Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes
Partnering with the seed industry to redefine the Latin American forages market
Meat and dairy products are central to the Latin American diet, and livestock is a source of income for over 600 million people living on less than US $1 per day around the world. Historically, a lack of quality forage crops has restricted production and increased the environmental impact of livestock farming, with poor-quality grazing areas being created through deforestation.
Could these crops save Peruvian forests?
As noted in a previous blog, a study conducted by CIAT confirms that cacao production is not a main cause of forest loss in Colombia, unlike in several countries in Africa and Asia. Instead, cacao cultivation forms part of strategies to reduce conflict and save forests in the Latin American country.
Terra-i user manual for monitoring land-cover changes is now available
The Terra-i tool enables stakeholders to use the data at different levels to take action in natural resource management and create synergies between national and local institutions for protecting and conserving natural resources, as well as enhancing related governance processes, at national and subnational scales.
CIAT leads project to reduce deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon
The initiative, jointly coordinated with the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM) and Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI), the subnational government of Ucayali, and in partnership with international consultants Climate Focus (CF), aims to facilitate adoption of sustainable production practices for oil palm and cacao, and deliver on commitments to zero deforestation.
Scaling out sustainable livestock production alternatives: financing schemes in the Colombian Amazon
Peru and Colombia, countries harboring 23 per cent of the Amazon rainforest, are aware of the importance of this region as a provider of ecosystem services at the local, national, and global level. Conserving and sustainably harnessing the benefits that the Amazon ecosystem provides requires the design of sustainable alternatives for land use and management, to reduce pressure on forests and serve as a strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Conservation agriculture meets relay cropping
In 2003, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) designed a set of long-term trials in Kenya to assess sustainability and productivity effects of a set of management practices. These practices included conservation agriculture (CA), a combination of mulching, reduced tillage, and crop rotation, which has since grown to be widely promoted across Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) with good results.
SERVIR experts on ecosystem management and land-use change attend 2019 GFW Summit
The 2019 Global Forest Watch (GFW) Summit, held in Washington DC this week, opened with a retrospective on how deforestation monitoring systems have matured since their broad development in the early 2010s. Several Latin America countries have their own dedicated system. While many African and Asian countries have not yet created dedicated systems, they have come a long way in deforestation monitoring. Efforts such as Global Forest Watch, CIAT’s Terra-i system, and others are mature, providing near real-time data that can help governments, NGOs, the private sector, and others monitor and track deforestation across the world.
Voices: stories attesting to sustainable production transformation in the Amazon
In its final stage, the Sustainable Amazonian Landscapes project developed a platform called Voices, where farmers and decision-makers talk about their experience with the project.
Increasing soil carbon improves food security and income in Western Kenya
In most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a greater segment of rural communities derive their livelihood from crop and livestock farming. Over the decades, effects of climate change, more so greenhouse gas emissions – specifically CO2 – have had diverse consequences on food production.
Where do we see our world in 2050?
What will food systems, agriculture and the environment look like in 2050? Given current trends, there is a range of highly contrasting outcomes
In one scenario, these bedrocks of society will have continued down their current path and faced significantly greater challenges than they do today.
Marcela Quintero
Director, Agroecosystems and Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) Research Area
M.quintero@cgiar.org