Importance of Biodiversity for agricultural intensification and climate change adaptation in Ethiopia

Gemedo Dalle (PhD)Institute of Biodiversity Conservation

Introduction

• According to the Climate Resilient Green Economy Plan, Ethiopia Follows a green growth path that fosters development and sustainability

• Agriculture: Improving crop and livestock production practices for higher food security and farmer income while reducing emissions

Introduction ---

• Biodiversity is crucial to human wellbeing, sustainable development and poverty reduction.

• Biodiversity contributes directly (through provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services) and indirectly (through supporting ecosystem services

• Freedom of choice

Introduction---

• Our food and energy security strongly depend on biodiversity

• so does our vulnerability to natural hazards such as fires and flooding.

• Biodiversity loss has negative effects on our health, material wealth and it largely limits our freedom of choice.

• Biodiversity loss also strongly influences our social relations.

Practical Challenges

• Agricultural production will need to deal with major challenges over the next 40 years.

• Production will need to increase by about 70 % to cope up with population increases and changed demands for meat, dairy and other products.

• There will be increased competition for land and water from growing urban populations.

Practical Challenges ---

• Climate change is expected to cause substantial reductions in potential crop production

• Localized extreme events and sudden pest and disease outbreaks are already resulting in greater unpredictability of production

Some Facts• Biodiversity is essential to global food security

and nutrition and also serves as a safety-net to poor households during times of crisis.

• Increased diversity of genes within species e.g. as represented by livestock breeds or strains of plants, reduces risk from diseases and increases potential to adapt to changing climates.

Biodiversity Facts

• More than 70,000 plant species are used in traditional and modern medicine.

• The value of global ecosystem services is estimated at $16-$64 trillion.

Role of Biodiversity

• Biological diversity and a diversity of approach and method helps people to adapt to change (including climate change).

• Diversity reduces risks and • Enhances the flexibility of people’s responses,

making it more likely that individuals’ and communities’ needs will be met.

Role of Biodiversity ---

• conservation and sustainable use of the diversity of cultivated plants and domestic animal breeds are fundamental for achieving the first Millennium Development Goal–to eradicate extreme poverty and

hunger

Biodiversity Conservation and agricultural intensification

• Conservation of biological diversity must be reconciled with agricultural intensification.–Plant breeding and commercial seed

production have contributed substantially to the reduction of genetic diversity within individual species.

Biodiversity Conservation and agricultural intensification ---

• The number of varieties of any given crop is constantly decreasing and the varieties are becoming increasingly uniform, while certain characteristics are being lost during the process.

• In view of the necessity of adapting to climate change and of ensuring global food security, this ‘genetic erosion’ threatens the existence of the global population.

Intensification---

• To feed the ever increasing world population, further agricultural intensification is required.

• The potential to expand agricultural land to feed this population, however, is very limited.

• In order for intensification to be sustainable, agriculture must start using nutrients and energy more efficiently, it must sustain ecosystems and their functions while conserving biodiversity, and it has to be climate-friendly.

Intensification---

• Harmonising intensification and sustainability can most easily be achieved in the resource poor areas farmed by peasants – On smallholdings

• One possibility for increasing the yield potential of traditionally farmed lands is plant breeding, another is increasing onfarm species diversity. – These are key steps to improving food security.

Contribution of local farmers’ varieties to agricultural intensification

• In order to generate new varieties, breeders systematically utilise farmers’ local varieties that are genetically diverse and have adapted ecologically.

• This involves bringing together seed from different origins and recombining them through crossbreeding.

Farmer’s varieties ----

• The resulting mixtures, also known as ‘composite cross populations’, can also be crossed with high yielding varieties.

• From these crosses, the best progenies are selected and again propagated as bulk.

• In this manner, the populations are subjected to natural and artificial selection processes, ultimately resulting in a modern local variety with good performance characteristics.

Farmer’s varieties ----

• For example, it has been shown that composite cross populations of barley in Syria are superior to the leading high yielding varieties, because they adapt very well to various ecological conditions.

• Furthermore, scientists conclude that natural selection favours genotypes that also produce high yields under fluctuating environmental conditions.

Farmer’s varieties ----

• Another important characteristic of crossbred populations is their better disease resistance.

• With genetically diverse populations, disease-induced yield losses can be limited.

• These populations adapt well to mutating pathogens.

Farmer’s varieties ----

• The coevolution of plants and diseases in genetically diverse populations is an effective, self-regulating mechanism that maintains the disease resistance of the plant.

• As a general rule, this characteristic is not found in genetically uniform crop plants.– Monoculture????

