Organic matter contains nutrients and offers a space for the temporary storage of applied fertilizers, it absorbs and releases water, supports soil life and soil biodiversity, increases water infiltration and protects against erosion.

Over the years, soils have lost a considerable part of their organic matter content. Agricultural policies heavily promoted the application of chemical fertilizers while neglecting the importance of organic matter, as elaborated in the theme overview of this issue of Farming Matters.

As a result, many farmers have chosen to apply nitrogen fertilizers in search of high yields and, at the same time, they have reduced the application of organic matter. This is a fundamental mistake: after a number of years, their yields decline as the organic content of the soil drops. Water soluble nitrogen is washed out every time it rains, and micronutrient deficiencies and drought damage become apparent. This is happening on a very large scale in dryland areas.

Farmers experience more drought today than they did thirty years ago, largely because the organic matter content in their soils has gone down, sometimes dramatically. The absence of organic matter in the soil multiplies the effects of climate change.

There are some basic metrics of dryland farming that everyone involved in dryland development should know. Each year of cultivation without the application of organic matter and with the removal of crop residues and stubbles reduces the organic matter content by about 5 to 10 tons per hectare. If a farm family increases the soil organic matter content by 1%, they create additional storage for 160,000 litres of water per hectare.

Let us think through the consequences of this. Dryland soils badly need more organic matter, so dryland farmers need to develop smart methods to increase the biomass on their farms. At the same time, policy makers need to understand these simple facts and get their priorities right.

Edith van Walsum
director ILEIA

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In February 2013, the United Nations will organise a major conference on desertification, sustainable land management and resilience. This is now more relevant than ever. The UN itself estimates that 1.5 billion people around the world are directly affected by land degradation, while every year 12 million hectares of land become unproductive through desertification. The effects are worsened by climate change. Pastures are scorched, crops and livestock often do not survive.

The impact can be devastating. For example, impoverished dryland communities in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa are experiencing high levels of chronic malnutrition, hunger, child mortality and migration, in an environment that is at risk of being degraded beyond repair. Humanitarian aid to cope with each new crisis costs over a billion dollars each time, and leaves many new problems in its wake.

Land degradation is not just the result of natural disasters. It is also the outcome of long-term over exploitation of natural resources and ecosystems, generated by the dominating approach to agricultural development. However, promising initiatives demonstrate that a new paradigm is emerging.

The old model

The dominant model of agricultural development leads to conflict and controversy. Policies and practices continue to be biased towards export oriented, commercial production in areas that have access to more reliable rainfall, inputs, roads and markets. But tens of millions of small-scale farmers who live in fragile drought prone areas cannot afford industrial inputs, such as hybrid or genetically engineered seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation.

The current neo-liberal development paradigm, focused on rapid growth, does not see investment in ecologically fragile, drought prone areas as being economically feasible. It foresees (and often drives) many small-scale farmers and pastoralist communities living in such areas to leave and work in towns and cities or large scale commercial plantations or farms. Food aid is dispensed during periodic droughts and shocks while this “inevitable” transition goes on.

A variety of experiences of farmers, NGOs and scientists over past decades has laid the basis for a new agricultural paradigm. A small selection of these experiences is presented in this issue of Farming Matters. A central concept in this new paradigm is the resilience of farming communities and their ecosystems. This concept has two aspects: ecological resilience, coping with drought and climate change, and socio-political resilience, the ability of farmers to develop their skills and voices to choose their own development path.

The path forward

In this new paradigm, farming systems are seen as a whole, with healthy, active soils at the basis. The aim of this paradigm is not just increased productivity, but also resilience to climate change and sustaining the natural resource base. For all three aims, it is essential to increase the organic matter in the soil. This improves water retention and fertility, and prevents erosion. Agro-ecological practices range from recycling nutrients and energy, integrating crops and livestock, using low external inputs and diversifying crops. In an agro-ecological approach, these practices go hand in hand with the empowerment of small-scale farmers, both men and women.

As farmers gain greater control over their lives, they decrease the risk of crop failure or livestock deaths due to drought and degradation. Farmers reap multiple benefits at once: increased productivity and food security, higher incomes, adaptation to a changing climate, regeneration of their natural resource base and more autonomy.

Many civil society organisations have worked closely with local communities and interested scientists, to develop and document holistic approaches to dryland management. These approaches are powerful because the technical, social and governance dimensions are closely integrated.

Day by day, these experiences are accumulating. Some initiatives have already been massively scaled up as can be seen in the Sahel. Other successful examples include the experiences of community groups for watershed development in Indian dryland regions and in the Peruvian Andes. Such experiences demonstrate that agro-ecological farming is an appropriate and cost-effective approach to increase resilience in drought prone, ecologically fragile areas. There is abundant evidence to support this. Yet, there are challenges preventing a more comprehensive upscaling of this approach.

Change is in the air

Governments and donors still have a long way to go in mainstreaming the agro-ecological paradigm. This involves enabling small-scale farmers to develop their skills, expertise and voice, while supporting their use of agro-ecological farming practices. It requires a truly integrated perspective on dryland management, breaking down institutional barriers and improving collaboration between stakeholders.

