Food systems on the agenda for the first time at COP 27
For the first time, agriculture and food systems were extensively discussed at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which was held in Charm El-Cheikh in November 2022 (COP 27). With a special pavilion dedicated to food systems, this crucial issue is no longer being ignored.
Let us recall that agriculture accounts for 37 % of greenhouse gas emissions (GGEs) across the world. Agricultural land and resources (forests, grazing grounds, vegetation) on the other hand are significant carbon sinks, sequestering 29 % of total GGEs.
The agricultural sector is also one of the most vulnerable to climate change and is exposed to recurrent catastrophes: heatwaves, drought and floods, changes in rainfall patterns, etc. In the face of food crises and famines sometimes generated by these extreme phenomena, as was the case in recent months in the South of Madagascar, there are huge challenges around adaptation of food systems.
Although COP 27 led to the creation of a loss and damage fund, climate funding remains largely insufficient. As underlined by the United Nations: “International financial flows for adaptation in developing countries are five to six times lower than estimated requirements and the gap is widening. It is estimated that annual adaptation requirements will reach between 160 and 340 billion dollars by 2030, and between 315 and 565 billion dollars by 205”[1]. In terms of mitigating emissions, “small farms produce up to 80 % of food in developing countries, but they receive less than 1.7 % of climate funding”.[2]
Cultivated biodiversity, a solution that should be promoted
The links to be established with the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) (Montreal, December 2022) and health issues are also a challenge. While technological solutions still dominate in proposals for adaptation and mitigation, cultivated biodiversity is not yet recognised as a major lever of action. Yet it provides concrete solutions that are accessible to family farming and perfectly suited to complex agroecological contexts marked by drought. It also provides food diversity and high nutritional value for the poorest households.
GRET has been working on these various issues for many years. It supports the development of sustainable, healthy food systems that can respond to the challenges generated by climate change. Through the Asanao programme agreement – “Ensuring food and nutrition security in West Africa and developing countries”, funded by Agence française de développement (AFD), GRET is working in eight countries to strengthen promising territorial dynamics. Its teams also contribute to informing reflection and make proposals for the implementation of policies that are more favourable to the promotion of agroecology, conservation of natural resources, strengthening of collaboration between agricultural and health stakeholders, and for behavioural change among urban and rural consumers to move towards sustainable, healthy diets.
Agroecological schemes and local quality seeds : concrete solutions to cope with drought in the South of Madagascar
This approach is clearly illustrated in Madagascar, where GRET has been working in the Androy region since 2002. The south of Madagascar is recurrently affected by acute food crises. The latter are due, in particular, to a semi-arid climate marked by low levels of rainfall and exacerbated by the frequency of dry winds and periods of drought.
Together with organisations for research on agricultural development (GSDM, Fofifa, Cirad), and with financial support mainly from the European Union, GRET gradually developed technical agroecological itineraries based on “multi-purpose” plants (food for humans and animals, fighting against wind and rain erosion, restoration of fertility in degraded soils) suited to the semi-arid conditions of the Androy region. GRET’s teams in Madagascar firstly conducted tests with willing farmers in plots measuring 1,000 m². Then, beginning in 2009, they started extending this work on a larger scale. With its national partner, the Agroecological technical centre of the South (CTAS), a Malagasy NGO created in 2013, GRET developed the concept of the agroecological scheme. The latter consists of a contiguous, collective, physical and biological development, with an initial surface area of at least 10 hectares and a nutritional, productive and environmental purpose. It features a high level of tiered biological diversity, ranging from creeping plants to large trees. In order to create an “oasis” effect providing protection against wind and rain erosion, it is made up of several contiguous plots, owned by the farming families who agreed to participate, generally all from the same lineage and living in one or several fokontany[3]”.
The main plants cultivated in agroecological schemes are pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan indica), local Lima beans (konoke), millet and sorghum, in addition to cereals, legumes, tubers and Cucurbitaceae, which are grown in the Grand Sud region. This strong crop diversity enables better management of climate risks and provides varied food, particularly during hunger gaps. CTAS supports characterisation and ensures maintenance of quality declared seeds (QDS), as well as promoting the latter in the Androy and Anosy regions. Currently, 53 varieties suited to the climatic conditions in the South of Madagascar are listed on the QDS register.
Thanks to their knowledge of social and anthropological realities in the Androy region, GRET and CTAS worked on eliminating the taboo that had existed for multiple generations around the consumption of pigeon peas. During the great drought of 2020 when there had been no rain for almost 12 months in certain places, households benefitting from agroecological schemes had greater resilience than others and did not migrate. When the rain returned, pigeon peas were the first crop to grow back: this convinced households, and agricultural activities quickly recommenced. This large-scale crash test made it possible to demonstrate the resilience of this innovative crop system. CTAS is now working on reconstituting the 7,000 hectares of agroecological schemes identified in 2019. Currently, these schemes are recognised by the Malagasy Ministry of Agriculture as a resilient agroecological system that is suited to the semi-arid conditions of the South. This model is also inspiring numerous countries in the Sahel.
These new techniques were disseminated in parallel with awareness-raising among households on best food, hygiene and healthcare practices. Recipes were distributed to families (intended particularly for young children), valorising the crops promoted in the agroecological schemes and enabling improvement of households’ food diversification. As part of the Asanao project, the teams at GRET and CTAS were trained on the link between crop and livestock farming practices and nutrition, with a focus on gender issues. Tools to raise crop and livestock farmers’ awareness on this link are currently being developed.
[1] Adaptation Gap Report 2022
[3] The fokontany is the smallest administrative division in Madagascar. It can include several villages and/or hamlets.
