Switching to agroecology to tackle climate change effects

Dar es Salaam. Experts suggest that we should consider switching to agroecology in light of the failure of the global food system, rising nutritional demands, and increasing climate change effects.

Agroecology proposes food system solutions by producing enough, safe, and nutritious food, distributing it through shorter value chains, and providing farmers with a better income as well as healthier and more affordable food to consumers.

It comprises a set of principles and practices that enhance food resilience and sustainability as well as farming systems that allow the preservation of social integrity.

Agroecology is a socio-political movement that focuses on practical application and the new ways of agricultural production, processing, distribution, and food consumption, and their relationships with nature and society.

Ms Ayesiga Buberwa, the Islands of Peace (IDP) programmes manager, emphasised the importance of transforming food systems to agroecology in her presentation at a capacity-building workshop for editors and media owners last week in Arusha.

In her presentation titled: Sustainable Food Systems, Ms Buberwa said a radical transformation of the food systems requires stronger measures to enforce the right to food and other human rights.

She said transformation is important for sustainable and resource-efficient food practices and additional diverse food production and distribution channels.

“The fact that 811 million people are chronically hungry worldwide suggests that food systems are not meeting the needs of large sections of society,” she said.

“When our food systems fail, they put our education, health, economy, human rights, peace and security at risk. We are all part of the food system, so we must all come together to bring about the transformation that the world needs,” she added.

According to her, the shift to agroecology is important due to the current food system’s inability to produce greater quantities of food to feed the growing global population.

Also, the food system’s failure to meet nutritional needs and inability to equally and equitably benefit every stakeholder with both over- and under-consumption is rife in the current systems.

“Other factors are the negative impacts of food systems on the environment and natural resources, as well as the increasing challenges of climate change on food systems. The food systems are themselves part of the problem as they, directly and indirectly, cause increasing emissions,” she observed.

Global food situation

Between 702 million and 828 million people were adversely affected by hunger in 2021, which is equivalent to 103 million more people between 2019 and 2020, and 46 million more in 2021. One in five people in Africa, equivalent to 20.2 percent of the population, were affected in 2021.

“If the current trend continues, the number of people facing the plight of hunger will surpass 840 million by 2030, or 9.8 percent of the global population,” she said.

Around 2.3 billion people globally were moderately or severely food insecure in 2021, with an estimation of two billion people in the world lacking regular access to safe, nutritious, and, sufficient food in 2019.

Buberwa said moderate or severe food insecurity increased in Africa in 2021, which is the region with the highest prevalence at all levels of severity.

“In 2020, an estimated 22 percent of children under the age of five were stunted, 6.7 percent were wasted, and 5.7 percent were overweight. The prevalence of undernourishment jumped to 9.3 percent in 2020 from 8.0 percent in 2019. Numbers continued to rise globally last year,” she said.

In 2019, nearly one in three women aged between 15 and 49 (571 million) were affected by anaemia. Almost 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, an increase of 112 million people as compared to 2019.

Need for increased food production

According to the IDP official, a 60 percent increase in global food production is required to feed the future population of nine billion people, as 800 million people are currently hungry.

She said the global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, with agriculture alone identified as a threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 (86 percent) species at risk of extinction.

She noted that the global rate of species facing extinction risks today is higher than the average rate for the last 10 million years, hinting that, at the global level, agriculture contributes to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) and reduction of carbon storage in vegetation and soil.

“Locally, agriculture reduces biodiversity and affects natural habitats through land conversion, eutrophication, pesticide inputs, irrigation and drainage. About 34 percent of all man-made GHG emissions are generated by food systems,” she said.

Around 14 percent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail worldwide. Significant quantities are also wasted in retail and at the consumption level,” added Buberwa.

She said the world already produces enough food to feed everyone on the planet, but over 17 percent of it is wasted.

According to her, around 38 percent of the total energy consumption in the global food system is also utilised to produce food that is either lost or wasted.

Furthermore, she said it takes seeds, soil, and farmers’ labour to produce food, not to mention the fuel that is needed to transport it.

“All these resources are lost when food is wasted, with the disposal of food loss and waste in landfills leading to GHGs that adversely contribute to the negative impacts of climate change,” said Buberwa.

Agriculture Non-State Actors Forum (Ansaf) managing director, Mr Audax Rukonge said according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, elements of agroecology include: diversity, co-creation, and sharing of knowledge, synergies, efficiency, and recycling.

Others are resilience, human and social values, culture and food traditions, responsible governance, and solidarity economy.

Mr Rukonge outlined the challenges facing agroecology uptake in Tanzania as inadequate coordination among the multiple sectors to which it contributes. He also said that it is scantly addressed in national policy-making processes, land-use planning, and rural development programmes.

“Another challenge is unfavourable policies that primarily emphasise monoculture food production, industrial agricultural crops, and mechanised farming (often subsidised),” he explained.

He mentioned other factors, including limited awareness and inadequate understanding among stakeholders in the government, value chain actors, NGOs, and investment discouragement due to the costs, time, and returns.

“Developing a sector-wide agroecology strategy that touches the ministries, departments, and agencies as well as strengthening coordination of issues related to agroecology are some of the recommended issues.”

He added; “Also, developing an informed action plan at the regions, local government authorities and coordination at the President’s Office-Regional Administration and Local Government, raising awareness among different stakeholders, and cultivating a ‘community of practice’ that packages success stories and best practices are other strategies to consider.”

According to him, a reward system should be established for high-level ranks within the government. Also, local governments should customise national policies and strategies into their plans.

What the government is doing

Dr Honest Kessy, the national food security director in the ministry of agriculture, said Tanzania’s reliance on imports of basic agricultural products such as fertiliser, wheat, and edible oil, among others, has made the country vulnerable in the event of disasters such as the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“However, the Itracom fertiliser company in Dodoma will enable Tanzania to produce 600,000 tonnes of fertiliser domestically, therefore reducing importation,” he said.

The agriculture ministry official said despite having arable land that is conducive for wheat production, the country has been dependent on importations from Ukraine, which is a small country compared to Tanzania.

“Efforts to give the farms to potential investors who will efficiently and effectively use them to help the country reduce imports are underway,” he revealed.

Regarding the shortage of cooking oil, Dr Kessy said the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is subsidising sunflower seeds to enable farmers to increase production and, as a result, reduce cooking oil imports.

“We need your help (media) in educating citizens about the environmental degradation that is occurring in various parts of the country, which directly affects agricultural productivity and thus food security.” he said.