Building agro-ecological resilience requires a fundamental change in agricultural investment patterns. For example, the UNCCD argues that it is important to build production systems based on the intensification of locally available and adapted biodiversity, using local knowledge, while its finance mechanism explicitly encourages a large role for the private sector. We would strongly suggest the UNCCD to prioritise investments in strengthening small-scale farmers’ capacities.

Social movements and NGOs have a role to play in supporting the upscaling of agro-ecological practices and fundamental policy change. There is urgent need to improve the documentation, analysis and communication of successful experiences. It is also important to understand the strategies and dynamics that exist in, highly politicised, decision making arenas. Civil society organisations need to take a broad perspective and build strong alliances, truly exchanging knowledge with farmers and scientists.

The call for change is getting louder. Farmers are becoming more powerful in voicing their concerns and proposals. We are also witnessing a growing movement of consumer organisations that have become conscious of the need for ecologically responsible and socially just food systems.

Policy makers are facing the huge and mounting costs of disasters caused by climate change, land degradation and desertification. If they listen well, and open their minds towards a new way of understanding a multi-functional approach to agriculture, they may well discover that part of the solution is within reach.

AgriCultures Network and Groundswell International

The AgriCultures Network and Groundswell International will organise an official workshop during the upcoming conference of the UNCCD in February 2013 in Fortaleza, Brazil.
For more information, please write to Janneke Bruil (j.bruil@ileia.org) or to Peter Gubbels (pgubbels@groundswellinternational.org).

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Looking back at the past 18 years, we see many problems and challenges in terms of desertification and land degradation. But we also see three promising trends and, as members of Drynet, we feel proud to have helped shape them.

The first is that, despite serious difficulties in terms of governance in many areas, with conflicts over tenure and insecurity over land-use rights, we see that participatory processes in the management of natural resources are becoming stronger.

Local people are taking control over their surroundings and livelihoods by actively taking part in these management efforts, making suggestions, and developing and sharing their know-how and expertise.

At the same time, the discourse about agriculture is changing. Pushed and pulled by food crises and deadlocks, agriculture and its linkages to rural development are back on the agenda of the world’s decision makers. Presented as agro-ecology, sustainable agriculture by small-scale farmers is receiving more and more attention in scientific and policy discussions.

Thirdly, many grassroots sustainable initiatives, in drylands and areas that suffer from desertification, are gaining attention and recognition – and providing interesting lessons and recommendations. The following are just a few examples of what is happening in many places.

Nomadic pastoralists

In Iran, rangelands used to be used and managed by nomadic pastoralists, relying on their traditional norms, customary practices, indigenous knowledge and spiritual beliefs. But since the 1963 Agrarian Reform and the nationalisation of all natural resources, the management of these rangelands has been taken over by an expensive government system. Unfortunately, this path has proven unsuccessful, due to a lack of participation from the users of these resources – the nomadic pastoralists. Over the years, this has resulted in a loss of biodiversity and the complete degradation of the rangeland ecosystem.

Responding to these difficulties, the Centre for Sustainable Development (CENESTA) has been working with various nomadic pastoralist groups (the Bakhtiari, Qashqai, Shasevan and Abolhasain), helping them reclaim their rights, use the land sustainably and conserve natural resources. We start from the understanding that drylands are non-equilibrium ecosystems.

This means that they regularly change between different ecological states. Nomadic pastoralists are the ones who know how to detect these patterns and cycles. When policy makers acknowledge this, they implicitly validate the importance of indigenous knowledge and its essential role in the sustainable management of dryland resources.

The research activities resulting from our partnerships have helped all the stakeholders to recognise:

• that seasonal migration is a historical management strategy;
• the importance of strengthening traditional and indigenous governance and management systems;
• the need to promote indigenous knowledge related to conservation and sustainable land management and use; and
• the need to improve the managerial and executive capacities of nomadic communities.

Most importantly, policy-makers now acknowledge that a different approach is needed: one that is based on the participation of indigenous and local communities, and that combines indigenous knowledge with the latest scientific findings about sustainable land management.

Saffron flowers

The community of Çütlük lies in south-east Turkey, close to Syria and Iraq. Local agriculture is dominated by irrigated cotton, which has resulted in increased levels of soil salinity and the loss of nutrients.

In 2003, the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA) and Harran University explored the potential to reintroduce the production of saffron, one of the most expensive spices in the world, and a crop that used to be cultivated in the area in the 19th century.

Saffron grows wild around Çütlük and offers great potential for local value-addition. Equally interesting, saffron production requires only 10% of the water needed to produce cotton.

TEMA and the university worked with the villagers, carrying out soil tests and offering a complete training package, with access to bulbs and the facilities to store them. The farmers who started cultivating saffron doubled their incomes and their social status within the community improved, especially in the case of female farmers. In addition, far less water was used for irrigation and the soils showed signs of recovery.

The transition from cotton to saffron made agricultural practices in the area more sustainable, led to the development of small enterprises and improved villagers’ social, economic and educational opportunities. Other communities in the region noticed the benefits and a number of similar projects have been established. These projects have shown the economic and ecological benefits of replacing an imported crop with an indigenous one, adapted to the dryland environment, and highlight the value of biodiversity in drylands. (Unfortunately, some projects have come to a halt due to the construction of dams and the expansion of irrigation in the area, which made the production of saffron no longer possible.)

