move would be difficult to manage and would require much research and preparation, but could prove to be a fantastic financial incentive for ecologically friendly practices to thrive. WP6 – Policy development. By analysing existing biofuel development policies and through cooperation with WP4, this WP aims to help governments develop stronger and more holistic participatory policies (COMPETE 2010:36). By involving agroecology in this WP, the food-fuel debate would be brought back to the forefront of conversation thus making it more likely that policies would protect individuals from biofuel-related land grabbing. It might also help to reshape the nature of agricultural policy in those countries by promoting better agricultural practices shaped around the benefits of permaculture and small scale production, rather than industrial production methods dependent on imported chemical sprays and fossil fuel powered machinery. Further still, seeing that women in Africa are those that predominantly grow foods and fuels, permaculture-inspired policies that would positively affect this role could trigger real change for families and for the development of rural areas (COMPETE 2010: 39). The role of policy development is absolutely essential to help create a fair international biofuels market, viable financing options for small scale farms and to ensure environmental sustainability on a large scale. Essentially this is the top down side of the process to sustainably develop biofuel production in Africa, while also improving food security and quality of life as a whole; the bottom up side being the application of agroecology techniques on the local scale.

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Concluding remarks In essence the COMPETE project is exemplary in attention to detail and ambition: it provides visualisations through GIS of the whole problem. It operates on local, regional, national and international scales while representing a huge range of stakeholders. It enhances cooperation, pioneers new financing options, provides skills and know-how to those who need it most, and supports governments in their attempts to build upon and develop sustainable policies. The main problem the authors perceived is that it does little to reduce the competition that increases pressure on food security. The twin perspectives of agroecology and permaculture, as seen throughout this paper, hold significant potential to create a new vision for a truly sustainable biofuel production. By working on the small scale and focusing on local development, the average quality of life could be appreciably improved, local ecosystem resilience would improve, and thereafter biofuel production could be targeted to develop national energy security and revenue as an international export. For the twin perspective to fulfil its role to the maximum, the authors recollect a four tiered set of precautions advised by Altieri (1989) to be considered when applying any permaculture or agroecology-inspired technology:

“ i. They must be socially activating by requiring a high level of popular participation […]. ii. They must be culturally compatible […]. iii. They must be ecologically sound, not by attempting to modify or transform the ecosystem radically, but rather by identifying management elements that, once incorporated, lead to optimization of the production unit. […] iv. Agroecological approaches must also be economically viable by minimizing the costs of production through enhancement of the use efficiency of locally available resources, thus decreasing farmers’ dependency on state and industry.”

(Altieri, 1989:45)

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