15 July 2014: Studies by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners analyzing the relationship between ecosystem inputs, and agricultural yields and farm incomes in India and Uganda have found significant potential for improving food security through shifts in cropping patterns and use of water and energy saving technologies. The findings aim to strengthen the two countries’ capacities to address their increasing food security deficits and decline in ecosystem services.

The studies were part of a project funded by the UN Development Account (UNDA) titled ‘Capacity Building in National Planning for Food Security,’ led by the UNEP Ecosystem Services and Economics Unit, which focused on Uganda and the state of Punjab in India. Through policy-oriented studies on the trade-offs between ecosystems and food security, the project aimed to quantify the relationship between food production and key inputs that affect ecosystems, and understand the impact of increases in food or biofuels production on ecosystems and related services. The key objective of the project was to strengthen national planning capacity for sustainable food production in the two countries through the use of an ecosystem management approach.

The project held its final workshop on 15-16 July, at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with participation by policymakers, experts and practitioners from the two pilot countries. In addition to sharing the findings of the study with project stakeholders, the workshop engaged in identifying, inter alia, lessons learned from pilot studies, and recommendations and guidelines for the development of a strategic action plan for sustainable food production and ecosystem management. The workshop also examined the drivers of food insecurity, including pests and crop diseases, soil erosion, population growth, climate variability and change, and low adaptation capacity to climate change impacts in communities.

Presenters at the workshop highlighted the studies’ key results, including that shifts in cropping patterns and the adoption of water saving technologies and practices could potentially save up to 2.3 million hectare-metres of water in the state of Punjab. In Uganda, it was found that because of poor production methods the agricultural sector is realizing, at most, half of its crop and livestock yield potential. [UNEP Press Release] [Project Website] [Final Workshop Concept Note] [UNEP Ecosystem Services and Economics Unit]