status of agriculture: characterized by disconnects, both in the developed and developing world

Patrick Mulvany | 2010 Environment Day Conference | 6 March 2010 | 1

Farmers, Herders and Fisherfolk:

Securing Food Futures2010 Environment Day Conference

at Redcliffe College, Gloucester 6 March 2010

Patrick Mulvany


"Modern man talks of the battle with nature, forgetting if he ever won the battle he would find himself on the losing side"

Fritz Schumacher

Founder ITDG(now rebranded Practical Action)


Status of Agriculture:

Characterized by Disconnects, both in the developed and developing world

•Disconnects between agriculture and the environment;

•Disconnects between consumers and farmers or land and cities;

•Disconnects between policies and expectations.


Who feeds us?


Context

• Agricultural Biodiversity• Soils• Water• Climate change / Greenhouse gases• Agricultural development Aid• Human population


Productivity of Biodiverse Agroecology

Yield increases of more than 30% - 100% frequently result due to the combination of:

• Organic matter accumulation and nutrient cycling• Increased soil biological activity• Natural control mechanisms (disease suppression,

biocontrol of insects, weed interference)• Resource conservation and regeneration

(including soil, water and germplasm)• Enhanced agricultural biodiversity and synergies

between components.


‘Problem’: Pests and Weeds in East African Maize Crops

Maize - a staple crop for many smallholder farmers – is regularly attacked by:

• Stemborer Moths, which lay eggs in the Maize stem and the larvae then devour it, and

• the weed Striga, which weakens Maize roots and kills the plant (also affects sorghum and millet)


‘Solution’: Push-Pull technology

Napier Maize Desmodium Maize Napier

Stemborer moths pushed away by intercropped Desmodium and pulled towards bordering Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) which kills larvae. Maize root attacking Striga seeds controlled by Desmodium root interaction.

Stemborer moths

Stemborer moths

Striga


The ‘Problem’: Drought-Induced Crop Failure in the Caribbean

= Successive Harvest Failures

Climate Change

+ Intensive Agriculture

Temp rise 0.5 0

Drought 2002-06

+ Lack of Finances/Fuel

60% soils eroded

40% low water retention

45% low fertility

Reduced irrigation systems

In one Province in 1 year:

•3,000 wells dried up

•2,000 livestock deaths

•400,000 litres milk lost

•Staple Maize not sown


The ‘Solution’: Participatory Development of Rainwater Harvesting and Conservation StrategiesActions:

• Increase farmer knowledge on water cycles, salinisation and water management

• Experiments with drought-tolerant varieties, rainwater capture, soil improvement and cover crops


End of Year 1: Results in 4 communities, £15,000

• Increased farmer capacity to experiment and work together

• Increased crop diversity, yields, and production

• Livestock corralled for manure collection

• Uptake of biofertiliser inputs

• Improved soil-water retention capacity

• New local vegetable market

• New local seed market

• Increased family income and nutritional availability

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

YIELD INCREASES

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

POVERTY ALLEVIATION

FOOD & NUTRITION SECURITY

CARBON MANAGEMENT

RAPID RESULTSLOW

COST


‘Problem’: increased disease

‘Solution’: improve yield stability through a variety mixture

Wakelyns Agroforestry

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

Hereward M alacca Shamrock He/M a/Sh

Re

lati

ve

yie

ld (

%)

2000 2001 2002


Patrick Mulvany | Agriculture at a Crossroads | 23 January 2009 | 13

Conservess and regenerate natural resources

Diversifies production systems –

resilience to Climate Change

Sustain Agroecosystem Functions and Agricultural Biodiversity

Improves food security and food sovereignty

Improvess livelihood security and local markets

Develops culturally appropriate technology

Improves gender equity

Strengthens institutional capacity

SOCIAL ECONOMIC

ENVIRON-MENTAL

Low Carbon, Biodiverse, ResilientEcological Food Provision

Raising Productivity through Ecological Food Provision Methods

A

B

CFood Provision per unit Land / Water

B = current productivity levels

A = industrial, simplified,

high external input

production

(Agro)ecological, diverse, low external input production

C =

XLow-----------------------DIVERSITY / RESILIENCE ---------------------- HighHigh-----------------------------------CARBON COST-----------------------------LowHigh------------------------CORPORATE CONTROL---------------------LowLow--------------------------FOOD SOVEREIGNTY--------------------HighLow--------------------PEOPLE/LOCAL KNOWLEDGE----------------HighIAASTD finds need to increase and strengthen AKST towards agroecological sciences to

address environmental and productivity issues (IAATSD) Finding # 7. See www.iaastd.net