Sustainable rooibos production

Rooibos tea is indigenous to the Western Cape province of South Africa. It does not require irrigation and is very hardy, and is thus an ideal source of income for small-scale farmers in drylands. Following the apartheid era and the deregulation of the rooibos industry, low prices resulted in an acute problem for small-scale farmers: their returns no longer covered their production costs.

In 1998, the Department of Agriculture asked two local organisations, INDIGO and EMG, to engage with communities in the Suid Bokkeveld region and look for alternatives. After a fact-finding trip to producers selling organic rooibos, 12 community members decided to form an organic rooibos co-operative. In 2001, the Heiveld Co-operative for organic rooibos was founded, first selling via middlemen and later benefitting from the Fair Trade and organic labels.

Aside from cultivated rooibos, wild rooibos grows in Suid Bokkeveld in undisturbed natural areas. This used to be harvested by landless people. The Heiveld Co-operative worked with these harvesters and EMG to establish sustainable harvesting standards for wild rooibos. The cooperative markets this exceptionally high quality, biodiversity- friendly product for an even higher premium, providing an incentive for the community to protect the natural areas as a biodiversity reservoir. These standards are now being adopted in other areas where rooibos grows wild.

Recently, after a severe drought, 80% of the cultivated rooibos died while the wild rooibos survived. In the light of current concerns about climate change, this underlines the importance of maintaining wild stock and keeping a wider range of options open for the future. The Heiveld Co-operative now has 56 members, and has established an international reputation for reliably delivering a high quality product.

All the examples above originated from civil society organisations (CSOs) that are now part of the international network called Drynet. Drynet was formed in 2007, when 14 CSOs from all over the world joined forces in order to counter the degradation of drylands. Drynet showcases successful grassroots responses to dryland problems and encourages the up-scaling of successful initiatives and their dissemination to other areas.

Over the years, Drynet has succeeded in making its voice heard in international policy and scientific fora. Drynet also offers participating CSOs the opportunity to share their experiences and knowledge with different communities, and to develop their skills base. This gives participating CSOs more knowledge about sustainable practices and local initiatives on the ground, and more confidence in their dealings with decision makers.

During the past five years, Drynet has shown the importance of working with communities living in the world’s drylands and the need to involve them in all development and planning processes.

In addition, the network has put sustainable solutions for degradation and drylands onto national and international agendas. Our 18th birthday present to the UNCCD is a set of recommendations resulting from these experiences.

Our gift to the UNCCD

Convinced of the benefits of the approaches our partners are following, we recommend UNCCD to ground its scientific discussions around three areas:

(a) Agro-ecology

• Invest in participatory research systems, local knowledge and agro-ecological practices to improve livelihoods and production in drylands. Combine the best of two worlds: traditional practices and knowledge with scientific and formal knowledge
• Focus, in the first instance, on the people living in drylands; on local markets and food demand, then on regional markets. Only then look further afield.

(b) Local knowledge

• Get a better insight into the realities in the field and learn from local experiences. Invest in things that have proven to be a success. Emphasise the importance of bottom-up approaches, grassroots movements and farmer-to-farmer exchanges and communication;
• Tackle the obstacles to up-scaling by improving evaluation, documentation and communication of good practices and local success stories. If “seeing is believing”, then exchange visits are more inspiring than stories on paper.

(c) Governance

• Promote greater participation in the management of natural resources and in decision making about ecosystems;
• Use the Right to Food as a guiding principle. Develop sustainable governance systems for the tenure of land. The voluntary guidelines developed by the UN Committee on Global Food Security are an ideal starting point for reviewing and improving tenure, land management and spatial planning.

We congratulate the UNCCD on reaching maturity; it is now ready to take on much more responsibility. Participation of people in drylands management, cherishing sustainable initiatives, and building more and stronger partnerships between land users, governments, NGOs, science and the private sector, are the key elements to follow. We know that wisdom is there, and we wish UNCCD lots of courage and success. Cheers to the future of UNCCD and to people living in drylands!

Patrice Burger, Nathalie van Haren, Duygu Kutluay, Nahid Naghizadeh and Khadija Razavi

Patrice Burger is the Executive Director of CARI, France (www.cariassociation.org) and a member of the UNCCD’s roster of drylands experts.
Nathalie van Haren works as Senior Policy Officer at Both ENDS, the Netherlands (www.bothends.org).
Duygu Kutluay is the International Relations Officer at TEMA, Turkey (www.tema.org.tr).
Nahid Naghizadeh works as Programme Officer for Community- Based Natural Resource Management for CENESTA, Iran (www.cenesta.net).
Khadija Razavi is CENESTA’s Executive Director. These are all member organisations of Drynet (www.dry-net.org).

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DESCO is a Peruvian NGO that has been working in different parts of the country for almost 50 years. Since 1985 it has been supporting farmers and alpaca rearing families in the country’s southern Andes. Farmers in this area depend on the commercialisation of alpaca meat and wool.

