1.  Improving Land and Water Management David Bahk TSM 352

2. Challenges  Food insecurity prevalent around the world  Small famers deal with low and unpredictable crop yields and incomes  Millions of farmers in the world are struggling to feed their families  Land degradation  Land use pressures  Climate change

3. Requirements  Increase soil organic matter  Improve soil structure  Reduce soil erosion  Increase water filtration  Increase efficiency of water use  Replenish soil nutrients  Increase the efficiency of nutrient uptake

4. Results  Improved land and water management practices to farmers and rural economies  Higher crop yield  Increased supplies of valuable goods  Increased income and employment opportunities  Increased resilience to climate change

5. Promising Land and Water Management Practices  Agroforestry  Conservation agriculture  Rainwater harvesting  Integrated soil fertility management

6. Agroforestry  Integration of woody perennial plants (trees and shrubs) with crops or livestock on the same land  In Malawi, maize yields increased by 50% when nitrogen-fixing trees were planted in farms  In Senegal, presence of certain shrubs in fields increased nutrient- use efficiency and helped create a soil high in organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus  Practiced in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and parts of Europe and North America

7. Conservation Agriculture  Combination of reduced tillage, retention of crop residues or maintenance of cover crops and crop rotation or diversification  In Zambia, maize yields in conservation system with crop rotation can increase yield by 50% than conventional tillage  Most practiced in North and South America, Canada, and Australia, but not in Africa

8. Main Constraints to Smallholders in Africa  Competition for the use of crop residues  Short-term risks of lower yields during the transition period from conventional plowing to no-till  High costs and limited access to specialized equipment  Weed control and access to herbicides, particularly during early transition  Free-ranging livestock and customary grazing on crop residues

9. Rainwater Harvesting  Planting pits, stone bunds, and trenches along slopes that capture and collect rainfall before it runs off farm fields  Low-cost practices  In Burkina Faso, grain yield doubled by using multiple water harvesting techniques such as stone bunds and planting pits

10. Integrated Soil Fertility Management  Combined use of mineral fertilizers and soil amendments such as manure, crop residues, compost, leaf litter, lime, or phosphate rock  In West Africa, integrated soil fertility management across 200,000 hectares resulted in yield increase of 33-58% over a 4 year period and revenue increase of 179%

11. Integrated Landscape Approaches  Provisioning  Crops and livestock  Biomass fuel  Wild foods and freshwater  Regulating  Erosion control and climate regulation  Water flows and quality  Supporting  Soil formation  Nutrient and water cycling  Habitat for biodiversity  Cultural  Local land races of agricultural crops  Cultural landscapes

12. Seven Ways to Accelerate the Use of These Practices  Strengthen knowledge management systems and access to information  Increase communication and outreach in ways that amplify voices of champions and leverage direct engagement with farmers  Support institutional and policy reforms, particularly for strengthening property rights  Support capacity building, especially in community-based management of natural resources  Increase support for integrated landscape management  Reinforce economic incentives and private sector engagement  Mainstream Investments in improved land and water management to accelerate adoption of these practices as a strategic component of food security and climate change

13. How Improvement in Management Practices Perform for Sustainable Future  Poverty Alleviation: Reducing poverty while being cost effective  Land and water management improvements increase soil quality (Organic matter, moisture content, fertilizer efficiency, etc…)  Improved practices can diversify and increase farmer income  Gender: Generates benefits for women  Land and water management improvements diversify and increase women’s income

14. Continued…  Ecosystems: Avoids agricultural expansion into remaining ecosystems and relieves pressure on overstrained fisheries  Improving land and water management practices restores and boosts productivity of existing agricultural land, thereby reducing the need to expand cropland area  Climate: Helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture to levels consistent with stabilizing the climate  Improving land and water management practices sequester carbon on cropland by increasing organic matter in soil  Reduce farmer vulnerability to increased climate variability by increasing soil moisture retention  Water: Does not deplete or pollute aquifers or surface waters  Rainwater harvesting reduce rainfall runoff, increase infiltration of water into soils, recharge aquifers, and contribute to local water supplies

15. References  Winterbottom, Robert, Chris Reij, Dennis Garrity, Jerry Glover, Debbie Hellums, Mike Mcgahuey, and Sara Scherr. “Improving Land and Water Management.” World Resource Institute. World Resource Institute, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/improving_land_an d_water_management_0.pdf. http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/improving_land_an d_water_management_0.pdf