sustainable intensification 1. definitions, practices and systems - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Organic Research Centre

Agroecology and sustainable intensification

• 1. definitions, practices and systems
• Prof. Nicolas Lampkin

Director Organic Research Centre, Newbury, UK

The Organic Research Centre Acknowledgements

• This presentation presents the outcome of work funded

by Scottish Natural Heritage on behalf of the UK Nature Conservation Agencies’ Land Use Policy Group.

• The report was prepared by a team of authors from the

Organic Research Centre and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

• The conclusions are those of the authors and do not

necessarily reflect the views of SNH or the LUPG.

The Organic Research Centre What is sustainable intensification?

• Producing more with less?

(less input per unit output but still more in total?)

• Producing more with no added environmental impact?

(are current impacts, resource use levels sustainable?)

• Producing more with positive environmental impacts

(more ecosystem services, natural capital regeneration)?

• Producing enough, more efficiently, with positive

environmental impacts?

The Organic Research Centre Sustainable intensification should

• Mean more than ‘more with less’
• Place increased emphasis on ‘sustainable’
• Actively support environmental protection, production
• f ecosystem services and regeneration of natural

capital alongside production of food etc.

• A sufficiency rather than productivist model where

consumption issues also addressed

The Organic Research Centre How does SI relate to Pretty’s (1997) vision?

• … of an agriculture ‘relying on the integrated use of a

wide range of technologies to manage pests, nutrients, soil and water.’

• … where ‘local knowledge and adaptive methods are

stressed rather than comprehensive packages of externally-supplied technologies’

• ‘Regenerative, low-input agriculture, founded on full

farmer participation in all stages of development and extension, can be highly productive.’

The Organic Research Centre Agroecology …

… is also subject to multiple definitions:

• Study of the ecology of agricultural systems
• Application of ecology to the design and management
• f agricultural systems
• Social movement for transformation of agriculture and

food systems

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre Agroforestry

The Organic Research Centre Efficiency – Substitution – Redesign Framework

Courtesy of Hill, MacRae and others, dating back to 1980s

Conventional intensive systems Increased efficiency

l Input substitution

l System redesign Sustainable food systems

The Organic Research Centre Agroecology by design requires …

• Diversity AND complexity to deliver sustainable, stable,

resilient and self-regulating systems.

• Multiple components deliver multiple functions

‘The purpose of a functional and self-regulating design is to place elements or components in such a way that each serves the needs and accepts the products of other elements’ (Mollison)

• Functional biodiversity for eco-functional intensification
• Systems thinking and application

The Organic Research Centre Systemic approaches

• While all these practices can be used by any farmer, the

synergies between them mean more benefits if used in systemic framework

• Examples include:

 Integrated Pest, Crop, Farm Management  Conservation agriculture  Organic farming  Agroforestry  Permaculture

• More or less codified/regulated depending on market

context

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

Agroecology and sustainable intensification

• 2. evaluation of performance
• Prof. Nicolas Lampkin

Director Organic Research Centre, Newbury, UK

The Organic Research Centre Evaluations of potential SI contribution

Outputs

 Productivity  Energy use and greenhouse gas emissions  Biodiversity and related ecosystem services  Soil and water resource use/conservation  Profitability

Denominators

 Per unit land area or other limiting resource  Per tonne produced  Per tonne for human consumption (NSO)

Literature review – matter of judgement

The Organic Research Centre Impact on productivity

Output parameter Integrated Organic Agro- forestry Yield/ha

• +

Net system

• utput/ha
• +

Land equiv- alent ratio

• +

Labour use efficiency +

• /+
• /+

Input use efficiency + ++ ++

The Organic Research Centre Impact on energy and GHG emissions

Output parameter Integrated Organic Agro- forestry Energy use cultivations

• +/-
• Energy use
• ther inputs

0/-

• Soil organic

carbon 0/+ + ++ Above ground C sequestration + ++ GHG/NH3 emissions/ha per unit food

• 0/+

The Organic Research Centre Impact on biodiversity

Output parameter Integrated Organic Agro- forestry Soil micro-

• rganisms

+ ++ ++ Invertebrates ++ ++ +++ Plants + ++ +++ Pollinators + ++ ++ Mammals + + ++ Farmland birds + + +/-

