Transformational Opportunities to Perennialize Global Farming Creating an EverGreen Agriculture

Dennis GarrityUN Drylands Ambassador

Distinguished Board Research Fellow, World Agroforestry CentreChair, Partnership to Create an EverGreen Agriculture

Sustainable Development Goals• Food security • Poverty eradication• Health • Gender equity • Universal Education• Reversing land degradation• Climate change resilience• Energy for all

Trend in non-climate related net primary productivity 1981–2006. Conijn et al 2013.

New post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal: Zero Net Land Degradation by 2030

Five million hectares of croplands now dominated by fertilizer-fodder-fuewood trees in Niger

A Parkland Renaissance on Niger farmlands

Total Global Emissions are accelerating…but land-based emissions are declining

Land-use change black line: Includes management-climate interactions

Source: Le Quéré et al. 2012; Global Carbon Project 2012

The albida halo effect

• Microclimate buffering

• Soil fertility improvement

Microclimatic variation: Crop Canopy Temperature

Evergreen agriculture with Faidherbia albida in Zambia.

Faidherbia Trial Results in Zambia

Maize yield - zero fertiliser

2008 2009 2010 ----- Tons/ha -------

With Faidherbia 4.1 5.1 5.6

Without Faidherbia 1.3 2.6 2.6________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Number of trials 15 40 40

DroughtDroughtFlood

P addition resumed

Long-term maize yield without fertilizer in a Gliricidia system

P stopped

Impact of fertilizer trees on maize yield under farmer management

_______________________________________

Plot management Yield (t/ha)

Maize only 1.30

Maize + fertilizer trees 3.05 ____________________________________________________________

2011 Survey of farms in six districts (Mzimba, Lilongwe, Mulanje, Salima, Thyolo and Machinga)

FaidherbiaGliricidia

Maize stubble

Faidherbia

Gliricidia

Maize

DRY SEASON

WET SEASON

Fertilizer-Fodder-Fuelwood Trees in Food Crop Production Systems

Types of Evergreen Agriculture

1. Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) on cropland

2. Conservation agriculture with trees (CAWT)

3. Conventional food crop production interplanted with trees

17 Countries

engaged in

EverGreen

Agriculture

in Africa

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

Conservation Agriculture with trees

Trees interplanted in conventional tilled cropland

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration + Trees interplanted in conventional tilled cropland

EverGreen Agriculture Partnership

What do we need to do to fully mobilize for the upcoming global revolution in

agroforestry upscaling?• Urgent need to map agroforestry across the

world at global, regional, and national scales

• Create a Global Agroforestry Assessment based on national assessments

• Develop a global plan to upscale agroforestry

• Staff up in linking agroforestry science to development

Sri Lanka Leadership on EverGreen Agriculture

1. Participate actively in the Global Partnership to Create an EverGreen Agriculture 2. Activate a Sri Lankan Network for EverGreen Agriculture 3. Lead a global effort to upscale dendrothermal power generation with N-fixing trees 4. Host an international workshop on dendrothermal technology in 2015

The Perennialization of Agriculture

… at the heart of a truly sustainable planet.

Total Global Emissions are accelerating…but land-based emissions are declining

Land-use change black line: Includes management-climate interactions

Source: Le Quéré et al. 2012; Global Carbon Project 2012

The Perennialization of Agriculture

… at the heart of a truly sustainable planet.

The Perennialization of Agriculture

… at the heart of a truly sustainable planet.

For More Information

World Agroforestry Centre www.worldagroforestry.org

Evergreen Agriculture web site www.evergreenagriculture.net

Email contacts:d.garrity@cgiar.org

Channels for Reducing Vulnerability

1. Buffer crop production from drought stress

-- Sustain higher and more stable yields by more favorable microclimate

-- Conserve and enhance soil organic matter, infiltration and water holding capacity

2. Tree crops generally less severely affected by drought, heat, excess water

3. Greater diversity of income sources

Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration on crop fields: Initial Stages

A Parkland Renaissance on Niger farmlands

The albida halo effect

• Microclimate buffering

• Soil fertility improvement

Zero Net Land Degradation

Classify all land into three categories:

– Degrading– Regenerating– Stable

Monitor land degradation and regeneration in terms of biomass production.

Calculate the ratio: Regenerating/DegradingThe target is a ratio exceeding 1.0

What is Evergreen Agriculture?

A form of more intensive farming that integrates trees into crop and livestock production systems.

Evergreen farming systems are ‘double- story’ systems that feature both perennial and annual species (food crops and trees), maintaining a green cover on the land throughout the year.

Wheat production with Paulownia trees> 3 m hectares in China

Training for farmer groups

curricula material for universities and technical colleges improved

Improved government policies

Improved technical

capacity of extension

and government scaling up

efforts

Improved communications and

awareness

Provision of products

and services by the Private

sector

Technical and institutional capacity built to support spread of EverGreen Agriculture

Collaboration between

organisations supporting EverGreen Agriculture

EverGreen Agriculture PartnershipEverGreen Agriculture Partnership