How can we boost agricultural output and improve rural livelihoods in the developing world (especially sub-Saharan Africa) without attendant land/forest degradation and resultant biodiversity loss?

Sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region of the world and experiencing high rates of land degradation, desertification, forest degradation and loss. The ecology-welfare link in this part of the world is very strong and most people live outside formal institutions and markets. Declining crop yields have meant agricultural expansion and in places like the Eastern Afromontane Hotspot this means large potential for the loss of endemic species. Livelihoods here are also closely tied to annual rainfall patterns and any near term changes in these as a result of climate change may also rationalize further agricultural expansion (e.g. to areas with more stable rainfall, or as an insurance mechanism to ensure a certain level of output). Here we have a nexus of severe poverty, high biodiversity, poor agricultural productivity, climate vulnerability and potential loss of carbon stored in woodland and forest ecosystems.

4 comments

1. Kalense says:

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   I could hardly agree more with http://www.PanEarth.org
2. gerardgovers says:

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   Food provision in the developing world will rapidly become a major challenge as most of the population growth that is foreseen between now and 2050 will take place in these areas. Developing the necessary technology to provide an adequate food supply and for implementing it in developing areas whithout further damage to local ecosystems is crucial for sustainable development
3. lejackson@ucdavis.edu says:

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   More attention is needed towards using biodiversity to provide ecological functions in agriculture, as well is in neighboring wildlands.
4. www.PanEarth.org says:

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   Currently, agricultural systems now cover at least 1/4 of the earth’s terrestrial surface. Human population growth and resource consumption are a direct result of increased agricultural output. Increased agricultural productivity will lead to increased population which will then drive agricultural expansion (as it has since the beginning of the “agricultural revolution”) . Agricultural expansion decreases biodiversity, carbon sequestration (increasing global warming) and base stream flow. Given these realities, it would seem counterproductive to pursue this line of inquiry — how we can further increase agricultural output. I urge you to see http://www.panearth.org for a narrated slide show elucidating these issues.