Boost Nature-Positive Production

Excerpt

The overall goal of nature-positive production is to reconcile the need for the production system to meet the demands resulting from growing populations and rising prosperity with the necessity of restoring the environment, improving the quality of soil, conserving biodiversity, and sustainably managing land, water and other natural resources. The strategy is to protect, manage and restore ecosystems: to “produce more from less” and set aside some land and water for nature. In this context, action at the landscape scale is key, extending beyond individual production fields to the watershed, the entire river basin, and the coastal area influenced by the change of land use and river discharges (IPCC Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems [PR Shukla, J Skea, E Calvo Buendia, V Masson-Delmotte, H-O Pörtner, DC Roberts, P Zhai, R Slade, S Connors, R van Diemen, M Ferrat, E Haughey, S Luz, S Neogi, M Pathak, J Petzold, J Portugal Pereira, P Vyas, E Huntley, K Kissick, M Belkacemi, J Malley (eds)], 2019). Nature-positive landscape-level interventions include system-based conservation agriculture, agroforestry, river basin management, bio-inputs, integrated soil fertility management, soil and water conservation and nutrient recycling. In particular, maintaining trees in landscapes, avoiding deforestation and promoting landscape restoration are critically important for preventing soil erosion, regulating water resources, and protecting environmental services essential for sustaining production at multiple scales, from the regional to the global. Such nature-positive approaches are best based on bottom-up and territorial processes, strengthened by scientific innovations and enabling policy environments. Translating science into transformative action also requires system-level governance and policy interventions that enable and provide incentives for farmers and land managers to adopt nature-positive practices. Greater public and private sector investment in research and innovation is needed if we are to develop solutions and adequately scale the adoption of nature-positive production systems. Furthermore, a realignment towards nature-positive food systems requires awareness and empowerment on the part of producers and consumers. These concepts must be introduced to farmers through robust extension programs, with special attention paid to woman farmers. They must be taught in schools and broadcast to consumers. Ultimately, the aim should be to foster a five-way dialogue among academic institutions, farmer and citizen groups, industry and policymakers to translate scientific knowledge into viable action.