The Use of Agrobiodiversity by Indigenous Peoples and Rural Communities in Adapting To

DRAFT FOR CHIANG MAI WORKSHOP, 17-20 June, 2009

The use of agrobiodiversity by indigenous peoples and rural communities in adapting to climate change

A discussion paper prepared by the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research

Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 The context

1.2 Indigenous people and rural communities – maintainers and users of agrobiodiversity

1.3 Indigenous peoples, rural communities and climate change

2.Charting experiences of indigenous peoples and rural communities

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Crops and agroforestry

2.3 Livestock

2.4 Soil and water management

2.5 Associated agrobiodiversity

2.6 Community and other perspectives

3. Expected and possible changes in agriculture

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Climate change phenomena

3.3 Extent of change

3.4 Effects on agricultural production

3.5 Adaptation and mitigation

4. Issues for discussion, areas for research and the need for new perspectives

4.1 Agrobiodiversity maintenance and use

4.2 Wider perspectives

4.3 Alliances and approaches

5. References

1. Introduction

1.1The context

During the period 1995 to 2050, the world's population is projected to increase by some 72 percent, from 5 700 million to 9 800 million people. These demographic changes mean that food requirements of developing countries as a whole may have to double in terms of plant-energy by 2050. Sub-Saharan Africa may have to more than triple plant energy production. (WFS 1996). At the same time climate change scenarios suggest temperatures may rise by 2-3 C with associated rise in sea levels of 1 – 2m. The changes in agricultural production that will result from the changing production environments and the increased demand will be substantial and possibly dramatic. Agriculture uses 70% of the world’s fresh water and is responsible for about 15 percent of global GHG emissions (Figure 1).Increasingly, there are calls for the development of a more sustainable agriculture and for food and agricultural production practices that respond to concerns about the environment.

Fig. 1 from “Navigating the Numbers: Greenhouse Gas Data and International Climate Policy” WRI, 2005

The Millennium Development Goals adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg include agreements to"Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger" (MDG1) and "Ensure environmental sustainability" (MDG7) ( These challenges often lead to contradictory and conflicting actions by different groups as illustrated by a continuing emphasis on “fertilizer and seed” types of solutions for increasing global crop production and productivity and a continuing emphasis on the importance on managed protected areas by those concerned with environmental issues and biodiversity conservation.

The global perspective, dealing as it does in worldwide production scenarios and global averages, tends to obscure the central role of small-scale farming, of pastoralists and of traditional rural communities in food production and environmental management. IFAD figures suggest that about 50% of developing country rural populations are smallholders (farming less than 3ha of land). In W and S Africa and Pacific countries, smallholders are responsible for cultivating about 70% of arable and permanent cropland although this figure varies enormously across the world (Morton, 2007). It also does not adequately reflect the importance of indigenous peoples and rural communities and the role they play in the maintenance of key agro-ecosystems and centres of cultural and biological diversity and in the continuing provision of vital ecosystem services.

Indigenous and other traditional peoples and rural communities are having to cope with many interlocking stresses that result from different aspects of global change. They have to confront the problems that result from population increase, insecure and changing land ownership, environmental degradation, market failures and market globalization, protectionist and inappropriate policy regimes, state fragility and armed conflict and disease problems from HIV/AIDS and new pandemics (Morton, 2007).

Climate change presents an additional major challenge to indigenous peoples and rural communities which brings with it new problems, often interacting with or exacerbating existing problems. It makes new demands for adaptation and coping strategies by farmers and rural communities and presents new challenges for the management of their environment and agro-ecosystems.

1.2 Indigenous people and rural communities– maintainers and users of agrobiodiversity

Agrobiodiversity includes all the components of biological diversity of relevance to food and agriculture as well as the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms, at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels that sustain the functions, structure and processes of the agro-ecosystem. Maintained by farmers, rural communities and indigenous peoples, the nature and character of agrobiodiversity in agro-ecosystems reflects the interactions between people, their environment and their available biological diversity. The continued use and adaptive management of agrobiodiversity is central to sustainable production to improving the livelihoods, food security, and health of poor farmers throughout the world. At the global level, humanity depends upon the adaptability of agriculture to cope with challenges such as climate change and to meet basic needs.

Significant agrobiodiversity has already been lost from many production systems leaving them impoverished, vulnerable, dependent on external inputs and increasingly unsustainable. However, much of the world’s agrobiodiversity is still being used by indigenous and traditional agricultural communities that depend on agrobiodiversity for their livelihoods. In this role they act as custodians of a diversity of crops, forages, livestock, agroforestry products, and fish, and the other plant, animal and microbial species found in and around their production areas that are managed and maintained to provide food, fuel, medicine and many other products necessary to their wellbeing.