For more than 10 years DESCO focused on finding new market opportunities and on the possibilities of adding value. The southern Andean region is one of the parts of the country where poverty levels are highest and this is combined with severe land degradation.

Different studies conclude that the latter is mostly the result of disappearing vegetation cover, and a result of increasing population and animal pressure. This is the main reason why, in 1996, DESCO decided to support water harvesting projects.

The need to harvest water comes from the need to improve, or at least stop the degradation of the habitats where alpacas live. In addition to severe losses in the mountain soil’s fertility, climate change is easily visible in this region: the glaciers which feed all the rivers, and the snow on the mountaintops, are noticeably getting smaller – which means less and less water flowing down into the valleys.

One strategy to cope with this problem is to try to store part of the water falling during the rainy season and use it during the dry months. A total of 137 small dams have been built in the past 15 years, each of which, on average, can hold 65,000 m3 of water. Starting in the province of Caylloma, the benefits are now being seen in more than 100 high-altitude localities in the Arequipa, Puno and Ayacucho regions.

More than infrastructure

A first step is the identification of the best place to build a dam, making use of a natural depression or a small lake where large volumes of water can accumulate. Next comes the collection of the necessary materials (sand, stones and cement; not always easily available at 4,000 m above sea level) and the excavation and construction works. Yet, water harvesting does not only mean building dams and canals.

In addition to the necessary infrastructure, our work also focuses on developing the necessary skills and capacities to build and manage each system. This involves ensuring the participation of all the villagers in order to secure their sense of ownership and responsibility.

Once a location is selected, the process starts with an agreement that clearly specifies all the roles and responsibilities. At first, all the costs were equally divided between DESCO and the local organisation, but the positive results have motivated the municipalities and regional governments to cover up to 50% of all costs.

While DESCO takes responsibility for all the construction works, the communities contribute with local materials and labour, and all the villagers agree to join the local organisation. This is important in order to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of water throughout the year, and the sustainability of the system of collecting, storing and distributing water.

During the past 15 years we’ve seen that the simplicity of the process ensures its replicability. We have also seen that, gradually, more and more villagers are becoming local engineers, contributing with their recently-acquired skills so that others villages can initiate a similar process.

Yet the success seen does not only depend on the dams and canals built, or on the capacity of building them. In each of the 137 cases, the local organisation plays a key role. The existing organisations are strengthened with the creation of an irrigation committee, with roles and responsibilities drafted in accordance to the national legislation, meaning that will be officially sanctioned and recognised by the authorities.

While the internal regulations have helped minimise the number of internal conflicts (among water users within one village), the official recognition has helped all users in their fight against third parties in need of water – most notably mining companies large and small-scale. Unfortunately, this problem is becoming more and more frequent in the mineral-rich Andes.

Water and more

The impacts of our work are not limited to the availability of water for irrigation and for household use. Very big changes have also been seen in the irrigated pastures. A detailed analysis was done in different villages (including Quenco Cala Cala, Cauca, Hanansaya and Toccra) where, 46 months after the water storage facility had been completed, plant density was more than 120% higher and the yields in terms of biomass were almost 200% higher.

Local biodiversity, the number of plant species and the number of birds, has also increased. And better pastures translate immediately into more animals (up to twice as many) and healthier herds. Villagers regularly mention that animals weigh more when born and that their survival rates are higher, all of which, directly, translates into higher incomes.

Many positive developments have also been seen in the local organisations, especially in terms of commitment and participation. In some cases, the creation of the irrigation committees has led to better resource management arrangements and fewer conflicts (for example, over the use of communal land). Local organisations have also benefitted form the interest shown by the authorities (municipalities and regional governments) and other institutions (e.g. local NGOs).

Recognising the benefits of a water harvesting approach, they are interested in working together towards higher yields, productivity and incomes – by paying special attention to the fight against desertification and land degradation.

Fernando Camiloaga Jiménez

Fernando Camiloaga Jiménez works as co-ordinator of the PRONUSA project at DESCO, Centro de Estudios y Promoción del Desarrollo.
E-mail: fcamiloaga@descosur.org.pe

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The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) addresses the challenge of global warming and declining food security. One of the CCAFSresearch themes, “Integration for Decision Making”, is exploring approaches and methods that enhance knowledge-to-action linkages with a wide range of partners, and assemble data and tools for analysis and planning. Its aim is to develop decision support and communication tools so that policy makers, development partners, researchers and farmers can make decisions with a greater understanding of the interactions between local conditions, national policies and programmes, and international development, in the face of multiple drivers of change.

Tackling complex problems requires trying new approaches, sensing and taking advantage of new opportunities and tapping into collective wisdom and knowledge. “Social learning” facilitates these processes. Social learning approaches rely on knowledge sharing and joint learning to change perspectives, discourses and practices. They are themselves complex but transformative approaches that tighten and enrich the social fabric of change.

Scientists have a key role to play in catalysing change, but we haven’t always tapped into the full potential of diverse partnerships, multi-way communication, co-operation and collaboration. Bridging such gaps between various actors can help us support local decision-making processes related to climate change and food security.

