Nourishing the Planet

“Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group” is a regular series where we profile advisors of the Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we’re featuring Alan Duncan, who is a livestock scientist with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Alan Duncan (right) with Danielle Nierenberg at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Photo credit: Bernard Pollack)

Name: Alan Duncan

Affiliation: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bio: Alan Duncan is a livestock scientist with ILRI. His current research focuses on fodder innovation in smallholder livestock systems. He currently leads the IFAD-funded Fodder Adoption Project, a research-for-development project looking into feed scarcity in smallholder systems, with a particular emphasis on institutional blockages to change. The project has been experimenting with local innovation platforms as a way of enhancing the capacity of local actors (government line departments, researchers, private sector, NGOs) to work together more effectively to enhance feed availability at the farm level. The project takes a systems perspective to the feed-scarcity problem, considering, for example the role of markets for livestock products as a stimulus to innovation at the farm level.

On NtP: Nourishing the Planet is a welcome initiative from Worldwatch. I’ve watched with interest as various local innovations have been uncovered during Danielle’s travels in Africa. I’ll continue to follow this initiative to see whether some common threads can be drawn out from the successful innovations she has found so that some lessons can be developed for the wider agricultural community about what makes innovation happen.

What are some of the obstacles that smallholder livestock farmers face? Here in Ethiopia a major issue is the predominantly subsistence nature of agriculture. At some stage in the coming years, the millions of subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa will somehow need to transition to a more market-oriented mode of operation—the current resources simply can’t support business as usual. In my view, we already know enough about the technical fixes in smallholder agriculture. The trick is to find ways of opening up markets for smallholders to allow a transition into more market-oriented production.

Livestock production is often associated with climate change and other negative environmental impacts. Can you discuss how small-scale livestock farming can benefit farmers, the economy, and the environment? It’s certainly true that livestock have had some bad press recently. Unfortunately the blanket condemnation of livestock as “polluters of the planet” misses the nuances of differences between livestock’s role in the rich North and the poor South. Limiting intensive livestock production which oversupplies protein to those in developed countries is probably good for the planet. But in places like Ethiopia, livestock are a crucial element of poor people’s livelihoods and their nutrition. They utilize byproducts of cereal production (straw) and turn them into high-quality protein (meat and milk) for hungry people. They also serve as a source of security in marginal environments, acting as a buffer against disaster in drought-prone environments. Reducing livestock numbers in Africa would have a relatively minor effect on global GHG emissions but would have many negative consequences for the world’s poorest. There is a good argument for intensifying livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa since this would have the dual benefit of enhancing income for smallholders and reducing emissions per unit of livestock product. But this will take time and we need to find ways of supporting this transition by accelerating innovation in smallholder systems.

What sorts of innovations, policies, etc. would you like to see implemented to reduce global poverty and hunger? Why should food consumers in the United States care about the state of agriculture in other countries? I think we need less emphasis on pushing technologies on smallholder farmers and more emphasis on creating an “enabling environment for innovation.” What does this mean in practice? It means building capacity of the existing actors: the extension and research systems, the private sector, civil society bodies, etc., to think at the system level, to adopt more participatory approaches, to pay more attention to developing markets for products, and to somehow counter the handout culture. This is challenging stuff, however!

And why should food consumers in the U.S. care about what is happening in places like Ethiopia? Apart from the obvious moral imperative, it is becoming clear that developing countries are going to be major suppliers of global food requirements in the coming decades (see Mario Herrero’s recent paper in Science). Also, a widening gulf between rich and poor will have some very negative effects on global security—a bit of investment in smallholder agriculture now will make the planet a more peaceful place in years to come!

Drip irrigation system in Nepal. (Photo credit: IDE)

After Elizabeth Samhembere’s husband passed away in 2004, she struggled to feed her family. A small-scale farmer in Zimbabwe, Elizabeth had trouble getting water to her crops, and her children were too young to help with the labor-intensive task of irrigating the vegetables and strawberries she grew.

“I was making a paltry Z$80,000 (US$0.81) per week from selling small and miserable-looking strawberries, and that did not improve my livelihood,” Elizabeth explained in an interview for International Development Enterprises (IDE). “I continued living from hand to mouth.”

But Elizabeth’s crop—and income—improved significantly in 2005, when she received a donated drip kit, seed, and fertilizer through the Micro Irrigation Partnerships for Vulnerable Households project (MIPVH) of IDE, an organization working to alleviate poverty and hunger in Asia and Africa through technology and market access for small farmers.

