USAID/CIFOR Mini SummitWashington DC26th October 2016

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES AND FOOD SYSTEMS: EVIDENCE FOR INTEGRATION

CONTEXT• “Forests & landscapes” not a new concept for CIFOR – been part of

the strategic framework since establishment in 1993• However, “sustainable landscapes” only recently integrated into

development lexicon – GLF(s) have helped to do this• Forests, food and nutrition approach heavily rooted in NTFP paradigm,

sustainable forest management, agroforestry etc.From the CIFOR Strategy 2015-2025:• Integration of diverse communities of practice in the

sustainable landscapes debate: to be achieved by reconciling the principles of multifunctionality with the practice of managing sustainable landscapes for food security and nutrition and other benefits.

• Increased policy recognition of the to need to better integrate the forestry and agricultural sectors: to be achieved by using the landscape approach as the convening factor (c.f. simultaneous yet separate declarations on forestry and agriculture).

BEYOND PROJECT: TOWARDS A “BODY OF WORK”

Bushmeat Research Initiative

Operationalising the landscape approach

Agrarian Change in Tropical Landscapes

Sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition

Nutrition and trees - Africa

KANOPPI

Forests and fish

Ecosystem services and oil palm

Integrated watershed management

Drivers of food choice - Indonesia

THE ORIGIN OF THE “LANDSCAPE APPROACH”

1980s 1990s 2000s 2010 - present

1980s: Integrated Rural Development

1998: Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM)

1985 onwards: Integrated Conservation & Development projects (ICDPs)

Contributing Sciences:Ecosystem ManagementLandscape EcologyIsland biogeography

Conservation rooted frameworks e.g. “Ecosystem Approach”

1992: “Landscape Approach” first documented (Barrett 1992)

Last decade: (Integrated) Landscape Approach frameworks

MAPPING THE RESEARCH ON LANDSCAPE APPROACHES

26,303 scoping results in WoK using 35 revised

search terms

13,290 Publications captured with refined

search termsAll TITLES screened

271,974 results from initial 56 main search terms

trialed in WoK

1,171 Relevant studies All ABSTRACTS screened

382 Relevant studiesAll FULL TEXTS screened

82 Final studies of relevance

EMBRACING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH – INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE ACROSS SECTORS

“Despite some barriers to implementation, a landscape approach has considerable potential to meet social and environmental objectives at local scales while aiding national commitments to addressing ongoing global challenges.” Reed et al. 2016, Global Change Biology.

OPERATIONALISING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH: HOW?

THEORY PRACTICE

E.g. Ten principles Real integration

Local stakeholdersConservation: WCS, CI

Development: USAID LESTARIPrivate sector: e.g. APP, APRIL

Government: e.g. Ministry of Env. & Forestry

FOREST FUNCTIONS AND LINKS TO FSN

“Forests are a major repository of food and other resources that play a crucial role in food security. In addition, maintaining diversity in agricultural production systems leads to increased resilience to shocks particularly in the context of a changing climate”. Editorial: Arnold et al. 2011

“Our main findings can be summarized as follows: there is a statistically significant positive relationship between tree cover and dietary diversity; fruit and vegetable consumption increases with tree cover until a peak of 45% tree cover and then declines; and there is no relationship between animal source food consumption and tree cover. Overall our findings suggest that children in Africa who live in areas with more tree cover have more diverse and nutritious diets”. Ickowitz et al., 2014

“The relationship between biodiversity and nutrition suggests that we need to pay close attention to the potential of integrated approaches. We must also seek to understand what the implications are for policy and what the messages to policy makers should be. Primarily, it suggests there is a need for more systems and multi-sectorial approaches to address the contemporary concurrent challenges of sustainable food systems that include forestry, conservation, agriculture, food security and nutrition”. Powell et al., 2015

“Areas of swidden/agroforestry, natural forest, timber and agricultural tree crop plantations were all associated with more frequent consumption of food groups rich in micronutrients. The swidden/agroforestry land class was the landscape associated with more frequent consumption of the largest number of micronutrient rich food groups. Swidden cultivation in is often viewed as a backward practice that is an impediment to food security in Indonesia and destructive of the environment. If further research corroborates that swidden farming actually results in better nutrition than the practices that replace it, Indonesian policy makers may need to reconsider their views on this land use”. Ickowitz et al., 2016

"Our findings suggest that deforestation and land use change may have unforeseen consequences on the quality of local people’s diets. A better understanding of the contribution of forest foods to local diets is needed to understand the true impact that the loss of forests may have for nutrition in the face of agricultural expansion. If indeed forests substantially contribute to dietary quality in some areas as the results here imply, forest loss may result in unforeseen, adverse consequences on nutrition for local people." Rowland et al. 2016

FORESTS AND FOOD SECURITY: THE MISSING PIECE

SeasonalityOff-farm income

Agriculture

FORESTS SUSTAINING AGRICULTURE

How does landscape configuration maximise the provision of these goods and services for both forestry and food production???

Water regulation

Climate regulation

Pollination

Pest control

Foli et al. 2014; Reed et al. forthcoming

GENDER ISSUES“There is strong and clear evidence of the importance of including women in forest management groups for better resource governance and conservation outcomes”. Leisher et al. 2016

“Women and children collect more plant based forest foods while men are responsible for animal protein sources”. Sunderland et al. 2014

GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT

2017: LAUNCH OF HLPE REPORT• Much of the recent work of our

theme has influenced the drafting of the HLPE Report: “Sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition” for the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)

• At e-consultation stage, many individuals, civil society and governments provided formal review and feedback: e.g. Russian Federation, Australia, Brazil, Nigeria, India, US & the Netherlands

• Report will be released in February 2017 and then officially launched at CFS Annual Congress in October

• Probably greatest opportunity to get forests and food security and nutrition onto global food security agenda and policy arena

ALIGNMENT WITH USAID STRATEGIC PRIORITIES – BIODIVERSITYUSAID Biodiversity Policy, 2014“The poor management of both forests and fisheries means that these precious resources will not meet human demand over the long term – compromising global food security and straining the resilience of these systems and society”. Rajiv Shah, Administrator• “Integrate biodiversity as an essential component of human development”• “ Recognizing and responding to the different behaviors, roles, and

responsibilities of men and women is critical… need a gender-sensitive approach to biodiversity conservation”

• “Embark on evidence-based action and learning efforts with a focus on the nexus of biodiversity and other development sectors”

• “Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems provide goods and services critical to human well-being (clean water, food, reduced natural disaster risk) and can help sustain development outcomes”

• “Apply systems thinking and integrated approaches”• “Identification and pursuit of opportunities for integration of biodiversity

with targeted sectors of agriculture, food security, climate change, health, economic growth, and trade”

ALIGNMENT WITH USAID STRATEGIC PRIORITIES – FOOD SECURITYGlobal Food Security Strategy 2017-2021• “Inclusive and sustainable agriculture-led

economic growth”• “Strengthened resilience among people

and [food] systems”• “A well nourished population (putting

nutrition before production), especially women and children”

• “Ensuring a sustainable food and agricultural system”

• “..aims to break silos, integrating programming across sectors and agencies”

• “Evidence-based approach on what works…. for maximum results”

• IR4: Increased sustainable productivity especially through climate smart approaches

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THANK YOU!!