Our vision of success

We want to see more people embracing the idea of joint, transformative learning, of co-creation of knowledge and solutions. This is not a new idea. But the imperatives we are facing now mean that it is high time for a more conscious articulation, promotion and facilitation of social learning approaches in research.

Building on a workshop held in Addis Ababa in May 2012, CCAFS and its partners are working together to develop a strategy to address social learning in agriculture, food security and climate change. These efforts combine a learning and sharing space set up to discuss social learning in climate change with a series of scoping and assessment projects to take this agenda forward.

Already this year, CCAFS is partnering with PROLINNOVA, the international platform to promote local innovation processes, to explore ways to strengthen farmer- led processes that contribute to local resilience to change. IDS and IIED are compiling models and evidence to monitor and evaluate the impact of social learning approaches. Another recent study looked into over 120 social learning initiatives undertaken throughout CGIAR. The intention is to use these to influence how CGIAR scientists, other researchers and the communities they work with apply and communicate their shared knowledge and transformative learning experiences.

What do you think are key components of an effective strategy to use social learning to improve local decision- making about agriculture, food security and climate change? What possible partnerships should we explore? And what issues should we address?

Patti Kristjanson and Ewen Le Borgne

Patti Kristjanson is a CCAFS Research Theme Leader.
Ewen Le Borgne works as knowledge sharing and communication specialist at ILRI, the International Livestock Research Institute. E-mail: e.leborgne@cgiar.org

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In what activists have dubbed the “global land grab”, transnational investment in land has grabbed media headlines worldwide. While attention has focused on the role of hedge funds, sovereign wealth and foreign purchases of vast tracts of land in Africa and Asia, recent research is uncovering a broader pattern. As land values increase, land ownership is concentrating everywhere – even where there have been few reports of foreign land grabbing.

Land deals driven by national and international capital expansion are occurring in areas of longstanding inequity, racism and conflict. They involve real estate speculation, mining, agrofuel production, industrial forestry, and “flex crop” production, often led by local elites. The patterns of dispossession are deeper, wider and potentially devastating for marginalised communities everywhere.

The responses to land grabs – thus far scholarly papers, media reports, place-based resistance and global campaigns for transparency and voluntary codes of conduct – have helped to bring the issue to public attention. But as land grabs spread around the world, it is becoming clear that regulating and writing about land grabs is not enough: land grabs must be stopped.

The challenge is for communities to mobilise for the right to land and territory before they are besieged by speculators, hedge funds or extractive industries. This requires a proactive strategy that goes beyond reactive responses to land grabs and actively advances alternative projects and alliances for land use and ownership. It also requires vigilance regarding the political, legal and infrastructural build-up that precedes land grabbing, so communities can prepare to resist.

Reversing the land grab trend demands a powerful, integrated response from under-served communities, civil society and social movements. It means building a pro-active global-local movement based on the right of communities and peoples to sustainable, land-based livelihoods; their right to have a democratic say in how the land they live on is used, and an equitable share in the social, environmental and economic benefits of that land. In short, it requires a broad-based movement for land sovereignty. Much like food sovereignty, land sovereignty brings together the demands of social movements from the South and North and from rural and urban settings.

Land grabs are making projects for food security and sustainable agriculture moot efforts… Farmers’ organisations, social movements and development NGOs need to find “common ground” to protect peasant farmers, forest dwellers, indigenous communities, family farmers and urban agriculture from the devastation of dispossession.

Eric Holt Gimenez

Eric Holt Gimenez is the Executive Director of Food First / Institute for Food and Development Policy.
E-mail: eholtgim@foodfirst.org

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Alterra (part of Wageningen University in the Netherlands) and WOCAT (the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) have been running a research project on the Desertification, Mitigation and Remediation of Land (DESIRE).

From 2007 to 2012, researchers studied 17 desertification hotspots around the world, covering a wide range of problems, from soil erosion by wind or water to salinisation and droughts or flash floods. “Scientists and land users worked together to deliver a tangible product”, explained the DESIRE co-ordinator, Coen Ritsema.

At every study site, researchers discussed the contextspecific problems with a variety of stakeholders. They then proposed a number of scientifically developed solutions, which might complement the experiences of local land users, and gave land users the choice of testing the most promising strategies. Many, if not most, opted for conservation agriculture techniques.

“Unsustainable, expensive and polluting strategies are rarely selected by land users,” said Mr Ritsema. The strategies were then jointly evaluated. Increased productivity was not the only criterion for evaluating these strategies; their impact on people’s livelihoods and in preserving local and regional ecosystems were also considered. “We evaluate the revenues, but also the costs and benefits: the activities have to be interesting to land users in terms of costs as well.”

The outputs of the DESIRE project are freely available online in the multi-lingual DESIRE Harmonized Information System (www.desire-his.eu). On this website, the research programme and its results are available in a variety of forms. Visitors to the project website (www.desire-project.eu) can download the practice-oriented book Desire for greener land, which explains the methodology of the study and all the strategies tested at the study sites.

Knowledge sharing was an important component of the project. The results of the local assessments, including benefits and costs, have been translated into different communication packages, ranging from simple posters and brief information sheets to videos, technical reports, policy briefs, step-by-step guidelines and a book.

