AGROFOR International Journal, Vol. 7, Issue No. 3, 2022
5
Review paper
10.7251/AGRENG2203005E
UDC574:633(66)
AGRO-BIODIVERSITY IN NATIONAL PATHWAYS FOR FOOD
SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION: CASE OF WEST AFRICA
Hamid EL BILALI1,*, Gianluigi CARDONE1, Abdel Kader NAINO JIKA2,
Eleonora DE FALCIS2, Susanna ROKKA3, Ali Badara DIAWARA4,
Bassirou NOUHOU5, Andrea GHIONE6
1International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM-Bari),
Valenzano (Bari), Italy
2Alliance Bioversity International – CIAT, Rome, Italy
3Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Jokioinen, Finland
4Afrique Verte Burkina Faso (APROSSA), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
5Afrique Verte Niger (AcSSA), Niamey, Niger
6Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
*Corresponding author: elbilali@iamb.it
ABSTRACT
The challenges relating to biodiversity loss, food insecurity and climate change
show the urgent need to make transition towards sustainable food systems in West
Africa. To bring about such a transition worldwide, the United Nations’ Food
Systems Summit was held in September 2021. One of the main outcomes of the
Summit was the national pathways to sustainable food systems. This review
analyses whether and how agro-biodiversity is addressed in the food system
transformation pathways submitted by West African countries in the framework of
the Summit. The content analysis suggests that agro-biodiversity is not a central
topic in the national transformation pathways. In fact, it is completely overlooked
in some pathways documents, and rather marginal in others. Some national
documents (cf. Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria) refer to the promotion of the
diversity of crops and farm animals as a means of adapting to
climate change, improving livelihoods and diversifying diets thus contributing to
nutrition security. Moreover, only a few measures and actions dealing with the
valorisation of the neglected and underutilised species (NUS) and traditional crop
varieties are included in the national transformation pathways (cf. Guinea, Liberia,
Niger, Sierra Leone). The conservation, management and restoration of agro-
biodiversity and agro-ecosystems are crucial to boost the transition towards nature-
positive food systems in the region. Therefore, a paradigm change is needed in
policy, research and practice to conserve the natural resource base and contribute to
sustainable development by addressing, inter alia, food insecurity and malnutrition,
rural poverty and climate change challenges.
Keywords: biodiversity conservation, nature-based solutions, Food Systems
Summit, orphan crops, transition pathways.
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INTRODUCTION
Biodiversity loss is one of the most pressing challenges that humanity faces
(IPBES, 2019). Therefore, biodiversity conservation is considered vital for
sustainable development and addressed in several Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) such as SDG 2 “Zero Hunger” and SDG 15 “Life on Land” (United
Nations, 2015). Biodiversity loss is mainly driven by habitat and land-use change,
overexploitation of natural resources and ecosystems, climate change, pollution
and invasive alien species (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). The loss of
agro-biodiversity is exacerbated by the abandonment of a wide range of edible
plants, the so-called neglected and underutilised species (NUS) (Chivenge et al.,
2015; Padulosi et al., 2013). Biodiversity loss is particularly a challenge in regions
where the anthropogenic and natural pressure on fragile ecosystems as well as the
reliance on natural resources and ecosystems are high such as the Sahel and West
Africa regions. Evidence shows that the impacts of climate change will be high in
Sub-Saharan Africa in general (Baarsch et al., 2020; Bakshi et al., 2019; Hassan,
2010; Lokonon et al., 2019) and the Sahel and West Africa regions in particular
(Baarsch et al., 2020; Lokonon et al., 2019). West Africa is still highly dependent
on agriculture for the food security and livelihoods of its population (Egbebiyi et
al., 2019). Agriculture, which is predominantly rain-fed, is highly vulnerable to
climate fluctuations and droughts. In this respect, Sultan and Gaetani (2016) point
out that “West Africa is known to be particularly vulnerable to climate change due
to high climate variability, high reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and limited
economic and institutional capacity to respond to climate variability and change”.
Meanwhile, food insecurity and malnutrition are still big challenges in West
Africa. Indeed, the prevalence of undernourishment in the total population is still
high in the region averaging 14.8%; it ranged from 38.9% in Liberia to 6.1% in
Ghana over the period 2018–20. The situation is even worse when considering the
prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the total population that
reached 57.8% region-wide over the same period, ranging from 83.9% in Sierra
Leone to 35.1% in Cabo Verde (FAO et al., 2021). Challenges relating to
biodiversity loss, food insecurity and climate change show the urgent need to make
transition towards sustainable and resilient food systems in the region.