1.3 Indigenous peoples, rural communities and climate change

Indigenous and other traditional peoples and rural communities confront many interlocking stresses that result from different aspects of global change. The have to confront the problems that result from population increase, insecure and changing land ownership, environmental degradation, market failures and market globalization, protectionist and inappropriate policy regimes, state fragility and armed conflict and disease problems from HIV/AIDS and new pandemics (Morton, 2007). Climate change is one problem among many which interacts with others in different and often complex ways compelling rural communities to adapt and change.

Climate change means that many communities are having to cope with specific trends such as increased temperature or decreased rainfall under increasingly variable, unpredictable and fluctuating production conditions. The burden is higher considering an increase in the world's population and a decrease in food production - a global study showed that the production of rice and wheat could fall by eight per cent and 32 per cent respectively by the year 2050 (IPCC Fourth Assessment Report 2007 - Climate change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability). That traditional knowledge and materials built up over generations of observation, experimentation and adaptation are often inadequate in the face of these changing circumstances.In addition, climate change also affects many other related aspects of livelihood and well-being of indigenous peoples and rural communities including their health, non-agricultural work opportunities, labour availability, and the characteristics of their environment leading to conflict over increasingly scarce resources.

Indigenous and other traditional peoples have been largely ignored in discussions on climate change and its consequences. As Salick and Byg (2007) note, reports from the IPCC make little mention of indigenous peoples and then only in Polar Regions as helpless victims of changes beyond their control. This is now being challenged by indigenous peoples as shown by the recent Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples prepared by Tebtebbafoundation (De Chavez, R. and Tauli-Corpuz 2009) and by the debates and outcomes of the Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change which took place in Anchorage, Alaska from 20-24 April 2009 –(Anchorage Declaration:

In their synthesis report of a symposium held in Oxford, UK on indigenous peoples and climate change, Salick and Byg (2007) emphasize that indigenous peoples observe, adapt to and interpret climate change in ways that support the maintenance of the ecosystems in which they live and work, help maintain biodiversity, particularly agrobiodiversity and provide ways of confronting the challenges of climate change based on their own perceptions and experiences and the realities of the circumstances they confront. At the same time, Salick and Byg note that indigenous peoples will also need the support of international community, providing new experiences, knowledge and materials to help them continue their roles and secure their livelihoods and sustainable development. They report that the Symposium called for a conjoined, collaborative research and action agenda linking IP and rural communities with researchers

The global processes that drive climate change may often be best met with local level responses that are embedded in local cultures and based on agrobiodiversity. Agrobiodiversity not only provides a ‘portfolio effect’ to buffer risks, it provides landscape, species, and genetic diversity necessary for adaptability and resilience in the face of fluctuating and variable environments. The practices and experiences being developed by indigenous peoples and traditional agrarian communities in marginal areas constitute an important element in the strategies to cope with and adapt to climate change. Because they are often embedded in local cultures of marginalized communities this experience and knowledge is often unrecognized and undervalued. The emphasis of climate change policies tends to be on macro-level global strategies which, although vital, neglect the very real practical actions being undertaken or needed by poor rural communities and by indigenous peoples seeking to maintain their culture, traditions and production base. It is becoming increasingly evident that successful global strategies for biodiversity conservation rely on local leadership and major investment in local capacity.

Climate change and agrobiodiversity

Despite its importance for the livelihoods of rural communities throughout the world, and for the development of adequate adaptation and mitigation strategies for agriculture, agrobiodiversity has also been largely ignored in discussions on climate change. The IPCC report more or less completely ignores the role of diversity in production systems and its treatment of agriculture and of biodiversity conservation ignores the central role that agrobiodiversity will have to play in both adaptation and mitigation at country, landscape, community and farmer levels. Some recognition of the importance of agrobiodiversity has recently been given at an international level by FAO and other partners in inputs to the recent FAO High Level Summit on Food Security, Climate Change and Bioenergy and there are signs of increasing recognition of the importance of agrobiodiversity by international bodies.

One problem is that the information on the importance of agrobiodiversity and the ways it is being used by farmers, communities and, particularly, indigenous people is scattered and not easily accessible and the roles of small scale farmers are not appreciated. Over the last year the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (see Box 1), with the support of The Christensen Fund and Bioversity International, has undertaken a project aimed improving our understanding of the central role that agrobiodiversity plays in coping with climate change and the ways in which indigenous peoples and rural communities are already using agrobiodiversity as part of their coping strategies for climate change. The work has the following objectives:

1. To bring together and make available information on the use of agrobiodiversity by rural and indigenous communities to cope with climate change, and relevant research work on effect of climate change on agriculture and agrobiodiversity
2. To support enhanced communication among agrobiodiversity researchers, maintainers and users
3. To prepare a synthesis and assessment on the maintenance and use of agrobiodiversity by indigenous peoples and rural communities under conditions of climate change
4. To identify new cross-cutting multidisciplinary research activities in those regions where the impacts of climate change are likely to be greatest on agricultural systems and livelihoods and where indigenous peoples and traditional communities reside.

