Global Agriculture Sustainability May08

El Marqués de Tarrazú May 20th, 2008 “ Sustaining Agriculture: Sustaining life” Nestl é Team

Ecosystems water biodiversity climate - carbon food – fuel - fiber regulation - mitigation cultural-aesthetic

Ecosystem Services

State of Global Ecosystem Services Of the 24 provisioning, regulating and cultural services examined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 15 were identified as being degraded or used unsustainably (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005a). Only four services were identified as having been enhanced over the past 50 years, and three of those (crops, livestock and aquaculture) were related to food production.

Global distribution of agriculture
Total land available 13 billion hectares
5 billion hectares allocated to crops and pasture (~40 %)
4 billion hectares allocated to forests and woodlands
Other:
Urban, wetlands, deserts, mountains, glaciers
(Foley et al. 2005) Percentage of land cover allocated to: crops pastures

Global distribution of agriculture and land cover change
50 % of original forested cover now lost to agriculture
Each year, 13 million ha converted to agriculture mainly from forests
Currently, agriculture coupled with wood extraction and infrastructure expansion are the primary drivers of loss of tropical forests.
(Foley et al. 2005) Percentage of land cover allocated to: crops pastures

Agriculture and land cover change: effects
33 % of increase of CO2 since 1950 through conversion of forests
30 % of Earth’s net primary productivity is now appropriated for human use
Global loss of biodiversity through loss of forested lands and agricultural pollution

Agriculture and land cover change

Agriculture and land cover change: the future
Population projected to increase from under 6 billion people to over 9 billion by 2080.
People are becoming more affluent and increasing net consumption of food and of inefficient food products
Current problem of undernourishment that needs to be addressed:
820 million people are under nourished today
Increasing by 34 million in sub-Saharan Africa and 23 million in South and West Asia between 1992 and 2002.
We need more food and a better distribution of food resources

Agriculture and land cover change: the future
Other competing extractive demands for the landscape beyond food:
Biofuels
24 % of US Corn now dedicated to biofuels
Large producing agricultural countries such as Brazil dedicating many resources to conversion to biofuels
National and regional targets set for biofuels
Wood fiber, fuel

Current status of land degradation Degradation has had significant impacts on the productivity of about 16 percent of the globe's agricultural land Percentage of agricultural land seriously degraded: ~ 40 % globally ~ 75 % in Central America ~ 20 % in Africa (mostly pasture) ~ 11 % in Asia (International Food Policy Research Institute)

Agriculture: where increase will come from
Increased use and intensification of existing agricultural lands (80 % of needs)
Technological solutions
GM crops,
drip irrigation
Increased fertilizer use in Africa
(Re) Conversion of natural habitat (primarily forests) into agricultural lands (20 %)
South America (primarily the Amazon basin)
Sub-Saharan Africa (West and Central Africa)
Conservation Reserves

1.1 billion people live within Conservation International’s 25 biodiversity "hot spots".
Levels of malnutrition and hunger are high in at least 16 of the biodiversity "hot spots".
Human population is growing faster in 19 of the 25 biodiversity "hot spots” than in the rest of the world.
Rate of population growth is twice as high in tropical wilderness areas than the worldwide average.
Biodiversity and Agriculture: overlap in needs

Giant Armadillo distribution around Emas NP

Direct observations Camera traps Radio telemetry N = 591 Jaguar distribution around Emas NP

70 % of water withdrawl goes to agricultural irrigation
More than 1.2 billion people live in areas of physical water scarcity (Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, 2007), and by 2025 over 3 billion people are likely to experience water stress (UNDP, 2006)
Water and Agriculture: overlap in needs

¿WHAT FARMERS CAN CHANGE? From single farm systems to ecosystems

Agriculture: from single service to multi service Foley et al 2005

Contrasting land use systems Source: Francis 1989

Agriculture: how do we get there?

In summary – FAO 2007 report
Agriculture employs more people and uses more land and water than any other human activity. It has the potential to degrade the Earth’s land, water, atmosphere and biological resources – or to enhance them – depending on the decisions made by the more than 2 billion people whose livelihoods depend directly on crops, livestock, fisheries or forests.

Expanding Sustainable Agriculture

Task Force recommendations for investments (from Task Force on Environmental Sustainability (Millenium Development projct 2005)
Increase use of sustainable agricultural techniques to preserve natural assets
Improve soils
Water management
Traditional agricultural knowledge
Protect crop Genetic diversity
Research techniques
Rehabilitate degraded agricultural lands
Protect surrounding natural habitats

Contrasting land use systems Source: Simpson & Orgozaly, 1986

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Global Agriculture Sustainability May08

by Matthew Farber on Aug 17, 2009

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