Global partnerships to promote pro poor and sustainable forest and agriculture management through agroforestry

Jesús QuintanaEnvironment and Climate Specialist Environment and Climate DivisionInternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Seeing the forest, and the trees

Seeing the wider landscape

Growing population

GDP on the rise

Deforestation

Food insecurity

Climate crises

Energy needs

Land scarcity

• Complexity and interconnection of global concerns

• In particular, issues related to rural development

Global challenges …

• Feeding the world 9 billion in 2050

• Improving living conditions for the rural poor 1 billion people living in rural areas is poor

• How to increase food availability and reduce poverty without depleting natural resources?

13 million ha of forests converted/lost during last decade

… require winner solutions

• Improve productivity of agricultural land Innovations and investments, critical for sustainable food security

• Promote sustainable use through integrated, landscape-based approachesAgroforestry, evergreen agriculture, valuation of ecosystem services, ecoagriculture

• Foster global partnerships Global and complex challenges require collective action

Multiple-win, sustainable agriculture

“It is of critical importance to address together the imperatives of producing more, and more effectively, and of preserving or restoring the natural resource base. This is especially important in order to put tomorrow’s rural generations at the centre of a new agenda for rural growth and poverty reduction, as these generations need to inherit a viable environment in which they can find rewarding opportunities”

Partnerships that work!

• ICRAF and IFAD have since long been engaged in a long-term collaboration to involve smallholder farmers and rural communities in better land and forest management

• Ultimate goal is to put into practice alternatives that can promote integration of sustainable forestry and agriculture, while fostering poverty reduction

• Joint activities include promotion of agroforestry, evergreen agriculture, and provision of incentives for ecosystem and forest conservation

Regreening the Sahel

• IFAD and ICRAF working together to protect parklands in the semi-arid Sahel

• Trees improve soil fertility, provide environmental services, and are source of cash and non-cash products

• Diversification and improvement of parklands, training and commercialization

RUPES - Rewarding Uplands Poor in Asia

• Many people living in Asia’s upland communities manage landscapes that provide environmental services to outside beneficiaries

• RUPES aims at integrating rewards for those services into development programs to alleviate rural poverty and protect the natural environment

• Improve indigenous and community knowledge, and test innovative approaches

Tree domestication in West Africa

• Tree domestication - taking trees from their natural habitat and adapting them, using simple propagation techniques, to farmers’ needs

• IFAD and ICRAF collaborating to integrate and manage domesticated high-value trees within farming systems in West and Central Africa

• Program aims at disseminating valuable trees, reducing impact on natural resources and improving farmers’ incomes

PRESA – Pro-poor rewards in Africa

• PRESA promotes healthy landscapes and sustainable rural livelihoods through innovative market-based reward mechanisms

• The environmental services schemes are integrated into landscapes in the highlands of East and West Africa

• The program will facilitate negotiations between ecosystem stewards and beneficiaries towards fair and effective agreements.

Concluding remarks

• Issues of agriculture, forestry and rural poverty are normally addressed separately – despite their interconnectedness

• Forestry must be balanced with sustainable agriculture and pro poor actions - an “evergreen revolution”

• Partnerships are critical - Global and complex challenges require collective action to implement multiple-win, integrated solutions