Drip irrigation delivers water and fertilizer directly to the roots of plants through systems of plastic tubing with small holes and other restrictive outlets. By distributing these inputs slowly and regularly, drip irrigation conserves up to 50 percent more water than traditional methods, IDE estimates.  The water and fertilizer are also more easily absorbed by the soil and plants, reducing the risks of erosion and nutrient depletion. Usually operated by gravity, drip irrigation saves both the time and labor that would otherwise be needed to water crops, leading to larger harvest yields.

Since installing her own drip kit, Elizabeth has seen her income rise to between Z$1 million (US$10) and Z$4 million (US$40) per week. Both the quality and quantity of her strawberry harvest have improved, and she was able to expand her crop diversity by adding peas, carrots, and tomatoes to her garden. With training from the Zimbabwe Women’s Bureau, Elizabeth is also generating income by selling jam she makes from her strawberries.

Elizabeth’s family is eating better, both from the garden and because of the profit she makes from selling her produce. And she no longer worries about going into debt or needing to borrow money to make ends meet. “I am able to send my children to school with the income I now generate from the garden,” she said.

To learn about other ways that irrigation technologies are helping small-scale farmers improve their incomes and livelihoods, see Getting Water to Crops and Access to Water Improves Quality of Life for Women and Children.

“Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group” is a regular series where we profile advisors of the Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we’re featuring Sue Edwards, who is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD).

Sue Edwards (right) with her husband, Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher.

Name: Sue Edwards

Affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD)

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bio: Sue Edwards is Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) and has lived in Ethiopia for more than 40 years (since 1968). Her husband is Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, and both are passionate about the importance of recognizing the role of smallholder farmers in “nourishing the planet” for a sustainable future for all living things, from the greatest to the smallest, from the most appealing to the most appalling (for us people).

On NTP: This is a vital project that brings together the rich variety of ways that people have developed to both sustain ourselves and respect the basic natural laws that underlie, or should underlie, the kind of agricultural development needed to acheive a healthy future for all.

What is the connection between agriculture and alleviating global hunger and poverty? Good agriculture combines the knowledge of how people can obtain the food and other natural products we need in a way that is ecologically and culturally appropriate for the setting where we live. This is the wonderful pattern of farming and foods that all local people have developed, and that fits with their local ecosystems. In urban settings, growing herbs on the windowsill and salad in window boxes, having school gardens, and linking directly with more serious full- and part-time growers of our food should bring healthy, nourishing, and interesting food within the reach of all. The industrial idea that everything has to be supplied from outside means that only those who can afford to buy these products are the ones that cannot be hungry, and those who cannot buy will automatically at a minimum have their choices and opportunities for healthy and affordable food reduced, or most likely eliminated.

Your organization’s mission is “to contribute towards an Ethiopia that is free of hunger and poverty, where communities are empowered with the knowledge and responsibilities to chart their own development, and where the best from traditional knowledge, practices and innovations is maintained and enhanced with modern knowledge, practices and innovations.” Why is it so important to integrate traditional knowledge, practices, and innovations with modern knowledge? The empirical knowledge, or folklore, that local people—farmers, fishers, foresters, and pastoralists—have acquired and built on over the last 10,000 years or more of agriculture is a vast pool of knowledge and wisdom that needs to be respected and understood with the benefits of modern science so that it becomes enhanced and enriched without destroying the base from which this knowledge came. It is all too easy to believe that change has to come by “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” Yes, there are traditional practices that need challenging, but there are many, many more that are sound and that can be used as the base to build better, but not greedy, lives for all.

Can you describe the relationship between global agriculture policies and small-scale farmers that you work with regularly? I feel that at last some of the key policymakers in important institutions, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, are not only realizing but also speaking out for the critical role of small-scale farmers in meeting the challenge of overcoming poverty and hunger in both the developing and the developed world.

What kinds of policy changes would you like to see implemented immediately to address the needs of small-scale farmers? First is to have the importance of traditional knowledge, practices, and innovations (as stated in the Convention on Biological Diversity) properly recognized and budgeted so that they can take their place on the research agendas of all national and international agricultural research institutions. Second, to have it recognized that “quick fixes” and “one size fits all” will never bring genuine sustainable development in agriculture and to adopt policies that enable researchers and farmers to have the time, places, and support to work together as genuine partners. Then improvements and solutions can be location- and culture-specific and be genuinely sustainable. Probably the most difficult input for this set-up to work is time.

