Agriculture, ecosystems and sustainable land use

Agriculture for both food and commodity production can have significant negative ecosystem impacts. Agricultural systems are essential for global nutrition and economic wellbeing, but it is well established that existing systems are no longer sustainable and a key contributor of breaching several Planetary Boundaries. This session will highlight the key challenge of tackling the impacts of agriculture, whilst ensuring food security and fostering growth.

This session is one of three thematic deep dives on the K4D Learning Journey on International Nature that consider how drivers of ecosystem degradation (e.g. population growth, lifestyle changes etc.), human activity (as both a cause and response to ecosystem degradation), and climate change interact, before examining Nature interventions as solutions. Political economy aspects will be central to whether or not Nature interventions are adopted and implemented effectively: each deep dive will be related to the wider context. Linkages between the three sectors will also be highlighted. The session will also consider trade-offs, governance and equity.

The Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development Programme (K4D) supports the use of learning and evidence to improve the impact of development policy and programmes. It is funded by UK aid and is designed to assist the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other UK government departments and partners to be innovative and responsive to rapidly changing and complex development challenges.

Transitioning to Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture – Edward Davey

In this video, Edward Davey, International Engagement Director, The Food and Land Use Coalition, outlines the challenges that the agriculture sector faces to hit the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5 degrees warming, the economic gains to be made from transitioning to a more environmentally friendly system, and emphasises the importance of a just transition for food producers.

Transforming Agriculture Through NBS: An example from Africa – Susan Chomba

In this video, Susan Chomba, Director of Vital Landscapes at WRI Africa, presents the case study of nature-based solutions (NbS)for growth, stability and reduced vulnerability to climate shocks in Niger.

Learning objectives

Attendees should, following the session:

• Have a deeper understanding of the relationships between agriculture, ecosystems and climate change.
• Recognise the importance of agriculture for people and development.
• Be able to make the case for integrating Nature interventions into agricultural production, with an understanding of the barriers to engagement for different groups of people.
• Have a deeper understanding of the role of agriculture in global supply chains.

Essential study materials

The three specific sources listed here are required reading before this session and will take around 1 hour to complete.

1. Tamburini et al paper “Agricultural diversification promotes multiple ecosystem services without compromising yield”.
2. Celia A. Harvey, M. Ruth Martínez-Rodríguez, José Mario Cárdenas’, Jacques Avelino, Bruno Rapidel, Raffaele Vignola, Camila I. Donatti, Sergio Vilchez-Mendoza. (2017). The use of Ecosystem-based Adaptation practices by smallholder farmers in Central America. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 246, Pages 279-290, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.04.018
3. Larbodière, L., Davies, J., Schmidt, R., Magero, C., Vidal, Arroyo Schnell, A., Bucher, P., Maginnis, S., Cox, N., Hasinger, O., Abhilash, P.C., Conner, N., Westerberg, V., Costa, L. (2020). Common ground: restoring land health for sustainable agriculture. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2020-023-En.pdf Pages 1-20

Optional study materials

1. Keesstra, S. et al. (2018). The superior effect of nature based solutions in land management for enhancing ecosystem services. Science of The Total Environment, 610–611, pp. 997-1009, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.077. (not open access)
2. James Reed, Josh van Vianen, Samson Foli, Jessica Clendenning, Kevin Yang, Margaret MacDonald, Gillian Petrokofsky, Christine Padoch, Terry Sunderland. (2017). Trees for life: The ecosystem service contribution of trees to food production and livelihoods in the tropics. Forest Policy and Economics, 84, pp. 62-71, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934117300345
3. (2020). IPBES Workshop on Biodiversity and Pandemics: Executive Summary. Bonn, Germany: IPBES Secretariat. https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2020-10/IPBES%20Pandemics%20Workshop%20Report%20Executive%20Summary%20Final.pdf Pages 5-9
4. Carlos A. Guerra, C. A. et al. (2021). Tracking, targeting and conserving soil biodiversity. Science, 371, Issue 6526, pp. 239-241, DOI: 10.1126/science.abd7926. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6526/239

5. Blended Finance Taskforce. Better Finance, Better Food: Investing in the new food and land use economy. London: Systemiq. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5acdc066c258b4bd2d15050b/t/5fbdf4a5145a8629dc75f6e7/1606284641579/Better+Finance%2C+Better+Food+-+Investing+in+the+new+food+and+land+use+economy.pdf Pages 4-8
6. Nature 4 Climate. (2020). Nature-Positive Recovery for People, Economy and Climate. http://4fqbik2blqkb1nrebde8yxqj-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Nature-positive-recovery_For-people-economy-and-climate_July-2020_Final.pdf pages 28-32