Farmer’s varieties ----

• Evolutionary breeding with composite crossbred populations is a very promising method for agricultural intensification, particularly under ecologically disadvantageous conditions, and for adapting crops to climate change-induced environmental changes.

Genetic variation: farm animals

• The genetic variation that exists among farm animals is a basic requirement for efficient development and improvement of populations.

• It also indicates whether a population can withstand and live with changes in the environment, which can be unpredictable.

farm animals ---

• The demand for food products of more diversified types and origin is increasing globally and maintenance of sufficient genetic variation is a prerequisite for this.

• Farm animals are also important in national and regional politics through their contributions to trade and landscape maintenance and represent historical and cultural value.

Food security

• Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

• The four pillars of food security are: availability, stability of supply, access and utilization.

Food security

• Farmer’ varieties and Farm animals play a major role in global food supply.

• Calculations done by FAO indicate that 30 – 40% of the energy intake of all humans derives from farm animal products and this proportion is increasing gradually over time.

World Food Summit Declaration on improving food security: biodiversity

• Implement sustainable practices, including responsible fisheries, improved resource use, protection of the environment, conservation of the natural resource base and enhanced use of ecosystem services.

• Ensure better management of the biodiversity associated with food and agriculture

Crop–livestock systems• Crop–livestock systems provide opportunities

for:– diversification, – nutrient cycling and – greater energy efficiency

• Mixed systems enable the integration of different enterprises on the farm; livestock provide draught power and manure, while crop residues are fed to livestock.

Crop-livestock ---

• Deriving income from multiple sources (livestock and crops) offers farmers options for buffering crop failures or animal disease outbreaks

• acts as a risk management strategy

The benefits of diversity and multi-species approaches

• The crop and livestock systems that are often the focus of agricultural improvement are, in practice, parts of a larger landscape that includes a wide range of wild, weedy and feral species that can play key roles in ensuring agricultural production and ecosystem function.

The benefits of diversity and multi-species approaches

• Wild species that are needed for agriculture include pollinator species, crop wild relatives and soil biota.

• Wildlife in the form of animals consumed as bushmeat, wild fruit species or other species occurring in and around agricultural fields can play an important role in feeding the population in various regions

Benefits of biodiverse agroecology to adaptation• Yield increases 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)

• The use of multi-species and multi-breed herds and flocks is one strategy that many traditional livestock farmers use to maintain high diversity in on-farm niches and to buffer against climatic and economic adversities

• Different breeds and species make different contributions to livelihoods through provision of food, fibre, fertilizer, cash income, draught power and transportation.

• Generally, the more complex, diverse and risk-prone peasant livelihood systems are, the more they will need plant and animal genetic resources that are flexible, resistant and diverse in order to perform the required functions.

Climate Change---

• The ability to withstand shocks and stresses is becoming increasingly important as climate change alters seasonal temperature and rainfall patterns, disease and pest profiles and brings more frequent extreme weather events including droughts and floods.

• The resilience of agricultural systems to these changes is enhanced through diverse practices that reduce risks, enrich natural resources and build synergies between different farm species and activities.

Common practices include:

• Complex systems– complex and diversified systems allow crops to

reach acceptable productivity levels in environmentally stressful conditions and are less vulnerable to catastrophic loss because they grow a wide range of crops in different spatial arrangements.

• Use of local genetic diversity– diversity provides insurance against diseases and

emerging pathogens and future environmental change.

– Mixed crop varieties reduce the spread of disease-carrying spores and modify environmental conditions so that they are less favourable to the spread of certain pathogens.

• Soil organic matter enhancement– crop rotation, composting, green manures and

cover crops all build active organic matter, sustaining the productivity of agricultural systems, in particular in the face of droughts.

• Multiple cropping or polyculture systems– diverse plant communities are more resistant to

disturbance and more resilient to environmental perturbations.

– Intercropping, which breaks down the monoculture structure, can provide pest control benefits, weed control advantages, reduced wind erosion, and improved water infiltration.

Yield per hectare?

• A simple focus of crop yields per hectare is misleading: agroecological approaches in particular demand a focus on the output of the whole farm, including:– livestock that are an integral part of the

agroecology – Growing crops with trees or – including goats or poultry are all common practices

and all contribute to the total farm output beyond crop yields.

Conclusion

• Agricultural biodiversity contribute to improved pest and disease control, nutrient availability and water use and increased yields and the production of food with better nutritional content

• Agricultural intensification can be accomplished only if biodiversity is better conserved and managed.

Conclusion---

• Biodiversity is the foundation of ecosystem services to which human well-being is intimately linked.

• Biodiversity is necessary to:– improve sustainability and – cope with climate change

• Key weapon in the fight against climate change• Biodiversity conservation is part of the solution

to climate change