This document discusses the links between biodiversity and food security. It notes that a rapid decline in biodiversity threatens food security by reducing crop diversity and genetic resources. However, biodiversity can also support food security through practices like agroforestry and mixed crop-livestock systems. The challenges of population growth, climate change, and low agricultural investment are also examined in relation to maintaining biodiversity and ensuring sustainable food production.

1. FOOD SECURITY AND
BIO-DIVERSITY

2. 6-Oct-14
2
CONTENT
 Introduction to Food Security
 Linking Biodiversity with Food Security
 Challenges to biodiversity friendly agriculture
 Use of Biodiversity in Food and Agriculture in practice
 Some International Conventions on Issues of Food
Security and Biodiversity
 Role of Indian Government
 Recommendations
 Conclusion

3. CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
Four of major global challenges identified by the
UN are:
Energy crisis
Climate change
Food insecurity
Loss of biodiversity

4. Food Security - Meaning
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
preference for an active and healthy life.
(World Food Summit, Rome, 1996)

5. Four dimensions of Food Security
Food
Security
Physical Availability of Food
The supply side, determined by the level
of food production, stock level & net trade.
Economic & Physical access to Food
Adequate supply of food does not guarantee household level food
security. Food access depends on incomes, expenditure, markets &
prices in achieving food security objectives
Food Utilization
The way the body makes the most of various nutrients in the food.
Involves care & feeding practices, food preparation, diversity of diet
& intra-household distribution of food.
Stability of the other 3 dimensions over time
Access on a periodic basis. Weather, political conditions or
economic factors have an impact on food security status.

6. Stark Realties
▪ India ranked 10th largest Economy of world on nominal GDP basis
and 3rd largest on economy on PPP(purchasing power parity) basis
But India has…………..
• 29% of the 872.9 million undernourished people (FAO)
• 49% of the world’s underweight children (WHO)
• 34% of the world’s stunted children (WHO)
• Over 46% undernourished children (WHO)
• India is ranked 67 way below neighboring countries
like China, Nepal & Pakistan in 2011 Global Hunger Index by the
IFPRI.

7. ▪ According to the latest data on child under nutrition from 2005–10, India
ranked second to last on child underweight out of 129
countries— below Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
OnlyTimor-Leste had a higher rate of underweight children.
▪ 21% of India’s population undernourished,
▪ nearly 44%of below the age of 5 children are underweight

8. Performance on Global Hunger Index
Year Rank in Hunger
index
Out of total
no. of
countries
Score Status
1990 31.73 Alarming
2007 94 118 25.03. Alarming
2008 66 88 23.70 Alarming
2009 65 88 23.90 Alarming
2010 67 84 24.10 Alarming
2011 67 81 24.2 Alarming
2012 65 79 22.9 Alarming
Source:-Global Hunger Report, IFPRI

9. Projected Scenario of 2020
Table No. 20 (in million tonnes)
Crop Projected
demand
during 2020
by NCAP
Estimated
production for
2020 (estimated
by presenter )
Demand
projected for
Vision 2020 (by
planning
commission)
Supply
projection for
scenario of
Business as
usual (BAU)
Supply
projection for
Best case
scenario (BCS)
Rice 130 117.08 119 125 207
Wheat 110 105.64 92 108 173
Coarse grains 34.92 15.6 13 14
Total Cereals 236.99 262.2 226.6 246 394
Pulses 43.61 42.8 19.5 16 23
Total food
grain
280.6 278.62 246.1 262 417
Oilseed 85.33 40.62
Source: Policy Brief on demand for foodgrains during
2020,Ramesh Chand, NCAP, New Delhi

10. WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?
The full range of variety and variability within and among living
organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur.
It encompasses:
Ecosystem or community diversity
Species diversity
Genetic diversity
(US Congressional Biodiversity Act, 1990)

11. Agro-biodiversity
Although the term "agricultural biodiversity" is relatively new - it has come into wide use
in recent years as evidenced by bibliographic references - the concept itself is quite old.
It is the result of the careful selection and inventive developments of farmers, herders
and fishers over millennia. Agricultural biodiversity is a vital sub-set of biodiversity. It is a
creation of humankind whose food and livelihood security depend on the sustained
management of those diverse biological resources that are important for food and
agriculture. Agricultural biodiversity, also known as agro-biodiversity or the genetic
resources for food and agriculture, includes:
Harvested crop varieties, livestock breeds, fish species and non- domesticated ('wild')
resources within field, forest, rangeland and in aquatic ecosystems;
Non-harvested species within production ecosystems that support food provision,
including soil micro-biota, pollinators and so on; and
Non-harvested species in the wider environment that support food production
ecosystems (agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic ecosystems).

