Foundations for Resilient Livelihoods:

Soils, Savings and TreesDouglas R. Brown

Director, Agriculture and Food Security11 April 2012

Presentation at the international conference:Beating famine: Sustainable food security through land regeneration in a changing

climate , Nairobi, Kenya

Some thoughts on hunger and food “but hunger is not a natural disaster. It is a

legacy of choices made in the past. It stems from a series of decisions that, in retrospect, appear short-sighted, and were based on a wrong diagnosis of the causes of hunger, leading to incorrect prescriptions to remedy it. The single most important proximate cause of hunger today is that … countries have either not invested sufficiently in agriculture or have invested in the wrong kind of agriculture, with little impact on the reduction in rural poverty.” Source:

de Schutter and Cordes. 2011. Accounting for Hunger. Page 2.

Some thoughts on hunger and food “Food is indispensible for humanity. If

there is enough to eat and the food supply is sure, then we’ll develop. But if we haven’t enough to eat, then we cannot develop. We must sort out the food problem before we do anything else.” Source:

Yacouba Sawadogo in “The Man who Stopped the Desert”, http://www.1080films.co.uk/Yacoubamovie/

Some thoughts on worldview and food production Religion, cultural values and norms

“those worldview beliefs that determine cultural values and individual motivation and behaviour ”

Source: Gary W. Fick. 2008. Food, Farming and Faith

A study of the linkage between Judeo-Christian foundations or principles found in the Bible and agricultural sustainability.

The heart of the matter Agriculture has two essential parts:

Working the land Taking care of the land

Source: Genesis 2:15 What do we most often

emphasize? What do we neglect?

Investing in the Asset Base for Resilient Livelihoods Natural Capital

Soil, water, land Human Capital

Knowledge and skills

Social Capital Institutions Cultural values and

norms Physical Capital Financial Capital

Finances Market institutions

But something is missing too HORN OF AFRICA: Greater food insecurity forecast

Source: IRIN, 5 April 2012, http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95247/HORN-OF-AFRICA-Greater-food-insecurity-forecast

Support to resilience is said to be essential – but what is that? Is it?: Long term investment in education, water and early

warning Provision of drought-resistant seeds, water, education,

weather forecasting and scaling up nutrition

The question we have been asking: What will build or restore resilience?

Source: DFID. 2011. Defining Disaster Resilience: A DFID Approach Paper.

Ecosystem resilience and food security

(Conway and Toenniessen, 2003)

Ecosystem resilience and food security Increase dryland agricultural productivity (profitability),

sustainability and resilience through Capturing higher percentage of rainfall

Mulch vs bare soil Contour bunds Ridge tillage Other S&WC practices

Increasing soil organic matter content Improves soil’s capacity to absorb rainfall and

retain soil moisture Increases capacity of soil to retain plant nutrients Improves fertilizer use efficiency

Incorporate trees into the agropastoral landscape Increase resiliency to climatic and market shocks

through more diversified production systems

Land Resources

Non-Agr. Use of Labour

Income

Food Consumption

(quantity, quality,

intrahoushold allocation,

etc.)

Agricultural Production

Labour Resources

State: Resilient Livelihoo

d

State: Food

Security

CWBO1: Parents Provide

CWBO2: Nourishe

d

Cultural Values, Norms & Priorities

Household Knowledge

& Skills

Other Uses of Income (+ve, -ve)

Understanding the system in order to effect change

Savings

Foundations for Resilient Livelihoods Soils, Savings, Trees (SST)

Soils Protect, restore soils through good S&WC practices

Savings Savings groups for all households

Tress Regeneration of woody vegetation in the landscape

These are the foundations for resilience Accessible to all

Even the poorest and most vulnerable Other things are good, but these are

foundational

Development is … People

Wanting things to be better – hopes and aspirations May feel trapped – need the space and the possibility

to change Change

People need to be free to change People need to want to change People need to be able to change

Helping people to bring about change through Local participation Local perceptions Local knowledge Local empowerment Local institutions, cultural values and norms

Source:

Sahel Working Group. 2011. Escaping the Hunger Cycle - Pathways-to-Resilience-in-the-Sahel.

http://www.groundswellinternational.org/sustainable-development/burkina-faso/escaping-the-hunger-cycle-pathways-to-resilience-in-the-sahel/

http://www.odi.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=2750&title=escaping-hunger-cycle-pathways-resilience-sahel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTIVdNKfMJE