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Enhancing ecosystem services and indicatorsSession “beyond productivity : multiple criteria for
assessing performance of agriculture systems”
Etienne HainzelinIn collaboration with Cirad researchers
International Symposium on Agroecology for Food Security and Nutrition
Kunming, August 2016
Outline
1. A radically new way of looking at agriculture performance
2. Agroecology enhances specific ecosystem services for production and is expected to lower negative externalities
3. How to “measure” ecosystem services?
4. Some illustrative examples
5. Few words of conclusion
1. A radically new meaning of agriculture performance
D’après Dabouineau et Ponsero, extrait « Le râle d’eau », vol. 137 : 9-7, 2009
Natural ecosystems Intensive cereal crop Crop with restaured ecosystemic services
Water quality
Floodregulation
Habitatpreservation
Forestproduction
Carbonsequestration
Pestregulation
Air quality
Production
Water quality
Floodregulation
Habitatpreservation
Forestproduction
Carbonsequestration
Pestregulation
Air quality
Production
Water quality
Floodregulation
Habitatpreservation
Forestproduction
Carbonsequestration
Pestregulation
Air quality
Production
Visualisation of ecosystem services with different cropping systems (service value from 0 to 8)
Ecosystem services are “all the contributions, direct and indirect, that people obtain from
ecosystems” (De Groot et al. 2010) MEA 2006
2. Agroecology mobilizes and enhances specific ecosystem services for production and is expected to lower negative externalities
Natural resources / ecosystem services
Inputs
Products / biomass
Positive externalities
Negative externalities
Conventionally intensified
farmingsystems
Compared intensitivity of cropping systems (adapted from M. Griffon 2013)
Natural resources / ecosystem services
Inputs
Products / biomass
Positive externalities
Negative externalities
Agroecology- “Ecologically intensified”
farming systems
Compared intensitivity of cropping systems (adapted from M. Griffon 2013)
3. How to “measure” these ecosystem services?
MEA 2006
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005) :1. provisioning services2. regulating services3. cultural services4. supporting services The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB, 2008) :1. provisioning services2. regulating services3. habitat services4. cultural and amenity services
The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES, 2013)
IPBES…
In Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES). Discussion paper 2013 European Union Technical Report - 2013 - 067
The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES)
In Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES). Discussion paper 2013 European Union Technical Report - 2013 - 067
Accompanying classification of abiotic outputs from natural systems (CICES Provisional)
Some key questions around measuring ecosystem services
1. Some ecosystem services are difficult to measure either because their production process is not well known, or because their very nature are qualitative and subjective like “cultural services”. 2. Inevitably, the common metrics used is an economic value which is not always compatible with the nature of services and presents fundamental limitations (human well-being centered, non-adequation of the “utility and rarity” concept, intrinsic value different from market value, etc.) 3. Indicators do not generally catch the importance of the time factor, whereas many ecosystem services evolves over long periods of time, with threshold mechanisms and irreversibility.
4. Some illustrative examples of agroecological pratices
Erosion
Example 1. conservation agriculture in Mato Grosso
Source. L. Seguy et al., (2009) La symphonie inachevée du semis direct dans Brésil central http.//agroecologie.cirad.fr/librairie_virtuelle
Erosion
Source. L. Seguy et al., (2009) La symphonie inachevée du semis direct dans Brésil central http.//agroecologie.cirad.fr/librairie_virtuelle
Example 1. conservation agriculture in Mato Grosso
6-8 t/ha
12-22 t/ha
Pest and disease control
Nutrient recycling
Structure and C and N input in soils
Forage production
Water balance
Labor and cost reduction
Functions and services beyond production
Erosion control
Increasing soil biological activity
Principles
Weed control (allelopathy)
Conservation agriculture and ecosystem services
No-tillage
Mulch
Diversification
Agriculture de conservation en Afrique (FAO)
Example 1. Conservation agriculture in Africa
Projet Abaco Cirad
Projet Abaco Cirad Rusinamhodzia L. et al. 2015 Maize crop residue uses and trade-offs on smallholder crop-livestock farms in Zimbabwe: Economic implications of intensification. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 214 (2015) 31–45
Strong limitation to extension of conservation agriculture because economic value of crop residues is generally better as feed than as mulch.
Managing tradeoffs….
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Example 2. The Zaï technique in Sahelian regions
Exemple de Karim Ouedraogo
Environment « aggradation »
Few crop residues creating organic matter, seeds and water traps and reinitiating biological activity
Biological activity enhanced and growth of ligneous species
Guiera senegalensis
Domesticating native evergreen woody shrub
Piliostigma reticulatum
Zaï technique and ecosystem services
- « inputs services » : restart soil biology and nutrient cycle, N fixation
- environmental services :, soil structure, termite and pedogenesis, organic matter and water dynamics, antierosion, habitat for auxiliary biodiversity and pollination, C budget and sequestration
- Cultural services and amenities: restauration of dry forest landscape
Mulch, forage or firewood ?
Managing trade-offs …
Example 3 Agroforestry: (re)-introducing trees in annual crops
From planned associated cropping …… to complex agroforests
Photo C. Dupraz
Photo C. Dupraz
Photo C. Dupraz
Agroforestry
Agriculture
Forest
… 100 ha agroforestry produce as much wood and food products as 160 ha conventional separate cropping.
100 ha 160 haAgroforestry with
intensive cereal cropConventionnal
separate cropping
Source: Dupraz et al, INRA
~
Agroforestry and ecosystem services
- « inputs services » : reduction or substitution of N, P2O5, pesticides (local provision)
- environmental services : micro-climate favorable for crops (shade, windbreak, etc.), water dynamics, anti-lixiviation and anti-erosion effects, habitat for auxiliary biodiversity and pollination (local provision), C budget and sequestration, climate mitigation (regional and global provision)
- Cultural services and amenities: landscape beauty, recreational use, etc.
Agroforestry and ecosystem services
- « inputs services » : reduction or substitution of N, P2O5, pesticides (local provision)
- environmental services : micro-climate favorable for crops (shade, windbreak, etc.), water dynamics, anti-lixiviation and anti-erosion effects, habitat for auxiliary biodiversity and pollination (local provision), C budget and sequestration, climate mitigation (regional and global provision)
- Cultural services and amenities: landscape beauty, recreational use, etc.
Increase of biological control of pests
Source: INRA, ENSAT, AGROOF
Populations of specialized and non-specialized pollinators in cocoa crops under three different agroforestry status
GES balance in 2 different coffee crops in Costa Rica
Source: Hergoualc’h, 2007
-16
-14
-12
-10
-8
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
Biomasse et litière
Sol Emission N2O
Emission CH4 Bilan
Caféier en système agroforestier
Caféier seul
Flux (t eq. CO2 / ha
/ an)
Conclusions - Agroecology is the science of complexity and of
locality. It is the opposite of “applying recipes”;- Ecosystem cannot be fragmented: boundaries
disappear under the pressure;- Ecosystem space must be seen in 4D. Time, and
especially “long time” is fundamental.- Managing tradeoffs is key and criteria are not the
same at different scales
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Bouthan, 2011
Thanks for your attention