22 May 2015 – As the post-2015
development agenda emerges, this year's theme for International Day of Biological Diversity reflects the importance of biodiversity in achieving
sustainable development. Smallholder farmers in rural areas of developing
countries produce much of the food in the developing world, and given that food
availability needs to increase by 60-70 per cent by 2050, in the future we will
depend on them to produce even more. Biodiversity plays a vital role in
smallholder farmer food production systems and contributes to increased crop
yields and incomes, maintaining healthy ecosystems, mitigating climate change,
and securing sustainable livelihoods and access to clean and safe water.
Restoring the Niger Delta's natural
biodiversity
Since 2001, IFAD has been working in
partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to deliver important environmental and socio-economic benefits
to rural women and men across the developing world. In regions such as the
Inner Niger Delta, in Mali, this partnership has helped revive the area's
natural biodiversity and improve nutrition and food security for rural people
in the surrounding areas.
One of the largest inner deltas in
the world, with a unique ecosystem, the Inner Niger Delta was considerably
affected by a number of socio-economic and environmental problems including
land and soils degradation, dwindling fisheries and unpredictable water
resource flows.
A native grass found along the river
and in ponds and lakes, known as bourgou has changed all that, however.
Bourgou once covered vast areas of the region and provided a rich breeding
ground for fish. But due to droughts, overgrazing, competition with
agricultural crops and the increasingly intensive harvesting of bourgou for
sale, its presence had dwindled considerably. However, as a result of the joint
IFAD-GEF project Fonds de développement en zone sahélienne – also
known as FODESA – the return of bourgou pastures
has had a major impact on the environment's biodiversity. Plant, bird and
particularly fish species have reappeared.
Boosting livelihoods
Through the IFAD-GEF programme,
participants have learned how to cultivate, dry and store bourgou. The grain is
eaten by locals while bourgou grasses are used as livestock feed. The results
have been impressive. Project participants have reported increased fish catches
and livestock productivity, greater volumes of more nutritious milk, improved
incomes from the sale of fish, meat and milk, and a drop in the proportion of
households experiencing hungry periods.
The supply of bourgou is now enough
to allow participants to sell and earn income during the pre-harvest period
where they were unable to before. Furthermore, the warehouse and machine to
compact the bourgou – obtained through the programme – enable them to store and
sell it later when it can fetch higher prices. Incomes have improved. In fact,
revenues from the cultivation of bourgou have increased substantially. For
women, this has translated into greater economic power and status in their
homes and has helped them address household food security issues and
nutritional needs.
Biodiversity stops pests
In another IFAD grant-funded project
known as Improving Productivity and Resilience for the
Rural Poor through Enhanced Use of Crop Varietal Diversity in Integrated
Production and Pest
Management,
biodiversity is being used to reduce the impact of pests and disease and thus
increase yields. Implemented by Bioversity International
in China, Ecuador, Morocco and Uganda, the global programme is co-sponsored by
IFAD, GEF, the European Commission (EC), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
Although intercropping to prevent
pests and disease is nothing new, findings indicate that planting different
varieties of the same crop in mixtures can have the same effect. In fact, they
found that mixing varieties resistant to certain pests and diseases with those
that are more susceptible significantly reduces the incidence of the particular
disease or pest. Trials using different varieties of beans and bananas have
produced consistent results. For instance, Ugandan farmers who used different
banana varieties reported a 75 per cent decrease in the rate that banana weevil
attacks increase over the cropping season.
Tapping into the diversity of
traditional varieties of crops also brings additional benefits. In Uganda, many
farmers prefer to grow traditional varieties because they taste better and are
more suitable to local preferences for cooking and eating. For this reason,
traditional varieties can fetch considerably higher prices. Also, given that
different varieties have various maturation times, farmers can plant varieties
that mature at different times, thus guaranteeing food security and a stable
income throughout the year.
As the experiment in mixing
varieties continues, IFAD and its partners are working to improve access to and
awareness of traditional resistant varieties and how they can improve yields.
The experience of IFAD and its partners, whether in Uganda or the Inner Nile
Delta, demonstrates the integral role preserving biological diversity plays in
sustainable development and increasing the resilience of food production
systems.
Source; IFAD
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