To bring about such a transition, the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit (FSS)
was held in September 2021 to unleash the power of food systems in the realisation
of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the SDGs
worldwide. It aimed to deliver more sustainable, equitable, and healthier food
systems (United Nations, 2021a) by working on five action tracks/areas viz.
ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all; shifting to sustainable
consumption patterns; boosting nature-positive production at sufficient scales;
advancing equitable livelihoods; and building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks
and stress (United Nations, 2021b). Biodiversity and ecosystems are addressed in
the action track 3 “Boosting nature-based solutions” (Hodson et al., 2021). In
preparing for the Summit, within the Food Systems Summit Dialogues (FSSDs), a
diverse range of stakeholders were invited to identify the most powerful ways to
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make food systems more sustainable. Indeed, the focus of the Summit was on the
transformation of food systems. Therefore, one of the main outcomes of the FSSDs
was the articulation of national pathways to sustainable, equitable and resilient
food systems where national FSSDs were consolidated into clear visions of what
governments and other stakeholders expect of national food systems by 2030 and
worked together on exploring challenges and options to transform their food
systems in the coming decade (Anonymous, 2021a). The articulation of national
pathways took into consideration different factors, particularly (Anonymous,
2021a): clarifying the expectations of national food systems in the coming decade
and identifying changes needed for national food systems to meet the defined
expectations by 2030.
Analyses of the role of agro-biodiversity in the processes of agro-food
sustainability transitions in developing countries, in general, and Sub-Saharan ones,
in particular, are hard to find (El Bilali, 2019). In this context, the present article
analyses whether and how agro-biodiversity is addressed in the food systems
transformation pathways in West Africa. In particular, the paper analyses the
measures included in the pathway documents to address the conservation and
management of agro-biodiversity as well as the valorisation of orphan crops (cf.
NUS).
METHODS
Cohen‐Shacham et al. (2016) defined the term Nature‐based Solutions (NbS), an
overall concept that was used for nature‐positive food systems in the context of
the Food Systems Summit accordingly. It is based on three pillars: protection,
sustainable management and restoration of (agro)ecosystems (Figure 1). According
to Hodson et al. (2021), “Nature‐positive food systems are characterized by a
regenerative, non‐depleting and non‐destructive use of natural resources. It is
based on stewardship of the environment and biodiversity as the foundation of
critical ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration and soil, water, and
climate regulation. Nature Positive Food Systems refer to protection, sustainable
management and restoration of productive system. Finally, nature positive food
systems cover the growing demand for food in a sufficient way and include
sustainable and healthy nutrition” (p. 4). The themes covered by national pathway
documents regarding the action area 3 “Boosting nature-based solutions” include
agrobiodiversity; agroecology; aquatic/blue foods; halting deforestation and
conversion from agricultural commodities; land management; nature-positive
innovation; restoring grasslands, shrublands and savannahs; soil health; sustainable
livestock; sustainable productivity growth and water (United Nations, 2022).
AGROFOR International Journal, Vol. 7, Issue No. 3, 2022
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Figure 1. The three pillars of nature‐positive food systems: protection, sustainable
management and restoration.
Source: Adapted by Hodson et al. (2021) from Cohen‐Shacham et al. (2016).
The present article focuses on the West Africa region viz. Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cape Verde/Cabo Verde, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory
Coast/Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra
Leone and Togo. A content analysis was performed to see how biodiversity, one of
the themes of the action area on boosting nature-based solutions, is addressed in the
pathways submitted by West African countries in the framework of the UN Food
Systems Summit (Table 1).
Table 1. National pathways for food systems transformation submitted by West
African countries.