Check out this interview featured in Eco-Chick about Nourishing the Planet’s on-the-ground research in Africa by Stephanie Rogers:

Photo: Bernard Pollack

If it’s true that there are sayers and there are doers, Danielle Nierenberg falls firmly into the latter camp. Danielle is currently traveling through sub-saharan Africa to highlight stories of hope and success in sustainable agriculture and blogging about it at WorldWatch.org.

A Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute and co-Project Director of State of World 2011: Nourishing the Planet, Danielle is a widely cited expert in sustainable agriculture issues and the spread of factory farming. She knows better than most of us how our eating habits affect the world, and the experiences she shares on her blog will blow you away.

So of course, Danielle fits right in as an Eco Chick Heroine for the Planet! I talked to her about women in agriculture, global food issues and what we can all do to help.

SR: We were surprised to learn through your blog, Nourishing the Planet, that 80% of sub-Saharan farmers in Africa are women and that women make up the majority of farmers worldwide. What are some of the unique problems that female farmers face?

DN: Although women produce most of the food and raise most of the livestock in Africa, they rarely have access to land tenure, credit, agricultural extension services, and are under-represented in farmers groups, associations, unions. But by increasing women’s participation and representation in these groups, women and men farmers alike can work together to improve gender awareness, as well as improve their access to loans and agricultural inputs and land tenure. As a result, women are able to earn a greater income, which translates into better nutrition for their families. But womens voices often go unheard, or even ignored, and that has to change.

SR: How has your focus on sustainable agriculture influenced your own eating habits?

Photo: Bernard Pollack

DN: I’ve been a vegetarian since I was a teenager, but the more I learn about the global food system, the more interested I become in knowing where my food comes from and how it was produced. I think it’s important to put a face to your food and know not only how the animals you eat were treated, but if the farmers who raised the vegetables and other foods you eat were given a fair price for their crops and if the workers who processed and packaged the food you eat had safe working conditions and were paid a fair wage.

SR: As much as we all care about global food issues and how they affect human health and the environment, sometimes we’re not sure how to help – and sometimes, the problems of people in third-world countries can seem so far away. What can we do to contribute, even if it’s just in a small way?

DN: This is a question we’re asking as part of our Nourishing the Planet project: Why should wealthy foodies in the United States and Europe care about hunger in Africa?

The foodie community in the United States and Europe are a powerful force in pushing for organically grown and local foods in hospitals and schools, more farmers markets, and better welfare of livestock and I think that some of that energy can be harnessed to promote more diversity and resilience in the food system. Right now, the world depends on just a few crops–maize, wheat, and rice–which are vulnerable not only to price fluctuations, but the impacts of climate change. Many indigenous crops–including millet, sorghum, sweet potato, and many others–however, are not only more nutritious than monoculture crops, but also more resilient to adverse weather events and disease.

By supporting–and funding–NGOs and research institutions, such as Slow Food International, Heifer International, and the World Vegetable Center, wealthy foodies can help ensure that farmers in sub-Saharan Africa help maintain agricultural biodiversity.

SR: Did you have any moments of extreme culture shock when you first got to Africa?

DN: We started this trip in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a place most Americans associate with war and hunger because of the famines of the mid 1980s and 1990s. Even today, more than 6 million people in Ethiopia are at risk for starvation so I think I had mentally prepared myself for seeing very desperate people. Instead, though, I found farmers and NGO workers full of hope for agriculture in their country. I think that’s been my greatest surprise about the continent in general — how vibrant, entrepreneurial, friendly, positive, and alive people are here. Six months and thirteen countries later, I’m now in Antananarivo, Madagascar, feeling more hopeful than ever that things are really changing.

The trip is surprising in a lot of different ways. While we’ve seen extreme poverty and environmental degradation during our trip, we’ve also been impressed by the level of knowledge about things like hunger, climate change, HIV/AIDS and other issues from the farmers we meet. The people in many of these countries know better than anyone how to solve the problems their facing, they just need attention–and support–from the international community. In Africa, maybe more than anywhere else we’ve traveled, a little funding can go a long way (if used the right way).

SR: What’s your biggest goal for the Nourishing the Planet trip?

DN: We’ve made a point during this trip to focus on stories of hope and success in agriculture. Most of what Americans hear about Africa is famine, conflict and HIV/AIDS, and we wanted to highlight the things that are going well on the continent. There’s a lot of hope out here – a lot of individuals and organizations doing terrific work – but that doesn’t necessarily translate into them receiving resources or funding.