CORPORATE CONTROLFOOD CHAIN

Top 10 Corporations control 67% proprietary seed market


Adopting Soberanía Alimentaria the Food Sovereignty Framework

1996

2002

2007

2009

‘Tlaxcala Declaration of La Via Campesina, Tlaxcala, Mexico World Food Summit

‘Food Sovereignty: A Right for All’. Forum for Food Sovereignty’ Rome, Italy

Nyéléni 2007: Forum for Food Sovereignty, Sélingué, Mali

Forum for People’s Food Sovereignty Now!, Rome, Italy


FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

‘Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.’ (Declaration of Nyéléni, 2007)


SIX PRINCIPLES Food Sovereignty

1. Focuses on Food for People and Right to Food, rather than export commodities

2. Values Food Providers and respects their Rights, rather than squeezing them off the land

3. Localises Food Systems, rather than promoting unfair global trade

4. Puts Control Locally, rather than remote TNCs5. Builds Knowledge and Skills, rather than depending on

alien technologies such as GM 6. Works with Nature, rather than using methods that harm

beneficial ecosystem functions, such as energy intensive monocultures and livestock factories.


• Food Sovereignty, including the Human Right to adequate Food, devolves power to the people

vs

• Food Security, which keeps control in the hands of existing powerholdersIt is silent on – Provenance– Quality – Control– Decision

FOOD SECURITY a co-opted concept?


A new Common Food and Agriculture Policy

European Food Declaration

12 Values based on Food Sovereignty

To be launched in Brussels


• Focus on food; • Equity, social justice, ecological sustainability; • Healthy eating – more plants less meat; More

local, seasonal, quality products;• Fair prices; • Access to land; Protect soil, water, agricultural

biodiversity free from GMOs; No agrofuels; • Shorten distances between and ‘reconnect’

producer and consumer; Transparency in food chain;

• Reduce concentration of power; • Develop skills and knowledge by children.

The new Common Food and Agriculture Policy

12 Values based on Food Sovereignty


Urgency

• Change in all regions is urgent and necessary for People and Planet

• Learning from Farmers, Herders and Fisherfolk

• Rewrite the rules – economic, political, social


International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for

Development (IAASTD)IAASTD finds need to increase and strengthen Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology towards agroecological sciences to address environmental and productivity issues

(IAATSD Finding # 7. See www.iaastd.net )


“If DFID continues to fail to meet the challenge of incorporating the environment and sustainability into its work on a planet where fish stocks are plummeting, water tables are falling and the pace of climate change is accelerating at an alarming rate, the £5.3 billion a year the UK will be spending by 2008 on development will at best result in only temporary successes.” (EAC Press Release, 16 August 2006)

DFID remains environmentally blind today, - e.g. neglecting agroecology and ecoliteracy in food and farming. IIED

Donor policy“No Development without Environment: DFID

fails the Challenge” – House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee


Why No Thought for Food?UK Parliament report Jan 2010

Recommends that DFID implement Findings of IAASTD


Agriculture is NOT a business like any other –

it beats to the drum of biology

Colin Tudge, “So shall we reap”


“Securing Future Food: towards ecological food provision"

UK Food Group BriefingJanuary 2010


Commitments of small-scale food providers

• to strengthen and promote our ecological model of food provision in the framework of food sovereignty.

• to call for a reframing of research, using participatory methods, that will support our ecological model offood provision.

• to strengthen our interconnecting rural - urban food webs, building alliances within a Complex Alimentariusthat will link small-scale food providers, processors, scientists, institutions and consumers.


Thank YouFurther info:

more:

www.ukfg.org.uk

foodsovereignty.org

etcgroup.org

ukabc.org

practicalaction.org

Patrick Mulvany

[email protected]

status of agriculture: characterized by disconnects, both in the developed and developing world

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