“The database of strategies has an enormous educative value. Of course, what works in one area will not be successful per se elsewhere. We are creating a basket of options, from which land users can choose, and they have to test what works in their own area on a trial and error basis.”

Successful interventions can only be effective on a larger scale if they are shared with practitioners, extension services and policy makers in other regions. “We have created white papers and policy briefs for national and international decision makers, giving them ammunition for their policies. We also offer simple and informative leaflets in a format that is understandable by land users.”

The DESIRE approach has already been incorporated in publications and initiatives by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), FAO and the Global Environment Facility. Now, the project will focus on creating an interactive online tool to make all the possible strategies even more easily visible for the end users. “We can share with a wide audience that there are available solutions to degradation!”

Text: Laura Eggens

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A wolf in sheep’s clothing? An analysis of the “sustainable intensification” of agriculture
E.D. Collins and K. Chandrasekaran, 2012.
Friends of the Earth International, Amsterdam. 28 pages.

It is increasingly recognised that intensive high-input agriculture is no longer an option. It is a major cause of natural resource degradation and depletion, climate change and the loss of biodiversity. This has been reason enough for some organisations to change direction, and make “sustainable intensification” a top priority. But what exactly does this phrase mean, and whose interests does it serve? This report describes the origins, practices and technologies behind it.

The authors conclude that the “sustainable intensification” is being mainly driven by the agendas of corporations, scientific institutions and international donors and the voices of small-scale farmers are being neglected. Equally problematic, efforts that build on farmer’s knowledge, such as agro-ecology, are taken out of their context and in an attempt to rework them into uniform technology-based approaches.

Food security and climate change
High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, 2012.
HLPE, Rome. 98 pages.

Given the current trend, temperature rises of 4oC can be expected by the end of this century. This will reduce the productivity of existing food systems and threaten food security, especially in the most vulnerable households. This report examines the relation between climate change and food security and, in so doing, makes some interesting observations and recommendations. First, climate change adaptation needs to occur in the broader context of building more resilient food systems. Second, given the diversity of social and agroecological contexts, no single approach will be universally applicable. Solutions will differ. Third, it is important to ensure that farmers have a voice in the design and implementation of policies at all levels.

Contested agronomy: Agricultural research in a changing world
J. Sumberg and J. Thompson, 2012.
Routledge, London. 222 pages.

Agronomy is often seen as an objective science, concerned with unravelling the universal laws in the working of the farm. This book challenges this view. Agronomic research takes place in a social, political and economic context. It explores some of the major developments in agronomy since the 1970s. It shows how the emergence of the neoliberal project and environmentalism have shaped the practice of agronomic research in developing countries.

The authors use various case studies that illustrate emerging practices such as agricultural intensification, conservation agriculture and participatory soil fertility management. These studies cover a wide range of locations, including south east Asia, Africa and India. The authors use these cases as the basis for a proposing a new subdiscipline: political agronomy.

Crops of the future
M.M. Robin (eds.), 2012.
ARTE France. 90 minutes.

In a world dominated by large corporations and industrial agriculture, even the most dedicated proponents of agro-ecology sometimes lose hope. This documentary will help them regain faith. After “The world according to Monsanto” and “Our daily poison”, this is the final chapter of Marie Monique Robin’s trilogy. In a quest to find solutions to our planet’s food crisis, Robin looks at various agro-ecological farms and farmers in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In her journey she meets leading voices in the field of agro-ecology, including Miguel Altieri and Olivier de Schutter. The conclusions are clear: there is hope, but a shift in the dominant agricultural paradigm and a reorganisation of the world’s food system is required.

Food security: Communications toolkit
Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2012.
FAO, Rome. 213 pages.
Many organisations invest heavily in researching and analysing food security, but often do not effectively communicate their findings. But such communication is important to ensure that the findings reach their intended users and that action is taken. This toolkit covers a wide range of communication channels, offering guidelines on what channels to use for a given audience and objectives. Attention is given to different forms of media, including newspapers, radio, television and social media. It also offers advice on how to present information to policy makers and how to lobby for food security, and tips on how to structure and improve a variety of report formats, including policy briefs and early warning bulletins.

The land grabbers: The new fight over who owns the earth
F. Pearce 2012.
Beacon press, Boston. 336 pages.

The number of publications on land grabbing is rising explosively. What makes this book special is that it is the first global journalistic account of the issue. It is accessible to those unfamiliar with the topic, and it also portrays the human side of policy makers, investors, and of the affected local communities. Foreign governments and investors are buying land, which governments are selling to reach short term development goals or the personal benefit of politicians.

Local communities, often lacking property documents or recognition of customary rights, are displaced. The book confirms the seriousness of the problem: “Every day, parcels of land – the size of Wales and larger – are being gobbled up”.