We hope to create a roadmap for funders and the donor community and shine a big spotlight on the projects and innovations that seem to be working, so that they can be scaled up or replicated in other places. Please check out our site and sign up for our weekly newsletter — and if you know anyone or project we should visit on the continent, please email me at dnierenberg@worldwatch.org.

Thanks Danielle, and many thanks as well to Bernard Pollack for the beautiful photos!

Richard Haigh runs Enaleni Farm outside Durban, South Africa, raising endangered Zulu sheep, Nguni cattle (a breed indigenous to South Africa that is very resistant to pests), and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Check out this video from my conversation with Richard about his sheep, his garden, and the meaning behind the name of his farm:

“Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group” is a regular series where we profile advisors of the Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we’re featuring Sara J. Scherr, who is the President and CEO of Ecoagriculture Partners.

Affiliation: Ecoagriculture Partners

Location: Washington DC, United States

Bio: Sara J. Scherr is an agricultural and natural resource economist specializing in land management and policy in tropical developing countries. She’s the founder of Ecoagriculture Partners and currently serves as its President and CEO.

Recent work: Worldwatch Report: Mitigating Climate Change Through Food and Land Use; Farming with Nature: The Science and Practice of Ecoagriculture

On Nourishing the Planet: Nourishing the Planet will stimulate much-needed dialogue, among diverse groups, about the ways we can and should supply our food as population grows, climate patterns shift, and agricultural land use becomes more critical to healthy and resilient ecosystems.

What is the relationship between forest management and agriculture? Most rural landscapes are dynamic mosaics of forest and agricultural land uses. It is difficult to plan for the future of either farmlands or forests without thinking about their relationship. Agricultural development is the main driver of forest conversion, not just on the so-called ”agricultural frontier”, but within long-settled agricultural landscapes that are losing remaining habitat networks that are critical for biodiversity and watershed management. A key strategy for saving forest biodiversity and ecosystem services is to modify agricultural production systems to support those services. Meanwhile, well-managed forest in critical areas can benefit farming by protecting watersheds, providing farm inputs, moderating micro-climate, reducing flood risks, etc.

What role can agriculture play in climate change mitigation? Agriculture plays a pivotal role in climate change mitigation. To begin with, agriculture is responsible for a sizable share of total global emissions, so reducing emissions from farming is essential. Key ways of doing that are to reduce and improve efficiency of fertilizer use, to reduce use of fire as a practice, to minimize conversion of high-carbon vegetation to annual crops, to reduce tillage, and to improve livestock manure management. But at the same time, there is huge potential in the agriculture and land use sector to mitigate climate change through large-scale carbon sequestration, in ways that also improve production. Major mechanisms include increasing soil organic matter and soil vegetative cover; increasing the proportion of land planted to perennial crops and grasses that sequester and store carbon in roots and stems; improving pasture management; and restoring degraded watersheds through re-vegetation.

What immediate steps would you like to see taken to better integrate conscientious land use in agriculture? The single most important action—on the ground—would be to mobilize stakeholders from agriculture, environment and other key sectors in agricultural landscapes to establish platforms for dialogue and collaborative planning to find ways to meet agricultural production and income challenges while also sustaining ecosystems and biodiversity. The second most important action—in the policy arena—is to establish mechanisms for cross-sectoral policy and program planning across agriculture, water, environment, rural development, climate, etc. to identify areas where these need to be aligned, where they need to be coordinated and where they need to integrated to achieve multiple goals on the land.

Can you give an example from your research of a situation where farmers and the environment were equally benefiting from environmentally sustainable land use practices? We have identified many dozens of landscapes around the world where collaborative efforts to promote farm production and livelihoods and conserve key environmental values have been documented to achieve goals. Take a look at the Ecoagriculture Partners website in the section called “snapshots” for more examples.

(Photo: Bernard Pollack)

By Abby Massey

Noting that “1 billion people now suffer from hunger, the highest number in human history,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the urgent need to focus on the eradication of global hunger and poverty in a speech to the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) Governing Council in Rome on February 17, 2010. Although global agricultural funding increased last year, Mr. Ban called on even more resources to be directed toward innovations and technologies that will help improve food security (for examples of such innovations and technologies, see Farmers Learning From Farmers, Breeding Vegetables with Farmers in Mind, and Malawi’s Real Miracle). Ban also highlighted the importance of building partnerships with small-scale farmers and rural producers who will play an important role in the fight to alleviate poverty and hunger worldwide. For examples of ways that agriculture innovations can help mitigate hunger and poverty, see Investing in Urban Agriculture, How to Keep Kids ‘Down on the Farm,’ and Teacher Turned Farmer. . . Turned Teacher.