In this discussion paper, prepared by the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (see Box 1), the focus is how indigenous peoples and rural communities can, and do, use agrobiodiversity to meet the challenges of climate change. Ways in which indigenous farmers around the world are already using agrobiodiversity to help cope with climate change are described and discussed in the context of their needs and expectations. The ways in which it is expected that agriculture around the world will have to adapt to climate change are summarized. From these analyses some areas of agriculture are identified where agrobiodiversity is particularly important in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Areas of research are suggested where collaboration between indigenous people, rural communities and the research community is likely to make a significant contribution to the well being of small-scale farmers, sustainable production and the maintenance of agrobiodiversity. The research will also contribute evidence of potential contribution that indigenous people can make to improve global understanding and responses to climate change impacts.

Box 1. The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research
The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (the Platform) brings together researchers, civil society, international organizations and others to share knowledge and experiences that can improve the maintenance and use of all aspects of agrobiodiversity. The Platform’s guiding principles include a concern with research of potential global significance; a focus on work that complements existing research efforts and addresses more than one component or level of agrobiodiversity; a commitment to working with poor farmers, local communities and indigenous peoples on agendas of relevance to their needs. It aims to work in ways that link custodians, managers and beneficiaries of biodiversity. Currently hosted by Bioversity International, the Platform’s objectives are:
-To collate and synthesize agrobiodiversity data and information and disseminate knowledge, making available relevant tools and practices that support improved use of agrobiodiversity and identifying areas where collaborative knowledge generation is needed.
-To identify ways in which the use of agrobiodiversity can contribute to addressing major global challenges, to make relevant information easily available and to provide options on the contribution of agrobiodiversity in these areas.
-To identify and facilitate relevant new and innovative research partnerships that strengthen cross-cutting, multidisciplinary and participatory research and to contribute to agrobiodiversity research capacity building in developing regions.

2: Charting experiences of indigenous peoples and rural communities

2.1 Introduction

The emphasis of the section is on providing examples of the different ways in which agrobiodiversity and response to climate change intersect at community and farmer level. In this way it is hoped to identify the main types of response and the most important stresses or problems that have confronted indigenous peoples and rural communities where agrobiodiversity has been used. The information comes from reports, reviews, books, websites and information sent directly to, or gathered by the Platform over the past year.

While collecting and reviewing the information it has been useful to distinguish two broad types of response: (a) those in which the information suggests that communities themselves are finding ways of dealing with particular climate change problems, and (b) those where the information comes from reports on project interventions where it is not so clear whether the change is internally or externally initiated and driven. Information on the first may come from the communities or their spokesmen or it may result from analyses by researchers or others. Of course, the distinction between project and non-project interventions and between “researchers” and the communities and farmers is somewhat arbitrary but may help explain the different kind of information gathered.

The information obtained on responses involving use of agrobiodiversity has been grouped around different components of agro-ecosystems (crop and agroforestry, livestock and pastoral, water and soil, associated agrobiodiversity) using examples to illustrate the particular approaches adopted. It should be noted however that, at community and farmer level, different responses are often combined in a more or less integrated way and that there are other important perspectives as noted in the final section.

2.2 Crops and agroforestry

Many changes in crop production practices and in the crops and varieties grown by indigenous peoples and rural communities have been described as resulting from climate change. These include: changes in varieties and the variety characteristics of crops, changes in crops and crop combinations, and alterations in agronomic practices. The importance of traditional varieties or crops in confronting change is often described.

There is abundant evidence that communities and farmers are already involved in selecting new varieties or varieties with altered traits and in adopting new crops. Thus the development of short duration rice varieties formed part of the adaptation strategies of people living in Gaibandha district of the Char islands, northern Bangladesh where there have been an increasing number, magnitude, and duration of flash floods during the last few decades.

The land area affected by major floods has increased from 35% in 1974 to 68% in 1998.

In Niger and Mali the amounts of intra-crop diversity of traditional varieties of pearl millet and sorghum have remained broadly similar throughout the drought periods of the last 30 years suggesting that these materials show sufficient adaptability to enable farmers to cope, at least partially, with periods of significant rainfall shortage (Bezançon, G. et al.2009) and that farming practices and local institutions have favoured maintenance of diversity. Interestingly, in both countries, there was some loss of long duration types with an apparent increasing preference for rapidly maturing varieties.