Desertification

The causes of desertification and the resulting problems are carefully explored in “Beyond any drought: Root causes of chronic vulnerability in the Sahel” (P. Trencht et al., 2007). Two other reports, “The state of the world’s land and water resources for food and agriculture: Managing systems at risk” (FAO, 2011) and “Economics of land degradation: The costs of action versus inaction” (E. Nkonya et al., 2011) focus on the causes and costs of land degradation. A classic study that analyses how science and policy discourse on land degradation can sometimes misinterpret local realities is “Misreading the African landscape: Society and ecology in a forest-savannah mosaic” (J. Fairhead and M. Leach, 1996). There are also more hopeful studies. “Escaping the hunger cycle: Pathways to resilience in the Sahel” (by P. Gubbels, 2011) looks at how aid can become more effective in reducing vulnerability to drought in the Sahel, and includes specific sections on agro-ecology. The website of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) also has a large number of resources addressing this topic. The film “Lessons from the loess plateau” (J.D. Liu, 2009) shows how a self-sustaining ecosystem has been created in the dry and degraded Loess Plateau region in China. “Re-greening the Sahel: Farmer led innovation in Burkina Faso and Niger” (C. Reij, et al.) looks at traditional agroforestry, water and soil management practices.

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Like most of Sudan, Butana experiences erratic rainfall, high temperatures and strong winds. Traditionally, herds grazed freely. However, an increase in livestock populations over recent years, together with the presence of nomadic pastoralists from South Sudan and fluctuating rainfall patterns, has contributed to the severe deterioration of grazing resources. This led to the collapse of the existing economic resource base, particularly affecting sedentary farmers, who lost a substantial number of animals.

In 2006, to support these farmers, the local government fenced a large area of land close to As-Subagh, trying to protect it from erosion. This was to serve as a demonstration plot to build awareness about environmental degradation and the need for natural resource protection, conservation and restoration. The fence was also intended to protect the area against unwanted grazing, allowing space for the cultivation of crops. However, no additional activities were carried out and, eventually, large portions of the fence were looted or dismantled, leaving the land unused and unprotected.

A new approach

In 2010, BIRDP staff in As-Subagh were restoring the fences, when something unexpected happened. Eight women, most of them divorced or widowed, approached them and asked about the project’s intentions, and about the possibility of using the enclosed land. Erosion and the degradation of their land had forced them to stop cultivating sorghum and they relied on a herd of just a few small ruminants.

After a series of meetings, an agreement was made giving each woman the right to use a one-acre plot inside the fence to produce fodder. The women pledged to contribute to the enclosed land’s original purpose and had the opportunity to increase their own income. They began growing a combination of native species and a few recently introduced exotic species. BIRDP supplied kick-start seed and goats to the women, and constructed permanent water harvesting structures to supply the plots. The women were invited to attend training courses on seed collection, extraction and storage, and micro-project planning and management. With the support of BIRDP, the group registered as a legal entity, a step that helped them get financial support and allowed them to further diversify their activities. To avoid any potential conflict, the project also conducted an intensive gender sensitisation programme within the broader community, aimed at encouraging greater levels of women’s participation in the community’s activities and decision-making processes.

Stronger animals, environment and community

Each woman harvested and stored a substantial quantity of dry matter for fodder after the end of the growing season, to be used during the critical dry months. The fenced land not only benefited the group of women, but became a major source of rangeland seeds for natural dispersion and regeneration, both inside and outside the fence, helping surrounding communities as well. The Local Commissioner was so enthusiastic that he led a campaign to replicate and scale up this initiative.

With access to these plots, the women were not only able to feed their animals: they also fed their families and made an income from selling surplus animals, seeds and fodder. In addition, by cultivating and protecting the fenced land in a well organised manner, the women’s social standing in the community has grown considerably. Soon, BIRDP assisted with the formation of two other women’s groups, who collectively work on and protect land plots close to their settlements. Traditionally, men in this region controlled all the resources. Now, women in Butana are playing a larger role.

Success factors

By forming a group, the Butana women have been able to share the responsibility of protecting their fenced plots in a socially and culturally acceptable way. They organised themselves in two day-time shifts, allowing the other women in the group to take care of the young children and family elders in their neighbours’ absence. Mobile phones were purchased with their increased incomes and this made it easier to patrol the large fenced area. Patrols were made more enjoyable by inviting neighbouring women into the enclosed land for coffee and incorporating a special local rite as part of their daily routine.

The women’s knowledge of livestock rearing was especially important, and BIRDP’s staff have drawn upon this. Their participation was crucial; they took the initiative and were motivated to cultivate and protect the land. They pooled the resources needed to address the issues that they themselves deemed important.

The earlier, exclusively technical intervention of building a fence, had negligible results. It was not “rooted” in the community. The later efforts were a success because they paid attention to the importance of community organisations and to the role of women within them. The Butana experience demonstrates that collective production of fodder in a fragile environment can help restore natural resources and improve livelihoods and food security. Moreover, it can be a very successful way to empower female-headed households.

Mohammed ELhassan Ali

Mohammed ELhassan Ali works as Natural Resource Management Officer for the Butana Integrated Rural Development Project (BIRDP), Sudan.
E-mail: mohammedelhassan44@yahoo.com

This article is one of the results of a documentation workshop carried out by ILEIA and KariaNet in 2012 in Beirut, Lebanon, which was supported by the IDRC and IFAD. This workshop aimed to strengthen the skills of project staff in capturing, analysing and disseminating lessons drawn from their work in the field. For more information, visit www.ileia.org and www.karianet.org

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Kenya: Alternative fodder species

With a changing climate and less rains throughout East Africa, farmers are finding it more difficult to obtain a constant supply of fodder for their livestock. Many of the traditionally used fodder types, such as grass or straw from crops such as maize, are declining in availability.

