Concertation Indépendante
Cible géographique:
Italie, Kenya, République-Unie de Tanzanie
Main findings
(i) The environmental value of diversification in agricultural production: • A multi- and interdisciplinary research approach is essential for a nuanced understanding of the agri-food system. • Indigenous local vegetables are less demanding in resources when compared to staple crops. • Local agri-biodiversity should be promoted as it improves ecosystem services, such as pollination. • Indigenous local vegetables and staple crops can effectively be utilized and farmed together but synthetic pesticides associated with staple crops have negative impacts on the biodiversity, although this
... Lire la suitecan be avoided or mitigated through the use of natural pesticides. • African indigenous vegetables are predominately cultivated for self or family consumption in urban areas while market demand drives the dominance of staple crops in rural areas. A majority of farmers use natural and traditional practices, but larger farms have increasingly employed intensive farming practices. • Pollinators’ richness decreases as landscape increases intensity due to urbanization and large-scale commercial farming. • The practice of breeding for uniformity has led to a spread of monoculture farming. There is a need to address this and establish farmer-orientated agricultural systems, particularly in relation to seed selection. Seed breeding for diversity needs to be promoted. (ii) Health and the nutrition challenges: • Biodiversity within the agri-food system needs to be approached through a health and nutritional framing. • Malnutrition, especially amongst children in East Africa, is still extremely high and urgently needs to be addressed. African indigenous vegetables can play a key role. • Only 16 percent of the sample consumed a portion of African indigenous vegetables. There was a higher consumption of indigenous vegetables observed in urban areas when compared to rural areas. • Empowering women through education can enhance their own health but can also have a positive feedback in the health of their offspring. This education can also reduce several forms of inequalities faced by women including gender, health, social, and economic inequalities. • Policy exchange of experiences between different actors is extremely beneficial. (iii) The small-farmer as a driver of sustainability through rural-urban linkages in agri-food production and supply chain: • In Kenya and Tanzania, there is a large range of farmer typology, varying with size of land and levels of commercialization. Income diversification and precarity leads to migration to urban centers and strengthening of rural-urban linkages. Created indexes for sustainable farming practices and waste management. • Social organizations are common and play a key role in helping small farmers. They are associated with risk and profit sharing, improved access to credit and capital, improved income security, and increased access to education and training. • Diversification of production and marketing channels needs to be recognized as important driver of economic development and biodiversity preservation. • The conventional food system is in crisis – disconnected from the environment, society, and material realities of small farmers. There needs to be new business models and governance structures to reconnect producers and consumers. • It was noted that it is not appropriate to use European categorisations of producers and consumers in the African context. Lire moins
Piste(s) d'Action: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Mots-clés : Data & Evidence, Environment and Climate, Finance, Governance, Policy, Women & Youth Empowerment