West
African
country*
Transformation pathway document
title**/***
Reference
Burkina
Faso
Feuille de route nationale en vue de la
transformation des systèmes
alimentaires pour soutenir l’Agenda
2030
Anonymous (2021c)
Gambia Articulating National Pathways for
Food Systems Transformation in
Support of the 2030 Agenda: A
Strategic National Pathway Document
Ministry of Agriculture –
The Gambia (2021)
Ghana Pathways to Ghana’s food systems
transformation
Anonymous (2021h)
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West
African
country*
Transformation pathway document
title**/***
Reference
Guinea Feuille de route nationale de
transformation des systèmes
alimentaires pour l’atteinte des
Objectifs de Développement Durable
en Guinée
Anonymous (2021b)
Liberia Liberia’s food systems dialogues
outcomes & pathways
Anonymous (2021e)
Mauritania Note explicative et de justification du
contenu de la feuille de route
Anonymous (2021g)
Niger Feuille de Route pour opérationnaliser
les voies de transformation des
Systèmes Alimentaires pour une
Alimentation Saine à l’horizon 2030 au
Niger
Anonymous (2021d)
Nigeria Nigeria national pathways to food
systems transformation
Anonymous (2021f)
Senegal Projet de feuille de route du Sénégal
pour le Sommet mondial sur les
systèmes alimentaires durables
Ministère de
l’Agriculture et de
l’Equipement Rural –
Sénégal (2021)
Sierra
Leone
United Nations Food System Summit:
Pathways to attain sustainable access to
safe and nutritious foods for all in
Sierra Leone
FSS Technical Working
Group (2021)
* The following West African countries have no profiles on the website of the Food
Systems Summit 2021 (https://summitdialogues.org/explore-countries): Cape Verde,
Guinea-Bissau and Togo.
** No transformation pathways were submitted as of 20 April 2022 by Benin, Ivory Coast
and Mali.
*** In case different pathway versions have been submitted, only the most recent one was
considered.
The methodology used was informed by that utilised by WWF (2021) in their
analysis of the action track 3 “Boosting nature-based solutions” in the documents
submitted by member states (viz. national dialogues feedback forms, national
pathways, pre-summit statements, summit statements). In particular, during the
content analysis on agro-biodiversity, the following keywords were used
(translated into French, if any): agrobiodiversity, genetic diversity, crop diversity,
diversification, forgotten crop, neglected crop, traditional crop, indigenous crop,
neglected species, underutilised species, NUS, gene bank, seed bank, variety,
cultivar, breed.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In Nigeria, the recommendations from the dialogues have been grouped into 6
solution clusters (Anonymous, 2021f). Cluster 4 “Increase demand for, and
consumption of adequate, nutritious, and healthy foods, including in humanitarian
contexts” contemplates promoting homestead food production and the use of
traditional vegetables (Table 2). Meanwhile, cluster 6 “Linking research,
innovation, and extension for a sustainable food system” focuses on breeding for
resilience (Anonymous, 2021f). In Niger, the conservation and promotion of agro-
biodiversity are foreseen in the context of the third pathways towards sustainable
food systems1 concerning the promotion of priority value chains of food products
with high nutritional and commercial potential, particularly those of fruits and
vegetables, legumes (cowpea), fish, milk and dairy products, meat, dry cereals
(millet, sorghum) and non-timber forest products (e.g. moringa). Within this
pathway, diversification of plant and animal productions as well as the sustainable
management of the environment and natural resources are foreseen in the
framework of the action plan 2021-2025 of the initiative 3N (I3N – Nigeriens
Nourish Nigeriens) (Anonymous, 2021d). Burkina Faso highlights in its national
pathway document the importance of agro-ecology, agro-forestry and organic
farming for improving the diversity of not only agro-ecosystems but also diets. It
also calls for land conservation and the reclamation of degraded lands as well as
the valorisation of local breeds. The country also highlights the need for close
collaboration between producer organizations and research actors to have improved
seeds and high-yielding varieties that resist attacks from pests and are resilient to
climate change (Anonymous, 2021c). While such efforts might allow valorising the
local varieties, they might also lead to the erosion of the local crop patrimony if
imported varieties are promoted to the detriment of local, traditional ones.
Table 2. Agro-biodiversity in national pathways for food systems transformation in
West Africa.
Country Measures and actions related to agro-
biodiversity-
Source
Burkina
Faso
Enhancement of the genetic potential of local
breeds
Anonymous
(2021c)
Ghana Developing a comprehensive strategy towards
ensuring seed and breed security, achieving food
sovereignty and enhancing biodiversity
Research on recipes that cover indigenous crops,
fruits, vegetables and other local products.
Anonymous
(2021h)
1 Other pathways concern: improving the governance and financing of food systems;
promoting administrative and legislative reforms in food systems; strengthening research
and innovation for sustainable food systems; supporting resilience building and recovery;
making quality statistical data available and strengthening sector information and
monitoring-evaluation systems.
