Nanyuki Municipal Market. Photo courtesy of I, ChriKo [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Food Flows and the Integrated Landscape Approach

09 May 2016

Integrated planning for sustainableĀ development gets more complicated as you move toward population centers, but it also gets more critical.

Last year atĀ theĀ 12th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Degradation, I heard a number of examples, especially during a series of side events held in the Rio Conventions Pavilion,Ā of successful indigenous and locally-driven landscape restoration and managementĀ projects in Africa. All of these initiatives spoke specifically about community-based, multi-stakeholder decision-making to achieve multiple objectives, including biodiversity conservation, forest and landscape restoration, and livelihood enhancement.

But in the case of communities facingĀ disruptive change from population growth, urbanization, or industrialization, these governance models are difficult to achieve and maintain. How can we ensure that restoration efforts don’t bypass these places, where ecosystems, and livelihoods, are often most threatened or degraded?

The ā€œsimpleā€ example: community management in the MaasaiĀ rangelands

In the central Kenyan county of Laikipia in the northwest shadow of Mount Kenya, 260km north of Nairobi, the Maasai-owned Il Ngwesi Group Ranch is a test case of the economic development power of community-based resource management and landscape restoration.Ā ā€˜Il Ngwesi’ means ā€œpeople of wildlifeā€ in Laikipiak Maasai. A council of elders governs the community trust,Ā managingĀ livestock and wildlife, including Grevy’s zebras, elephants, and African wild dogs,Ā together in the same rangelands. The council of eldersĀ distributes the proceeds fromĀ eco-tourism licenses and ā€œwildlife-friendlyā€ beef to support community development projects like schools and health centers.

As a member of the Northern Rangelands TrustĀ (NRT), Il Ngwesi ranch benefits from market access programs, management training and support, and partnershipsĀ that continue to strengthen the community’s economic positionĀ while helping restoreĀ the ecosystem.Ā NRT reports ā€œBunched herding of cattle and designated grazing blocks are proving to help rehabilitate the rangeland, benefiting both the livestock and the wildlife that graze the same plains.ā€

Elephants roam the rangelands on the Il Ngwesi group ranch. Photo from Kenya.com
Elephants roam the rangelands on the Il Ngwesi group ranch. Photo from Kenya.com

Growing complexity: FromĀ 2 to 10,000 acres, governance challengesĀ vary widely

Il Ngwesi group ranch is just one of many thousands of agricultural operations in Laikipia county. According to the 2013-2017 County Integrated Development Plan (PDF),Ā community trusts are some of the largest landholders, with trusts in the north including Il Ngwesi holding an average of 10,000 acresĀ each, orĀ about 23 acresĀ per memberĀ household. Most of this land is deemed ā€œnon-arableā€ by government survey, andĀ so ranchingĀ income is supplemented significantly byĀ tourism revenues.

Meanwhile, the ā€œarable land,ā€ concentrated in the southern partĀ of the county, is divided among thousands of smallholder farm families,Ā with farms averagingĀ only 2 acresĀ per household. Tourism largely bypasses these regions, as the charismatic megafauna that attract Northern tourists are missingĀ there.Ā WhileĀ population pressure grows throughout Kenya, finding ways forĀ agriculture toĀ survive and thrive as theĀ county changesĀ will be a key to solvingĀ theĀ economic development, food security, and social justice issuesĀ it, and the rest of Kenya, faces.

Natural resource governance and economic development decision-making in southern Laikipia is more complexĀ than in Il Ngwesi. Establishing adequate representation for thousands of smallholdersĀ in multi-stakeholder governance platforms is difficult and benefit sharing is complicated and politically wrought. Additionally,Ā each new restoration or agriculture or environment intervention needs to be implemented by hundreds of people to be effective. How these interventions are shaped and planned is therefore critical to improving the lives of the majority of Laikipians.

Understanding food flows for natural resourceĀ planning in densely-populated areas

In addition to agriculture, wildlife, and tourism, dozens of other socialĀ and economic activities affect the environmental quality and the people of Laikipia. To understand where landscape restoration efforts will have the highest impact on livelihood and nutrition outcomes, and how to plan them in densely populated areas, we must understand howĀ food, energy, people, and ecosystemĀ services move throughout the county.

As part of a research projectĀ supported by the Carasso Foundation,Ā in conjunction with the World Agroforestry Centre,Ā EcoAgriculture Partners isĀ working with local peopleĀ to mapĀ these ā€œfood flowsā€ from farms to localĀ stomachs, or to markets in Nairobi andĀ inĀ Europe. By combining these food flow maps with maps of the flows of ecosystem services and bio-energy (like charcoal), also key parts of the research, we aimĀ to help Laikipia’s communities and government make better decisions about what kind of interventions are needed where, and how to design them so they benefit the most people.

Research that creates change

The clichĆ© ā€œThink globally, act locallyā€ is in actionĀ on the ground in our work in Laikipia. While we are focused on generating knowledge that will help nationsĀ around the world achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and meet climate commitments, our research at the landscape scale in LaikipiaĀ is specifically designed to improveĀ local restoration and resource management decision-making, creating positive change for the people of the county.

READ MORE

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The Landscape Approach for Sustainability in African Agribusiness

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