Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity in Sustainable Food Systems Scientific Foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index
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Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity in Sustainable Food Systems Scientific Foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity in Sustainable Food Systems Scientific Foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index Editorial Board Walter de Boef, Marie Haga, Lindiwe Sibanda, Prof. MS Swaminathan, Paul Winters Technical Advisory Board Fetien Abay, Natasha Ali, Francesco Branca, Alan de Brauw, Salvatore Ceccarelli, Hannes Dempewolf, Willy Douma, Jan Engels, Jessica Fanzo, Christine Negra, Stineke Oenema, Jean Louis Pham, Ramanatha Rao, Marja Thijssen Production team Editor: Arwen Bailey Editorial assistance: Alexandra del Castello, Nora Capozio, Marta Millere, Samantha Collins Design, concept, realization: Pablo Gallo Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization. We have a vision – that agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet. We deliver scientic evidence, management practices and policy options to use and safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security. We work with partners in low-income countries in different regions where agricultural and tree biodiversity can contribute to improved nutrition, resilience, productivity and climate change adaptation. Citation Bioversity International, 2017. Mainstreaming Agrobiodiversity in Sustainable Food Systems: Scientic Foundations for an Agrobiodiversity Index. Bioversity International, Rome, Italy. Chapters 2 and 6 contribute to the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). The opinions expressed here belong to the authors, and do not necessarily reect those of A4NH or CGIAR. Cover photo: Planting rice in Nepal. Credit: Bioversity International/Sriram Subedi, LI-BIRD, Lamjung © Bioversity International 2017 Bioversity International Headquarters Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a 00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino) Italy Tel. (+39) 06 61181 Fax. (+39) 06 6118402 [email protected] www.bioversityinternational.org Bioversity International is a CGIAR Research Centre. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. www.cgiar.org Bioversity International is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-prot organization in the US. Bioversity International (UK) is a Registered UK Charity No. 1131854. ISBN: 978-92-9255-070-7 In memory of Dr Bhuwon Ratna Sthapit, participatory plant breeder, community biodiversity management pioneer, agrobiodiversity champion and friend to many. May your work and passion continue to inspire us. Contents List of figures, tables and text boxes .......................................................................................................... IX Chapter authors .......................................................................................................................................... XI Foreword ................................................................................................................................................... XIV Preface ....................................................................................................................................................... XV 1 Agricultural biodiversity and food system sustainability 1 M. Ann Tutwiler, Arwen Bailey, Simon Attwood, Roseline Remans, Marleni Ramirez Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................2 Drivers of change in our food systems ..........................................................................................................3 Demographic changes ...............................................................................................................................................................3 Climate change ............................................................................................................................................................................3 Depletion of natural resources .................................................................................................................................................4 Food and nutrition changes ......................................................................................................................................................4 Finding sustainable solutions .......................................................................................................................4 The contribution of agricultural biodiversity ................................................................................................7 Using agricultural biodiversity in sustainable food systems .......................................................................8 Mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity in sustainable food systems ......................................................12 Challenges of mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity ....................................................................................................13 Examples of successful mainstreaming ................................................................................................................................ 14 The Agrobiodiversity Index .........................................................................................................................16 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................18 References ..................................................................................................................................................19 2 Food biodiversity for healthy, diverse diets 23 Gina Kennedy, Dietmar Stoian, Danny Hunter, Enoch Kikulwe, Céline Termote, with contributions from Robyn Alders, Barbara Burlingame, Ramni Jamnadass, Stepha McMullin, Shakuntala Thilsted Introduction .................................................................................................................................................24 Food biodiversity and components of a healthy diet .........................................................................................................25 The evidence for improving diets using food biodiversity .........................................................................27 Improving diet diversity through cultivated or gathered food biodiversity ..................................................................31 Improving diet diversity through food biodiversity purchased in markets ..................................................................36 Creating enabling environments for healthy diets based on food biodiversity ............................................................38 V Metrics to measure food biodiversity for healthy, diverse diets ............................................................... 41 Metrics and proxies for consumption of food biodiversity ...............................................................................................41 Metrics and proxies for food biodiversity in markets ........................................................................................................43 Metrics to assess enabling environments for using food biodiversity .............................................................................44 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................45 References ..................................................................................................................................................46 3 Using biodiversity to provide multiple services in sustainable farming systems 53 Simon Attwood, Natalia Estrada Carmona, Fabrice DeClerck, Sylvia Wood, Francesca Beggi, Devendra Gauchan, Keyu Bai, Maarten van Zonneveld Introduction .................................................................................................................................................54 The roles of agricultural biodiversity in agroecological intensification .....................................................57 Soil erosion control ..................................................................................................................................................................60 Pest and disease control .........................................................................................................................................................60 Pollination .................................................................................................................................................................................61 Wild biodiversity conservation ...............................................................................................................................................62 Soil quality ................................................................................................................................................................................63 Yield of crops cultivated for food ..........................................................................................................................................65 Resilient agricultural landscapes ..........................................................................................................................................65 Enabling environment needed to support multifunctional sustainable farming systems