Agricultural biodiversity acknowledged

1. Importance of Africa agricultural
biodiversity

2. Africa’s challenges
• Africa is the second largest continent after Asia
• Its agriculture is diverse, with both TK and genetic
resources under-valued and poorly studied
• It is the least populated, e.g. DCR is the size of Europe
but has a population the same size as Belgium
• Its population is young, 75% under 30
• It has lost countless people through the slave trade, and
continues to loose its brightest and best to ‘brain drain’
• Infrastructure investment has focused on extraction
(minerals) and not internal communication and
integration
• Very poor R&D investment, particularly for agriculture
• It continues to be disturbed by conflicts
• AND, the present push for an African Green Revolution
will not be sustainable

3. AFRICA’S AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

4. THE MAIN FLORISTIC
REGIONS OF AFRICA
AND MADAGASCAR
FROM WHITE (1983)

5. Africa’s Agricultural Systems
• Diversity is the norm – 10 or more crops plus
livestock
• Smallholder farmers, mainly women, are the
main producers
• Four farming systems—maize mixed, cereal/root
crop mixed, root crop, and agro-pastoral
millet/sorghum—provide the livelihoods for half
of the population and occupy 42 percent of the
land area in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Sorghum – Africa’s neglected crop

6. Maintain its agricultural diversity

7. Ecological Intensification
• Before a Green Revolution, Africa needs a
BROWN REVOLUTION
• The soil needs to be built up and maintained
through establishing effective cycling of nutrients
• Organic fertilizers:
– Compost (including bioslurry)
– Cover crops
– Agroforestry with multipurpose trees
• THIS CAN DOUBLE YIELDS IN AROUND 4 YEARS

8. Impact of using compost - Results from over 900 samples
from farmers fields over 7 years, 2001-2006 inclusive
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Average mean grain yields in kg/ha for 4 cereals and 1 pulse crop from
Tigray, northern Ethiopia, 2000-2006 inclusive
Barley (n=444) Durum wheat
(n=546)
Maize (n=273) Teff (n=741) Faba bean (n=141)
kg/ha
Crop (n=number of observations/fields sampled)
Check
Compost
Chemical fertilizer

9. Figure 1: Effects of bioslurry compost, chemical fertilizer and no
inputs (check) on wheat in Waza, Hintalo Wejerat, 2010
2739
Grain Straw
2578
1494
3756 3617
2322
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Compost Fertilizer Check
Yield in kg/ha
Treatment
Note: This is from the first year of using bioslurry compost

10. Increase in grain index for selected
crops in Tigray, 2000-2006
These are all farmers’ varieties
• Durum wheat, from 34 to 39% grain
• Maize from 33 to 43% grain
• Sorghum from 35 to 41% grain
• Teff from 32 to 36% grain

11. Organic Agriculture in Africa
• African Union, Executive Council, Eighteenth Ordinary Session,
24-28 January 2011
• EX.CL/Dec.621 (XVIII), DECISION ON ORGANIC FARMING
• Doc. EX.CL/631 (XVIII)
1. TAKES NOTE of the Report of the Conference of Ministers of
Agriculture held in Lilongwe, Malawi on 28 and 29 October 2010
on Organic Farming, and ENDORSES the Resolution contained
therein;
2. EXPRESSES concern over the current practice of exploitation of
the organic farmers in Africa;

12. 3. REQUESTS the Commission and its New Partnership
for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Planning and
Coordinating Agency (NPCA) to:
i) Initiate and provide guidance for an African Union (AU)-led
coalition of international partners on the establishment of an
African organic farming platform based on available best
practices; and
ii) Provide guidance in support of the development of
sustainable organic farming systems and improve seed
quality;
4. CALLS UPON development partners to provide the necessary
technical and financial support for the implementation of this
Decision;
5. REQUESTS the Commission to report regularly on the
implementation of this Decision.

13. Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative
for Africa
• This is supported by Sida through SSNC
• It has 6 pillars:
1. Research, Training and Extension
2. Information and Communication
3. Value Chain and Market Development
4. Networking and Partnerships
5. Policy and Programme Development
6. Institutional Capacity Development

14. • Therefore, we need to invest in the ecological
intensification of Africa’s agriculture
• Support farmers’ rights to develop, save and use
their own seed
And
• Show that the Africa CAN feed itself and provide
food for people in other parts of the world
BUT
• Peace and Security must prevail

15. • This presentation is largely based on the
chapter
• AFRICA’S POTENTIAL FOR ECOLOGICAL
INTENSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURE
• And others in the book
• CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD SYSTEMS RESILIENCE IN
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

16. THANK YOU
Sue Edwards, with Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egzibher
Dereje Gebremichael, Hailu Araya,
and Arefayne Asmelash
Institute for Sustainable Development,
Ethiopia
sustaindeveth@ethionet.et /
sustainet@yahoo.co.uk