The Organic Research Centre Impact on soil and water resources

Output parameter Integrated Organic Agro- forestry Reduced soil erosion + ++ +++ Reduced soil compaction ++ + +++ Soil fertility improvement + ++/- ++ Improved water quality 0/+ ++ ++/- Flood mitigation ++ ++ Improve drought tolerance + ++

The Organic Research Centre Impact on profitability

Output parameter Integrated Organic Agro- forestry Output level

• +

Enterprise mix value

• +/-

Variable costs

• Fixed costs
• 0/+

+/- Infrastructure needs +/- + Premium markets + ++ 0/+ Agri-env. support + ++ [+] Farm profitability [+]

The Organic Research Centre Benefit of key practices and approaches 1

Practice/ approach Product- ivity Energy & GHGs Bio- diversity Soil & water Profit- ability Legume leys

+/- + +/++ ++

• Organic

amends

+ + ++ +

Reduced tillage

+ + + + +

Limit agro- chemicals

• +

++ ++

• Extended

rotations

+ 0/+ + + +/-

Poly- cultures

++ 0/+ + + +/-

Variety mixtures

+ 0/+ + 0/-

The Organic Research Centre Benefit of key practices and approaches 2

Practice/ approach Product- ivity Energy & GHGs Bio- diversity Soil & water Profit- ability Field margins

+/- 0/+ +/++ 0/+ +/-

Biological control

+ 0/+ + +

Diverse pastures

+ 0/+ + + 0/+

Mix crops/ livestock

+ 0/+ + + +/-

Mix livstck species

+ 0/+ + +/-

Integrated farming

+ + + 0/+

Organic farming

• +/0

++ ++ 0/--

Agro- forestry

+ ++ ++/- ++ +/-

The Organic Research Centre Key issues

• Potential for win-win situations in many cases
• But also trade-offs between productivity and

environment, e.g. in organic case

• Land sharing, land sparing and functional biodiversity

“A major argument for wildlife-friendly farming and agroecological intensification is that crucial ecosystem services are provided by ‘planned’ and ‘associated’ biodiversity, whereas the land sparing concept implies that biodiversity in agroecosystems is functionally negligible.” Tscharntke et al., 2012

• Access to (and funding of) knowledge and research
• Focus on practices or systems?
• Role of markets and policy support in compensating for

trade-offs and rewarding environmental outputs

The Organic Research Centre

The Organic Research Centre

Agroecology and sustainable intensification

• 3. developing the contribution
• Prof. Nicolas Lampkin

Director Organic Research Centre, Newbury, UK

The Organic Research Centre What do we need to do?

• Emphasise ecosystem services and natural capital

regeneration as part of sustainable intensification – eco-functional or ecological intensification

• Recognise potential of agroecological approaches to

deliver this

• Develop appropriate evaluation metrics to address local

context and system complexity in support of business and policy decision making

• Consider/promote agroecological solutions to key

problems linked to input use (emissions, pollution, soil erosion, antibiotic resistance, pollinator decline)

The Organic Research Centre What else?

• Use agri-environmental support, payment for

ecosystem services, and market mechanisms to encourage system change, not just practices

• Improve agroecological knowledge exchange and

information systems – knowledge intensification

• Deepen educational understanding of agroecology at all

levels

• Support agroecological research and innovation with

real participation of users – needs shift from corporate/ technology focus of current funding models

The Organic Research Centre How to achieve this

• Build on current good practice and expertise in UK
• Make more creative use of EU policy frameworks, in

particular rural development and research , including:

 Establishment of agroforestry  Agri-environment/climate  Organic farming  Advice, training and vocational skills  EIP-Agri operational groups

• Ensure greater synergies between policies, using

strategies and action plans where appropriate

The Organic Research Centre Some examples

• Organic action plans in many countries, some (e.g.

Denmark) included as chapters RDPs

• German Bundesprogramm Oekologischer Landbau now

extended to include other forms of sustainable agriculture

The Organic Research Centre French 2014 Action plan for Agroecology & 2015 law

• 1. Training and education
• 2. Collective action
• 3. Pesticide reduction plans
• 4. Promoting biological control
• 5. Reducing antibiotic use
• 6. Sustainable bee-keeping
• 7. Better use of livestock effluent
• 8. Encouraging organic production
• 9. Better plant breeding
• 10. Encouraging agroforestry

The Organic Research Centre What drives these changes?

• Strong political backing at Ministerial level
• Active engagement of producers and other industry

partners

• Public concern about environment and health issues
• Can we achieve something similar in the UK nations?