OPENING DISCUSSION

This discussion will begin by looking broadly at the potential of SLM as a primary adaptation and mitigation strategy in Africa.

Change is inevitable but not always welcome

When SLM is adopted widely, many farming systems in Africa will change dramatically.

This notion holds in it a significant barrier – for people are reluctant to change any system of production that has proven to be successful in the past. They are even reluctant to change when a system has failed them.

This can be because they

• are not sure of what to do instead or what alternatives will provide them with the resource security that they seek
• lack the capacity to change because the technical skills, technologies or financial capability eludes them
• are simply fearful of new things – an understandable and universal human condition

To overcome this inertia toward change the current wisdom is that SLM options will need incentive mechanisms, financial, knowledge or technology transfer benefits that encourage farmers to adopt new ways of farming.

Yet it is not always clear how much incentive would be needed to achieve widespread adoption of SLM practices. Will it be costly or the financial mechanisms too awkward to implement?

Matching incentive option to SLM approach, location, situation, and opportunity is a challenge for policy, investment and delivery.

What we will hear from our experts over the next few days are experiences, ideas and solutions for how SLM will be adopted both response to the environmental challenge of climate change and because climate change will create some of the needed incentives.

I welcome our keynote contributors and commend them to you.

I also welcome you and hope that our collective discussions will be fruitful.

Mark
18th September

It is exciting to see the movement for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Africa maturing. Once a marginalized activity of a few innovators experimenting in different parts of the continent, SLM is now part of national development plans, NEPAD’s regional plans, and programs of many NGO’s and farmers’ organizations. Today the great challenge for SLM is to align strategically with initiatives for increasing agricultural productivity and for ecosystem conservation and restoration, at farm, landscapes, and national scales.

Climate change could be the catalyst for achieving that alignment. For farmers to sustain yields and become more resilient in the face of climate change, it will be essential to increase soil organic matter, root biomass, vegetative cover of crop fields and grasslands and agroforestry, while reducing agricultural burning, livestock wastes, unnecessary tillage and soil erosion. These same SLM practices slow climate change by sequestering and storing carbon from the atmosphere in soils, roots and vegetation. Carbon offset payments could help to finance their promotion and adoption.

To further protect and increase productivity, seeds for crops, grasses and trees must be adapted to new climate conditions; supplemental nutrients will be needed for some soils. Markets must function effectively for both farmers and consumers, to ensure rural and urban food supply as climate risks and uncertainties increase. Critical habitat for wildlife will move with climate change beyond the boundaries of national parks and protected areas into farmland. Farmers will have a critical role to play as well in regulating water supply, to ensure rainfall is absorbed and stored in soils, aquifers and surface water sources.

Most SLM programs today are run separately from programs for agricultural productivity, water management, and biodiversity conservation—even in the very same landscapes. To meet these diverse challenges efficiently, leaders in African rural landscapes will need to align action among different sectors and stakeholders, to achieve ‘ecoagriculture’ landscapes.

It’s not uncommon to hear about the tendency of the human race to “self-destruct”. An area where this is evident but rarely acknowledged is in farming activities.

For instance, arable cropping that is dominated by heavy tillage exposes the soil in croplands to erosion. This causes huge soil losses on one hand, and siltation on the other. Tillage coupled with low use of inputs, exploitation of fragile/marginal lands, and mono-cropping, are key factors leading to soil nutrient mining, severe soil degradation, and declining levels of soil organic matter. These practices undermine African agriculture’s ability to lead the fight against poverty and food insecurity.

This is happening even when there are proven technologies and practices that would enable high and sustainable yields consistent with environmental resilience and biodiversity protection objectives.

Sustainable land Management highlights key principles and practices on sustainable natural resource management specific to various socio-economic and ecosystem circumstances. Given its proven performance on one hand, and the growing land degradation consequences on the other, the question is “what is hindering high and widespread adoption of SLM?”

Perhaps it is because much of the farming activities inherently give precedence to “today’s needs” in production or productivity as opposed to “future needs”.

Currently, addressing land degradation will be cardinal to Africa’s ability to sustain efficient natural resource use. This will include enhancing its ability to respond to shocks including extreme weather conditions, climate change as well as building the desired economic base for a growth agenda.

We can use SLM actions to supply current and future needs and so avoid self-destruction.

The discussion is warming up (sorry, bad pun) and thank you everyone for your contributions – keep them coming.

So far we have seen that

• A challenge and great need is to align SLM with agricultural production programs across all scales
• As SLM is proven “what is hindering high and widespread adoption of SLM?”
• Climate change can be a catalyst with carbon offset payments a great incentive for change
• Across Africa (and everywhere else where people grow food); soil organic matter, root biomass, vegetative cover need to increase while burning, livestock wastes, unnecessary tillage, soil erosion need to decrease
• Farmers will have an increasingly crucial role in maintaining ecosystem services
• Sharing training and advice across and between nations will help
• Land tenure and rights to land may be much more important for SLM than we realize

These points seem to boil down to

SLM works, why aren’t we using it everywhere?

Let us be bold. I am sure that with a bit of thought and goodwill we can answer this question over the coming days.
Mark
23 September, 2009