bridging the gap: sustainable forests, agriculture and food security
TRANSCRIPT
BRIDGING THE GAP: SUSTAINABLE FORESTS, AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITYTerry Sunderland, Principal Scientist & Team Leader, Sustainable Landscapes and Food SystemsPEFC Conference: ”Sustainable Landscapes, Sustainable Livelihoods”Bali, 17th November 2016
OUR NEW GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS
NEW STRATEGY FOR NEW TIMES 9.6 billion people in 2050 Changing consumption patterns Continued economic growth Expectations of justice and equity Migrations to seek new
opportunities Increased climate variability
Only 30-40 years from now, the world
will not look as it does today.
REDEFINING FORESTRY: FUNDAMENTALS FOR ACHIEVING THE SDG’S
Food, nutrition and health Water, energy and housing Livelihoods and
employment Climate change adaptation
and mitigation Biodiversity conservation Resilience and safety nets
To environmental and economic external shocks
CIFOR STRATEGY 2016-2025
VISIONCIFOR envisions a more equitable world where forestry and landscapes enhance the environment and well-being for all.
CONTEXTFrom the CIFOR Strategy 2015-2025:• Integration of diverse
communities of practice in the sustainable landscapes debate: to be achieved by reconciling the principles of multi-functionality with the practice of managing sustainable landscapes for forestry, food security and nutrition and other benefits.
• Increased policy recognition of the need to better integrate the forestry and agricultural sectors: to be achieved by using the landscape approach as the convening factor (c.f. simultaneous yet separate declarations on forestry and agriculture).
FORESTS IN LANDSCAPES• One billion+ people rely on forest products
for consumption and income in some way (Agrawal et al. 2013)
• Safety-net during times of food and income insecurity (Wunder et al. 2014)
• Wild harvested meat and freshwater fish provides 30-80% of protein intake for many rural communities (Nasi et al. 2011; McIntyre et al. 2016)
• 75% of world’s population rely on biodiversity for primary health care (WHO), 2003)
• 40%-60% of global food production comes from diverse smallholder agricultural systems in complex landscapes (FAO 2011)
• Long tradition of managing forests for food (van Vliet et al. 2011)
• Forests sustaining agriculture through ecosystem services provision (Foli et al. 2014)
THE ORIGIN OF THE “LANDSCAPE APPROACH”
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010 - present
1980s: Integrated Rural Development
1998: Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM)
1985 onwards: Integrated Conservation & Development projects (ICDPs)
Contributing Sciences:Ecosystem ManagementLandscape EcologyIsland biogeography
Conservation rooted frameworks e.g. “Ecosystem Approach”
1992: “Landscape Approach” first documented (Barrett 1992)
Last decade: (Integrated) Landscape Approach frameworks
EMBRACING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH – INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE ACROSS SECTORS
“Despite some barriers to implementation, a landscape approach has considerable potential to meet social and environmental objectives at local scales while aiding national commitments to addressing ongoing global challenges.” Reed et al. 2016, Global Change Biology.
OPERATIONALISING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH: HOW?
THEORY PRACTICE
E.g. Ten principles Real integration
Local stakeholdersConservation: WCS, CI
Development: USAID LESTARIPrivate sector: e.g. APP, APRIL
Government: e.g. Ministry of Env. & Forestry
• LA still considered under-theorised but there is a vast body of knowledge now, it really is time to move beyond conceptualization
• Acknowledgement of importance of early, continuous and regular engagement of stakeholders and how to make LA’s locally relevant and with local entry points
• Previous integrated interventions always seem to fall out of favour because “the next big challenge” comes along
• Can we predict what is the next big challenge and incorporate this into LA thinking?
• Need maximum evidence of impact – with local stakeholders involved in monitoring, enhance engagement, empowerment
FOREST FUNCTIONS AND LINKS TO FSN
FORESTS AND FOOD SECURITY: THE EVIDENCE
SeasonalityOff-farm income
Agriculture
“Forests are a major repository of food and other resources that play a crucial role in food security. In addition, maintaining diversity in agricultural production systems leads to increased resilience to shocks particularly in the context of a changing climate”. Editorial: Arnold et al. 2011
“Our main findings can be summarized as follows: there is a statistically significant positive relationship between tree cover and dietary diversity; fruit and vegetable consumption increases with tree cover until a peak of 45% tree cover. Overall our findings suggest that children in Africa who live in areas with more tree cover have more diverse and nutritious diets”. Ickowitz et al., 2014
"Our findings suggest that deforestation and land use change may have unforeseen consequences on the quality of local people’s diets. A better understanding of the contribution of forest foods to local diets is needed to understand the true impact that the loss of forests may have for nutrition in the face of agricultural expansion. If indeed forests substantially contribute to dietary quality in some areas as the results here imply, forest loss may result in unforeseen, adverse consequences on nutrition for local people." Rowland et al. 2016
“Areas of swidden/agroforestry, natural forest, timber and agricultural tree crop plantations were all associated with more frequent consumption of food groups rich in micronutrients. The swidden/agroforestry land class was the landscape associated with more frequent consumption of the largest number of micronutrient rich food groups. Swidden cultivation in is often viewed as a backward practice that is an impediment to food security in Indonesia and destructive of the environment. If further research corroborates that swidden farming actually results in better nutrition than the practices that replace it, Indonesian policy makers may need to reconsider their views on this land use”. Ickowitz et al., 2016
FORESTS SUSTAINING AGRICULTURE
How does landscape configuration maximise the provision of these goods and services for both sustainable forestry and food production?
Water regulation
Climate regulation
Pollination
Pest control
Foli et al. 2014; Reed et al. forthcoming
GENDER ISSUES“There is strong and clear evidence of the importance of including women in forest management groups for better resource governance and conservation outcomes”. Leisher et al. 2016
“Women and children collect a diverse range of plant based forest foods while men are primarily responsible for animal protein sources”. Sunderland et al. 2014
GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT
TRAINING JOURNALISTS THIS WEEK IN BALI
WHAT ROLE FOR FOREST CERTIFICATION?
• Biodiversity conservation & enhancement
• Ecosystem services (including ForCES)
• Local employment & welfare
• Indigenous people’s rights• Access and sustainable
use
= Sustainable forestry!!