Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Re: Aprovechar los beneficios de los servicios ecosistémicos para una intensificación ecológica eficaz en la agricultura

The case studies address your Qs 1 & 2::


The Oakland Institute* released 33 case studies that shed light on the tremendous success of producer communities following their agro ecology in the face of climate change, hunger, malnutrition, suicides and poverty.

"Released ahead of the COP21 Conference in Paris, these case studies provide irrefutable facts and figures on how agricultural transformation-respectful of the rural poor producer communities and the environment-can yield immense economic, social, nutrition, health and food security benefits while ensuring climate justice and restoring soils and the environment and in the long term,

"We are told over and over that Africa needs a new high cost high risk Green Revolution ( agro chemicals and genetically modified seeds/ crops).  The case studies debunk these myths and highlight the multiple benefits of the low risk low cost agro ecology, including affordable low risk and sustainable ways to optimise farm production, thus ensurring their access to own requirements of safe nutritious food and health through agriculture while increasing farmers' net income/ purchasing power, food security, resilience and in the long term," said Frederic Mousseau, Policy Director of the Oakland Institute, who coordinated the research for this project. 

The case studies bring forward a large variety of techniques and practices used to achieve these benefits: 
plant diversification; inter cropping; the application of mulch, manure or compost for soil fertility; the natural management of pests and diseases; agroforestry; the construction of water management structures; and much more.
The success stories from all over have farmers-including many women farmers-in the driver's seat of their own development. Agroecology is not a one-size-fits-all set of practices. Rather, its techniques are adapted to meet their specific needs and ecosystems. Producer communities who follow/ practice their agro ecology are innovators and experiment/ research, adapting to climate change, season after season, to find the

best solutions for improving their livelihoods and being sustainable in the long term.

High cost high risk Conventional 'Green Revolution' Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, etc., are responsible for nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, emissions from these sectors have almost doubled over the past 50 years, and could keep increasing each year unless we stop the use of synthetic agro chemicals, being the fastest growing source of agriculture GHG emissions (increased 37% since 2001).

Ibrahima Coulibaly, President of CNOP-Mali and Vice President of the ROPPA (Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa) said, 

"Our governments must now take decisive steps to actually support and fund the conversion of conventional green revolution agriculture to follow the low cost low risk agro ecological practices of the area, if we are to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure our children a future in which they can feed themselves with nutritious food through agro ecology and in a healthy environment.".