12. COMPONENTS OF AGROBIODIVERSITY

13. Agro-ecosystems comprise poly-cultures, monocultures, and mixed systems, including
crop-livestock systems (rice - fish), agro-forestry, agro-silvo-pastoral systems,
aquaculture as well as rangelands, pastures and fallow lands.
 Their interactions with human activities, including socio-economic activity and socio-cultural
diversity, are determinant.
 Some of the key functions for maintaining stable, robust, productive and sustainable
agro-ecosystems may include the following : breakdown of organic matter and recycling
of nutrients to maintain soil fertility and sustain plant and consequently animal growth;
breakdown of pollutants and maintenance of a clean and healthy atmosphere;
moderation of climatic effects such as maintaining rainfall patterns and modulation of
the water cycle and the absorption of solar energy by the land and its subsequent
release;
maintenance and stability of productive vegetative, fish and animal populations and the
limitation of invasion by harmful or less useful species;
protection and conservation of soil and water resources, for example through a
vegetative cover and appropriate management practices, and the consequent
maintenance of the integrity of landscapes and habitats;
sequestration of CO2 by plants.

14. Current Scenario
 75% of the world’s food generated from only 12 plant and 5
animal species
 Only three crops (rice, maize and wheat) contribute ~ 60% of
calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants

15.  Rapid decline in biodiversity is a threat to food security
through
– Introduction of exotic species
– Loss of gene pool
– Neglected/underutilized species
– Monocultures
– Biofuels

16. BIODIVERSITY AND FOOD SECURITY
 Since the 1900s, 75 % of plant genetic diversity has been
lost as farmers have worldwide left their multiple local
varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding
varieties
 These varieties require more water, high input of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides which deteriorate the environment
– increased salinity
– increased waterlogging
– depletion of nutrients
 Use of few genetically modified varieties and breeds in
monocultures has replaced well-adapted old cultivars
 30 % of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction; six breeds
are lost each month

17. INTRODUCED SPECIES/CROPS
 Introduced species rank second to habitat destruction in
threatening the biodiversity
 They compete with native flora/fauna for resources and
competitively exclude native species
 They rapidly invade valuable cultivated lands (Mesquite)
 Accompany new pests and weeds (Mealybug infestation)
 Retard seed germination and plant growth of native plants by
releasing allelopathic chemicals (Eucalyptus & Parthenium)

18. Mealybug
INTRODUCED SPECIES/CROPS
Mealybug infestation
Eucalyptus
Prosopis glandulosa
Parthenium

19. Challenges to biodiversity friendly agriculture
Population growth
The world’s population is expected to grow to nine billion by the year 2050 . If the
current model of commercialised monoculture is to be followed, feeding the global
population is stated to require the conversion of yet more wild lands, at the expense
of biodiversity and ecosystem service provision .
It is estimated that a billion hectares of natural habitat will need to be converted to
agricultural production, especially once the effects of climate change on crop yields
are taken into account.
Demand for meat is increasing globally, particularly from
the evergrowing urban populations of India and China, and as
the world becomes increasingly prosperous.
 Meat production is a notoriously inefficient use of resources
and the implications of this are that a greater proportion of
grains and oilseeds are being used to feed livestock
and poultry, rather than people .

20. Climate change
Climate change and its potential impacts represent one of the greatest contemporary
threats to food security.
 Extreme and unpredictable weather affects crop yields and it is estimated that
agricultural yields in Africa alone could decline by more than 30 percent by
2050 .Such yield decline will primarily affect the world’s poor, who will not only lose
direct access to food but are less capable of absorbing the global commodity price
changes that characterise a reduction in supply.
 Climate-related events are being blamed for the recent spike in the price of staple
foods .

21. Bio-diverse multi-functional landscapes are more resilient
to extreme weather effects and can provide a “natural insurance
policy against climate change” .
Greater crop diversification by integrating a diversity of crops and varieties
into small-holder systems in particular will increase resilience to severe
changes in weather patterns leading to calls for “sustainable agriculture” .
More diverse agricultural systems not only increase resilience against
extreme climate-related events but can also increase yields.
Small scale shifting cultivators have been practicing biodiversity
friendly for generations and farmers around the world clearly understand and
use agro-biodiversity to mitigate against environmental and climatic
uncertainty.

22. Agricultural investment
International funding for agricultural development has dropped significantly over
the last decade and is now at an historic low, representing around 3% of total
overseas aid.
Crop yields have fallen in many regions primarily due to declining investments
in agricultural research, irrigation and infrastructure.
Structural adjustment programmes also disaggregated agriculture from wider
natural resource management (NRM) initiatives. Thus NRM and agriculture
have been artificially divided. Unfortunately for the millions of small-holder farmers
who are responsible for the vast majority of food production, bio-cultural diversity
and agricultural production these lines are considerably less well defined.

24. BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY
 Currently, biofuels have been praised as a solution to energy
insecurity and climate change
 Increased conversion of agricultural commodities to biofuels
plays a key role in increasing international food prices
(United Nations, 2007)
 Approximately 70-75% of the increase in food commodity
prices from 2002 to 2008 was mainly due to biofuels (World
Bank )
 Subsidies and other fiscal tools aimed at promoting the use
of biofuels, have decisively contributed to a rising demand
for sugar, maize, wheat, oilseeds, and palm oil
 A food/fuel competition could be observed as global wheat
and maize stocks are declining considerably

25. BIOFUELS AND FOOD SECURITY
http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/200/eu-and-uks-progress-to-biofuel-introduction

26. ANTHROPOGENIC THREATS
 Biodiversity is being eroded through:
– Soil mismanagement (erosion, pollution)
– Salinization of irrigated areas
– Dry-land degradation from overgrazing
– Over-extraction of ground water
– increasing susceptibility to diseases and pests
Erosion Salinization Drought Deep water-table Overgrazing

27. The use of biodiversity for food
and agriculture in practice
Agro-forestry
Agro-forestry is the use of trees and shrubs in crop or animal production and land
management systems.
It is estimated that trees occur on 46% of all agricultural lands and support 30% of
all rural populations . Trees are used in many traditional and modern farming and
rangeland systems.
 Agro-forestry systems and practices come in many forms, including improved
fallows, taungya (growing annual agricultural crops during the establishment of a
forest plantation), home gardens, growing multi-purpose trees and shrubs, boundary
planting, farm woodlots, orchards, plantation/crop combinations.

29. The multi-species composition of home gardens contributes to efficient
nutrient cycling and resource use and conserves biodiversity while providing
relatively secure livelihood support through product diversification .
 Alley cropping involves the cultivation of fast-growing legume trees in rows,
usually 4– 5 metres apart within the fields where food crops are grown.
Many local, underutilized and neglected tree species are used
for this purpose. Many are leguminous, with the added benefit of fixing
atmospheric nitrogen.
The tree–crop combination enhances the efficiency of land use and reduces
the need for fallow periods, making continuous cultivation possible and
sustainable.
The use of trees and shrubs in agricultural systems helps to tackle the triple
challenge of securing food security, reducing the vulnerability and increasing
the adaptability of agricultural systems to climate change, and mitigating
climate change.

30. Crop and livestock production
. Mixed systems enable the integration of different enterprises on the
farm; livestock provide draught power and manure, while crop residues are
fed to livestock. Deriving income from multiple sources (livestock and
crops) offers farmers options for buffering crop failures or animal disease
outbreaks .
 In India, improved dual-purpose varieties of sorghum and millet
have allowed smallholders to increase the milk production of buffalos and
cows by up to 50% without reducing the grain output from their crops
In the upland areas of the midlands of Sri Lanka, monoculture coconut
systems were replaced by a diversified system combining tree crops
(coconut and fruits), root crops and herbs with dairy cattle, goats and
poultry, with the main goal of increasing farm income.

31. Crop and fish production
fish culture and rice farming are complementary
activities:
 fish not only play a direct role in regulating pest
populations but also provide additional income
which raises the economic threshold for chemical
control of rice pests to a higher level than would be
considered critical in rice monocultures.
Indigenous fish species and breeds, such as
dhela (Rohtee cotio) and thai sarpunti
(Barbonymus gonionotus) in Bangladesh, respond
better in mixed culture than commonly cultured
breeds.
Integrated culture not only yields a variety of
products from the same unit of land but also
increases rice yields (both grain and straw),
particularly on poorer soils and unfertilized crops

32. Pollination
Animal pollination provides a highly effective pollination
service for better seed set and fruit quality and quantity,
particularly pollination by wild bees and honey bees.
Pollinators contribute to the yield and quality of output of at
least 70% of the major crops used directly by humans for food
and these crops contribute about 35% of the total amount of
food produced.
 In some instances pollinator diversity may be even more
important than pollinator density as has been reported for
almond, coffee ,pumpkin, and sunflower grown for hybrid seed
production .
 In this last study, the pollination efficiency of honey bee
foragers was enhanced up to 5 times by the presence of wild
bees.

