Technical & networking sessions slot 1

CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE); International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

See presentation on Sustainable Intensification in Colombia here

Agricultural intensification strategies often focus on increasing production through conventional intensification. Recent thinking has called instead for ecological intensification of farming landscapes. At the same time development investors are looking for new paradigms for poverty alleviation that incorporate resilience goals and adaptation to threats including climate change. The CGIAR Water, Land and Ecosystems program is taking a new approach to sustainable intensification that places agriculture production within a wider landscape framework.

This session will initiate a dialogue between researchers and investors on how this concept can be more widely adopted to have impact at scale. The session will bring development investors to the panel under the theme ‘Investing in Sustainable Landscapes and Livelihoods.’ It will introduce examples of a proposed paradigm shift to unite agriculture and nature in a landscape approach to sustainable intensification and then ask investors to comment on how viable and scalable these examples are.

The key questions that will be addressed in the session are:

1. How can development and poverty-alleviation focused investments be shaped to sustain landscapes and livelihoods to achieve the SDG’s?
2. How can such initiatives go to scale?
3. What do development investors need to design and implement their programs?

Background reading:

1. Tittonell, Pablo A., 2013. Farming systems ecology: towards ecological intensification of world agriculture. Inaugural lecture, Farming Systems Ecology, Wageningen University.
2. The Royal Society. 2009. Reaping the benefits : Science and the sustainable intensification of global agriculture. RS Policy Document.
3. HLPE. 2013. Investing in smallholder agriculture for food security. A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome.

Contact details: d.bossio@cgiar.org; M.Victor@cgiar.org

Speakers

• Sosten Chiotha

  Regional Program Director for Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD)-Southern Africa

• Luna Bharati

  Senior researcher and head of the IWMI-Nepal office

• Aracely Castro

  Scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Moderator

• Deborah Bossio

  Director of Soil Research, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

• Michael Victor

  Coordinator, WLE and CPWF Engagement, Communication and Knowledge Management

Rapporteur

• Neil Palmer

  Communications and Outreach Manager, IWMI