In the Kyuso district in Kenya, a number of farmers are adapting by using alternative, drought resistant varieties of animal fodder that are abundant in arid and semi-arid lands, such as acacia pods, tubers from the Thurnbegia guekeana tree, and Melia volkensii fruits and leaves. These crops can provide feed throughout extreme drought periods: some can be harvested in the dry period, when many other water-dependant fodder varieties are unavailable.

Acacia pods can be dried and stored for several months enabling farmers to keep a supply of fodder, and root tubers hold a large amount of water, reducing the drinking water needed by livestock. Nonetheless, switching between fodders can still pose challenges for farmers and animals. Also, there are concerns that tubers that are widely available now may become scarce if more farmers start to make use of them. Planting new tubers and raising awareness on sustainable harvesting might be a solution to this and help communities to become more resilient in the future.

More information?

Contact Anthony Mugo, at ALIN, Kenya, or Donald Inch, at the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
E-mail: amugo@alin.net or donaldinch@googlemail.com

Argentina: Recovering naturally

Around 75% of Argentina is made up of arid or semi-arid lands, many of which are suffering from desertification. One such area is Salinas Grandes, a closed river basin, where different ecosystems meet. The local farmers’ main activity is the extensive breeding of goats and cows, which graze on common land. If not properly managed this ecosystem is very susceptible to degradation, particularly from overgrazing. With the support of the Global Environmental Facility, local producers decided to encourage the natural restoration of parts of their land by temporarily excluding livestock by fencing.

The vegetation and soil in these protected areas is able to recover, improving the productivity of the pasture in the long term. The recovery process is being monitored, providing valuable information that can be used in areas with similar problems. After three years, major improvements in plant diversity, ground cover and plant biomass have been observed. The rate of improvement varied in different parts of the area, according to the vegetation type, growth dynamics and weather conditions.

Farmers found that electric fences are the most efficient enclosure technique: they involve less initial expenditure than traditional wire and branch hedges and are easier to manage. These enclosures are playing a significant role in countering desertification, maintaining ecological diversity and productive potential.

More information?

Contact Ana Marina del Carmen Contreras, at Red Agroforestal Chaco Argentina.
E-mail: anitamarinac@gmail.com

The Netherlands: Regaining the lost soil fertility

The Netherlands is known for its impressive dairy production. Since the 1950s the government has supported farmers, encouraging the highest possible milk yields per animal through specialisation, mechanisation, and scale enlargement.

In 1960 the average Dutch dairy cow would produce 4,200 kg of milk per year, in 2007 this had nearly doubled to about 7,880 kg. But the side effects of this strategy have also become clear, including environmental pollution, dependency on subsidies, and a drastic reduction of soil fertility levels.

Since the 1960s, more than 90% of all Dutch farmers have had to quit farming. Today, a significant part of the remaining dairy farmers are organised in study groups that aim to find ways to improve soil fertility (and incomes!) by improving the interactions within the animal-manure-soilroughage cycle. They have discovered that, by applying less artificial fertilizer and concentrates, and by actively improving soil life, more milk can be produced from the grass and silage produced on their own fields. This has both economic and environmental benefits.

These initiatives are being promoted by several organisations, including the Duurzaam Boer Blijven programme (or “Continue as a sustainable farmer”) that supports groups in the Utrecht and Gelder Valley region and elsewhere. While this process is not widely known beyond Dutch borders, this approach to developing sustainable dairy systems could be taken up elsewhere.

More information?

Contact Katrien van’t Hooft, at Dutch Farm Experience (http://www.dutchfarmexperience.com).
E-mail: katrienvanthooft@gmail.com

Morocco: Intercultural tree planting

For the last eight years, European students have been going every February to help Moroccan farmers combat desertification during the “Green Day”. In the arid zones of Morocco, bordering the edge of the Sahara, the soil and climatic conditions are very difficult. The local population is almost entirely dependent for their survival on exploiting natural resources. Despite numerous initiatives, their economic activities are limited, and agricultural productivity levels are low.

For several years, the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture and the France-Morocco Azzeka Student Association has been working together with different rural communities. Green Day promotes partnership between tourists and visited communities while contributing to the reforestation of palm trees and improving the living conditions of life of disadvantaged rural farmers. On this day of solidarity, palm trees are planted by young students.

The financial resources for this operation are mobilised at European universities, while the Moroccan communities prepare the palm tree seedlings and raise awareness locally about the project and the threat of desertification. On the day itself, the planting of date palm trees is accompanied by cultural activities in the surrounding villages around the theme of desertification.
The higher number of palm trees helps expand the oases where the villagers live, stabilises and feeds the soil and improves climatic conditions. The project also enhances technical and scientific co-operation between France and Morocco and solidarity between individuals and communities in the two countries.

More information?

Contact M. Ali Zahri, at the Ministry of Agriculture (Meknes Tafilalet region).
E-mail: alizahri2004@yahoo.fr

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