33. MONOCULTURE VS POLYCULTURE
 A key component of maintenance of biodiversity is the
introduction and maintenance of high genetic diversity in the
fields
 Genetically different plants can complement each other
using different resource niches (long-rooted and shallow
rooted crops), thereby increasing overall resource use
efficiency
 This idea leads to the hypothesis that the advantage of using
crop diversity over using monocultures may increase along a
gradient of increasing environmental variability
 In this regard, Döring et al. (2010) showed that the yield
advantage of diverse populations over monocultures was
particularly prevalent under stress conditions, i.e. when the
environment affects yields negatively

34. MONOCULTURE VS POLYCULTURE
http://www.efrc.com/manage/authincludes/article_uploads/Research/Plant breeding/WBL web.pdf

35. Selected policy and legislative frameworks
related to biodiversity and food security:
Universal Declaration on Human Rights Article 25: “Everyone has the
right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and well-being of himself and of his family, including food”.
Efforts to link biodiversity, food and nutrition issues are expected to contribute to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG),
in particular number 1C:
which aims to “reduce by half, by 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from
hunger”.
Also linked to Goal 7A: “Integrate the principles of sustainable development and reverse
the loss of environmental resources”.

36. Convention of Biological Diversity: Main conclusions on the CBD cross-cutting
initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition:
“Biodiversity is essential for food security and nutrition and offers key options for
sustainable livelihoods.
Existing knowledge warrants the sustainable use of biodiversity in food security and
nutrition programmes as a contribution to the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals”.

37. International Convention on Economic Cultural and Social Rights : the right to
adequate food from productive
land or other natural resources.: the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
Conditions to achieve this
include access to adequate food and nutrition.
FAO’s Strategic Framework 2000–2015 stipulates that the Organization is
expected to take fully into account “progress
made in further developing a rights-based approach to food security” in carrying out its
mission “helping to build a food and secure world for present and future generations.”
Chennai Declaration: “Biodiversity is the raw material for food and health security,
as well as for the biotechnology industry,
and it must be conserved to ensure that it can continue in this function so that farming
systems become climate resilient”.

38. IFPRI 2020 Vision: “is a world where every person has access to
sufficient food to sustain a healthy and productive life, where
malnutrition is absent and where food originates from effective, efficient and
low-cost food systems that are compatible with
the sustainable use of natural resources”.
Rome Declaration on World Food Security: “Agricultural production
increases need to be achieved while ensuring both
productive capacity, sustainable management of natural resources and
protection of the environment”

39. While humankind has used more than 7,000 plant species for
food purposes, agricultural research has concentrated on
very few of these species. Over half of the protein and food
energy we consume is now met by three crops only: maize,
wheat and rice. The narrowing base of global food and
nutrition security limits people’s livelihood options,
particularly for those living in developing countries. While
major crops and commodities receive considerable attention
in national and international agricultural research and
development policies, other crops and species are largely
ignored and their sustainable conservation and use is in
jeopardy.

40. To achieve the MDG on extreme poverty and hunger,
policy-makers must pay greater attention to the
cultivation and use of plant biodiversity, including
locally important crops, such as millets, legumes,
leafy vegetables, tubers, fruits and medicinal and
aromatic plants.

41. Govt. Measures for Food
Security(in India)
•National Food Security Mission
•Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
•Mid Day Meal
•ICDS (integrated Child Development Scheme),
•National Food Security Act 2013.

42. National Food Security Mission
•NFSM was launched in Aug,2007 by
GOI with an aim of achieving an
additional production of 10,8 and 2
million tonnes of paddy, wheat and
pulses respectively by the end of
2011-12.
•A sum of Rs. 3381 crore has been
spent till 31March, 2011.
Source: Economic Survey,2013

43. Performance of NFSM
▪ Following table below shows the performance of Mission over
different benchmarks.
Table No.21 ( in million tonnes)
benchmark
years
Crop
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09
Paddy 10.97 7.63 5.14
wheat 18.09 15.33 13.22
pulses 3.01 2.45 2.64
Note: Calculated by presenter based on data available from
RBI hand book of Indian Economy, 2011-12

44. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana
•Started in 2007-08 for incentivizing states to enhance
public investment to achieve 4% growth rate in agriculture
and allied sectors during the 11th five year plan. During 2007-
11 an amount of Rs.14598 was released.
Table No. 22
2007-08 2008-09 2009-
10
2010-11 2011-12
Growth in GDP for
Agriculture and allied
Sectors (%), base year
2004-05
5.8 0.1 0.8 7.9 3.6
Source:-Economic Survey,2013

45. National Food Security Act 2013
•50% of urban and 75% of rural population be
covered under Act.
•Guarantees providing 5 kg food grain per person
per month at a subsidised rate to 67% of the
country's population.
•82 crore people in both urban and rural areas.
•Food grains would include rice, wheat and millet
at Rs.3, Rs.2 and Rs.1 per kg, respectively.

46. •In year 2011-12 FCI procured 66.35 million
tonnes of Food grains and off take was 56.28
million tonnes. The stock at the end of the
period was 53.44 million tonnes. Hence the
requirement of 61 million tonnes can be met
easily without impacting the functioning of
Food grain markets.

47. THANK YOU