22 November 2011 | Linton Nightingale
Food and agriculture

 

The challenges, present and future, to food supply and to the environment faced by many countries make sustainable intensification of agricultural production a major priority. Sustainable intensification, or ‘Save and Grow’, involves producing more while saving the natural resource base and contributing more to natural capital and the flow of environmental services.

Sustainable crop production intensification (SCPI) is FAO’s first strategic objective and is based on an ‘ecosystem approach’ to agricultural management. The ecosystem approach essentially uses inputs such as land, water, seed and fertiliser to complement the natural processes that support plant growth.

There is now widespread awareness that an ecosystem approach must underpin intensification of crop production to meet present and future food needs in a sustainable manner. A major FAO study of the future of food and farming up to 2050 has called for substantial changes throughout the world’s food system, including sustainable intensification to simultaneously raise yields, increase efficiency in the use of inputs and reduce negative environmental effects. The World Bank’s World Development Report and the UK’s Foresight Report have also called for a shift from current farming practices to sustainable agriculture systems capable of providing both significant productivity increases and enhanced ecosystem services.

Assessments in developing countries have shown how farming practices that conserve resources can improve the supply of environmental services and increase productivity. A review of agricultural development projects in 57 low-income countries, among them many Commonwealth nations, found that more efficient use of water, reduced use of pesticides and improvements in soil health have led to average crop yield increases of 79 per cent. Another study concluded that agricultural systems that conserve ecosystem services by using practices such as conservation agriculture, crop diversification, legume intensification and biological pest control perform as well as intensive, high-input systems.

Sustainable crop production intensification, when effectively implemented and supported, can help to meet the dual challenges of feeding the world’s population and saving the planet. Save and Grow will allow countries to plan, develop and manage agricultural production in a manner that addresses society’s needs and aspirations, without jeopardising the right of future generations to enjoy the full range of environmental goods and services. One example of a win-win situation – that benefits farmers as well as the environment – would be a judicious use of inputs such as mineral fertilisers and pesticides along with sustainable increases in agricultural productivity.

Effective fertiliser use

Judicious use of fertilisers is exemplified by a new technology being introduced to rice farmers in Bangladesh. Throughout Asia, farmers apply nitrogen fertiliser to rice before transplanting by applying urea onto wet soil, or into standing water, and then adding one or more top-dressings in the weeks after transplanting. Such practices are inefficient and environmentally harmful. The rice plants use only about a third of the fertiliser applied, while much of the remainder is lost. One way of reducing nitrogen (N) losses is to compress urea to form urea super granules (USG) which are inserted 7 to 10 cm deep in the soil. This urea deep placement (UDP) doubles the percentage of nitrogen taken up by plants, reduces N lost to the air and to surface water run-off and has produced average yield increases of 18 per cent in farmers’ fields.

Another example includes natural fertilisation which is provided in many African farming systems by the African acacia, Faidherbia albida. It is highly compatible with food crops because it does not compete with them for light, nutrients or water. In fact, the tree loses its nitrogen-rich leaves during the rainy season, thus providing a protective mulch which also serves as a natural fertiliser for crops. Zambia’s Conservation Farming Unit has reported unfertilised maize yields of 4.1 tonnes per hectare in the vicinity of Faidherbia trees, compared with 1.3 tonnes from maize grown nearby, but outside the tree canopy. Today, more than 160,000 farmers in Zambia are growing food crops on 300,000 hectares with Faidherbia. Similarly promising results have been observed in Malawi, where maize yields near Faidherbia trees are almost three times higher than yields outside their range.

Sustainable intensification

As well as bringing multiple benefits to food security and the environment, sustainable intensification has much to offer to small farmers and their families – who make up more than one-third of the global population – by enhancing their productivity, reducing costs, building resilience to stress and strengthening their capacity to manage risk. Reduced spending on agricultural inputs will free resources for investment in farms, farm families’ food, health and education. Increases to farmers’ incomes will be achieved at lower environmental costs, thus delivering both private and public benefits.

Ecosystem approaches to agricultural intensification have emerged over the past two decades as farmers began to adopt sustainable farming practices, such as integrated pest management and conservation agriculture, often building on traditional techniques. Sustainable crop production intensification (SCPI) is characterised by a more systemic approach to managing natural resources, and is founded on a set of science-based environmental, institutional and social principles.

First, the ecosystem approach needs to be applied throughout the food chain in order to increase efficiencies and strengthen the global food system. At the scale of cropping systems, management should be based on biological processes and integration of a range of plant species, as well as the judicious use of external inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides. SCPI is based on agricultural practices that include: 

• Maintaining healthy soil to enhance crop nutrition
• Cultivating a wider range of species and varieties in associations, rotations and sequences
• Using well adapted, high-yielding varieties and good quality seeds
• Integrated management of insect pests, diseases and weeds
• Efficient water management.

For optimal impact on productivity and sustainability, SCPI will need to be applicable to a wide variety of farming systems, and adaptable to specific agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts. It is recognised that appropriate management practices are critical to realising the benefits of ecosystem services while reducing less welcome effects from agricultural activities.

Second, translating the environmental principles into large-scale, co-ordinated programmes of action will require institutional support at both national and local levels. For governments, there is need to improve co-ordination and communication across all subsectors of agriculture, from production to processing and marketing.

Mechanisms must be developed to strengthen institutional linkages in order to improve the formulation of appropriate policies and strategies for SCPI, and to sustain the scaling up of pilot studies, farmers’ experiences and local and traditional knowledge. At the local level, farmer organisations have an important role to play. Smallholder farmers also need access to efficient and equitable markets, and incentives that encourage them to manage other ecosystem services in addition to food production.

Third, sustainable intensification is described as a process of ‘social learning’. It requires more knowledge than most conventional farming approaches. Significant strengthening of extension services, from both traditional and non-traditional sources, will therefore be needed to support its adoption by farmers. Mobilising social capital for SCPI will require people’s participation in local decision-making, ensuring decent and fair working conditions in agriculture, and – above all – the recognition of the critical role of women in agriculture. Reducing the gender gap in access to resources is shown to improve productivity and increase production, with significant gains in hunger reduction.

With appropriate policy and institutional support, adequate funding and good planning and management, SCPI can lead to significant productivity gains and contribute to ensuring food security for all, today and tomorrow.

 

This article was originally published in the Commonwealth Ministers: Reference Book 2011

To visit the Commonwealth Ministers website click here

 

 

Dr Jacques Diouf has been Director-General of the UN FAO since 1993. After agriculture and tropical agronomy degrees and a Ph.D from Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, he held important positions in Senegalese and international agricultural institutions, followed by political responsibilities and appointment as Senegalese Ambassador to the United Nations. He also served as Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Governor of the Central Bank for West African States, Dakar. He has served with a number of international institutions and produced several scientific publications.
 

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) works in four main areas. With an international staff of experts including agronomists, foresters, fisheries and livestock specialists, nutritionists, social scientists and economists it plays an important role in disseminating information in support of development and hunger eradication. It provides a neutral forum for international negotiations on major agricultural and food issues. It makes its policy expertise available to member governments and helps run tens of thousands of development projects round the world as well as implementing emergency operations when necessary to restore rural livelihoods and help people rebuild their lives.

 

Images: Climate Action Stock Photos

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