El Marqués de TarrazúMay 20th, 2008

“Sustaining Agriculture: Sustaining life”

Nestlé Team

Ecosystems

waterbiodiversity

climate - carbon

food – fuel - fiber

regulation - mitigationcultural-aesthetic

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services

State of Global Ecosystem Services

Of the 24 provisioning, regulating and cultural services examined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 15 were identified as being degraded or used unsustainably (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005a).

Only four services were identifiedas having been enhanced over the past 50 years, and three of those (crops, livestock and aquaculture) were related to food production.

Global distribution of agriculture

Total land available 13 billion hectares

5 billion hectares allocated to crops and pasture (~40 %)

4 billion hectares allocated to forests and woodlands

Other: Urban, wetlands,

deserts, mountains, glaciers

Percentage of land cover allocated to:

crops

pastures

(Foley et al. 2005)

Global distribution of agriculture and land cover change

50 % of original forested cover now lost to agriculture

Each year, 13 million ha converted to agriculture mainly from forests

Currently, agriculture coupled with wood extraction and infrastructure expansion are the primary drivers of loss of tropical forests.

Percentage of land cover allocated to:

crops

pastures

(Foley et al. 2005)

Agriculture and land cover change: effects

33 % of increase of CO2 since 1950 through conversion of forests

30 % of Earth’s net primary productivity is now appropriated for human use

Global loss of biodiversity through loss of forested lands and agricultural pollution

Agriculture and land cover change

Agriculture and land cover change: the future Population projected to increase from under

6 billion people to over 9 billion by 2080. People are becoming more affluent and

increasing net consumption of food and of inefficient food products

Current problem of undernourishment that needs to be addressed: 820 million people are under nourished

today Increasing by 34 million in sub-Saharan

Africa and 23 million in South and West Asia between 1992 and 2002.

We need more food and a better distribution of food resources

Agriculture and land cover change: the future Other competing extractive demands

for the landscape beyond food: Biofuels

24 % of US Corn now dedicated to biofuels

Large producing agricultural countries such as Brazil dedicating many resources to conversion to biofuels

National and regional targets set for biofuels

Wood fiber, fuel

Degradation has had significant impacts on the productivity of about 16 percent of the globe's agricultural land

Percentage of agricultural land seriously degraded: ~ 40 % globally ~ 75 % in Central America ~ 20 % in Africa (mostly pasture) ~ 11 % in Asia

(International Food Policy Research Institute)

Current status of land degradation

Agriculture: where increase will come from Increased use and intensification of

existing agricultural lands (80 % of needs) Technological solutions

GM crops, drip irrigation Increased fertilizer use in Africa

(Re) Conversion of natural habitat (primarily forests) into agricultural lands (20 %) South America (primarily the Amazon

basin) Sub-Saharan Africa (West and Central

Africa) Conservation Reserves

1.1 billion people live within Conservation International’s 25 biodiversity "hot spots".

Levels of malnutrition and hunger are high in at least 16 of the biodiversity "hot spots".

Human population is growing faster in 19 of the 25 biodiversity "hot spots” than in the rest of the world.

Rate of population growth is twice as high in tropical wilderness areas than the worldwide average.

Biodiversity and Agriculture: overlap in needs

Giant Armadillo distribution around Emas NP

Direct observations

Camera traps

Radio telemetry

N = 591

Jaguar distribution around Emas NP

70 % of water withdrawl goes to agricultural irrigation

More than 1.2 billion people live in areas of physical water scarcity (Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, 2007), and by 2025 over 3 billion people are likely to experience water stress (UNDP, 2006)

Water and Agriculture: overlap in needs

¿WHAT FARMERS CAN CHANGE?

From single farm

systems toecosystems

Agriculture: from single service to multi service

Foley et al 2005

Contrasting land use systems

Source: Francis 1989

Agriculture: how do we get there?

In summary – FAO 2007 report

Agriculture employs more people and uses more land and water than any other human activity. It has the potential to degrade the Earth’s land, water, atmosphere and biological resources – or to enhance them – depending on the decisions made by the more than 2 billion people whose livelihoods depend directly on crops, livestock, fisheries or forests.

Expanding Sustainable Agriculture

Task Force recommendations for investments (from Task Force on

Environmental Sustainability (Millenium Development projct 2005)

• Increase use of sustainable agricultural techniques to preserve natural assets

• Improve soils • Water management• Traditional agricultural knowledge• Protect crop Genetic diversity• Research techniques

• Rehabilitate degraded agricultural lands• Protect surrounding natural habitats

Contrasting land use systems

Source: Simpson & Orgozaly, 1986