Abby Massey is a Food & Agriculture Intern with the Nourishing the Planet project.

This is the second in a two-part series about my visit to the Rainman Landcare Foundation in Durban, South Africa.

The Rainman Landcare Foundation, founded by Raymond Auerbach, is training farmers living outside of Durban on how to grow food without the use of artificial pesticides, insecticides, or fertilizers, as well as permaculture methods that efficiently use water and build up soils. “But it won’t be enough to just grow organic food,” says Raymond. “You also need to market it.” Check out this video where Raymond explains how, in addition to teaching farmers organic agriculture practices, the Rainman Foundation helps them establish links with the private sector:

Earthmother Organic Store and Restaurant is an example of a business that is also providing a link for farmers to the private sector.  Check out this video of Danielle explaining how the store and restaurant gives farmers, like those trained by the Rainman Landcare Foundation, a market for their produce.

Danielle (right) with Raymond Auerbach, founder of the Rainman Landcare Foundation. (Photo credit: Bernard Pollack)

 This is the first in a two-part series about my visit to the Rainman Landcare Foundation in Durban, South Africa.

Dr. Raymond Auerbach, the founder of Rainman Landcare Foundation, nearly bursts with enthusiasm when he talks about the growth of organic agriculture practices in South Africa over the years. Raymond, a donor to Worldwatch, contacted me after seeing the Nourishing the Planet Newsletter and invited me to visit his farm near Durban, South Africa.

The Foundation recently had to discontinue the trainings at its headquarters, which is also the home Raymond shares with his wife, Christina, because of lack of funding. Now, the Foundation works with farmers at their own farms, teaching them how to build swales to prevent erosion and runoff, use mulch to help protect soils, and make and utilize organic compost. “Compost is very much the heart of the farm,” says Auerbach, referring to how compost can eliminate the need for many expensive outside inputs, such as inorganic fertilizers.

Organic farmers in South Africa share some of the same problems as their colleagues in the United States, says Raymond. While Raymond and others fought for organic certification standards for farmers in the 1990s, the requirements are usually too expensive and cumbersome for many small, rural farmers. Certification can cost anywhere from 10,000-20,000 Rand (about $1,300- $2,600) and requires complicated paperwork, which can be difficult for semi-literate farmers. But by developing Participatory Guarantee Standards (PGS) for Organic Agriculture, which includes developing local standards and training local inspectors, while eliminating expensive certification fees for small growers, Raymond believes that poor, rural farmers can benefit from the growing demand in South Africa for organic food.

“But it won’t be enough to just grow organic food,” says Raymond. “You also need to market it.” In addition to teaching farmers organic agriculture practices, the Rainman Foundation helps them establish links with the private sector. In the past, says Raymond, “we were very good at teaching people how to grow organic produce, but terrible at marketing.” That’s changing however, thanks to Earthmother Organic Store and Restaurant in Durban. Earthmother helped the farmers start a Green Growers Association, giving them a link to other buyers and ensuring a market for their produce. These sorts of private sector relationships are important for making organic farming an economically viable option for farmers, not only for farmers outside of Durban, but all over Africa.

Thanks again to Raymond for inviting me to visit the Rainman Landcare Foundation. Please let us know if you have other ideas for projects for us to visit in the coming months in Southern and Western Africa.

Stay tuned for videos about my visit with Raymond Auerbach at the Rainman Landcare Foundation.

Danielle (left) with Madyo Couto. (Photo credit: Bernard Pollack)

Madyo Couto has a tough job. He works under the Mozambique Ministry of Tourism to help manage the country’s Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). These areas were initially established to help conserve and protect wildlife, but they’re now evolving to include other uses of land that aren’t specifically for conservation.

Madyo explained that in addition to linking the communities that live near or in conservation areas to the private sector to build lodges and other services for tourists, they’re also helping farmers establish honey projects to generate income. In many of national parks and other conservation areas, farmers resort to poaching and hunting wildlife to earn money. Establishing alternative—and profitable—sources of income is vital to protecting both agriculture and biodiversity in the TFCAs.

Stay tuned for more blogs about the links between wildlife conservation and agriculture.