AGROFOR International Journal, Vol. 7, Issue No. 3, 2022
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Country Measures and actions related to agro-
biodiversity-
Source
Niger Promotion of priority value chains of food
products with high nutritional and commercial
potential
Anonymous
(2021d)
Nigeria Promoting homestead food production and
animal husbandry with improved varieties for
household consumption
Promoting the use of traditional/local vegetables
for the preparation of meals for school feeding
programmes, hospitals, military, and other public
institutions
Developing resilient crop seed varieties,
livestock, and aquaculture
Anonymous
(2021f)
In the case of the Gambia, the 3rd milestone of the national food system
transformation pathway is about “Sustainable exploitation of the country’s natural
resource base” but apart from a broad reference to mainstreaming conservation
agriculture in the agricultural policies and enacting soil and water regulations –
which can have positive externalities in terms of biodiversity conservation and
management – there is no specific action or measure on agro-biodiversity in the
country. It is even more surprising that biodiversity is not considered a part of the
natural resource base in the Gambia. Sierra Leone identifies some expectations
relating to agro-biodiversity such as increasing agricultural production and
productivity (intensification and diversification) among the rural poor smallholders
through a variety of support measures, and establishing supply chains for inputs
such as high-yielding seed varieties and livestock breeds (FSS Technical Working
Group, 2021) but there are no specific measures in the national pathway regarding
agro-biodiversity. Senegal considers that agro-silvo-pastoral and fisheries
production systems are moderately sustainable due, in particular, to practices that
degrade natural resources, disrupt ecosystems and reduce biodiversity (Ministère
de l’Agriculture et de l’Equipement Rural – Sénégal, 2021) but apart from the
initiation of an integrated program for the recovery of degraded land and the
promotion of agroecology, which might contribute to the restoration of agro-
ecosystems, there is no specific intervention on agro-biodiversity. Likewise,
Guinea highlights that sustainable agriculture can reduce deforestation and
promote healthy terrestrial ecosystems, and lists encouraging reforestation
and protection of degraded areas as one of the priority axes in its national
pathway (Anonymous, 2021b) but with no specific reference to agro-biodiversity.
Mauritania refers to the promotion of agro-pastoral practices that respect the
environment and organic farming (Anonymous, 2021g) without providing further
details.
Many countries in the region (e.g. Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, Niger) highlight
the need to promote agroecological practices to reap their multiple benefits
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(Anonymous, 2021h, 2021d, 2021c; Ministère de l’Agriculture et de l’Equipement
Rural – Sénégal, 2021). For example, Ghana (Anonymous, 2021h) puts that
“Agroecology, in practice, encompasses conservation, regenerative and climate-
smart agriculture as well as biodiversity conservation and sustainable land
management practices which involve minimal use of external agrochemical
inputs”. Similarly, some countries (e.g. Ghana, Senegal) refer to the food
sovereignty concept (Anonymous, 2021h; Ministère de l’Agriculture et de
l’Equipement Rural – Sénégal, 2021) also when addressing the issue of the
availably of seeds at national and local levels.
The findings are in line with those of the analysis of the feedback forms of the
member state dialogues, which shows that there is a recognition that food systems
generate environmental impacts as well the urgency of ensuring food and nutrition
for all while reducing the environmental footprint of the current food consumption
and production patterns (United Nations, 2021c, 2021e, 2021d). The dialogues
outcome documents stress the importance of valuing nature to consider the real,
full cost of food. They also highlight that nature – both ecosystem services and
biodiversity – should be valued properly and managed sustainably with an
appropriate, balanced mix of preservation/conservation and
regeneration/renaturation measures. This calls for well-functioning and effective
policies and regulatory frameworks – at international, regional, national and local
levels – that can, among others, promote the development of seed banks, payments
for producers’ contributions to nature, and appropriate changes in legislation on
land use (United Nations, 2021e).
Some NUS featured prominently in the summit dialogues and, consequently, in the
national transformation pathways of West African countries such as cassava in
Liberia (Anonymous, 2021e), sweet potato in Sierra Leone and Guinea
(Anonymous, 2021b; FSS Technical Working Group, 2021), moringa in Guinea
and Niger (Anonymous, 2021b, 2021d). Limited access to high-yield cassava
varieties was identified as one of the hindrances that farmers face to expand
cassava production in Liberia (Anonymous, 2021e). Sierra Leone posits the limited
availability of innovations for improving livestock breeds and crops varieties, bio-
fortification (e.g. orange-fleshed sweet potatoes) and usage of agricultural
biodiversity (e.g. traditional leafy green vegetables) among the major challenges of
its food system (FSS Technical Working Group, 2021) but there is no specific
measure regarding the NUS. Furthermore, different countries such as Liberia,
Nigeria, Mauritania, Guinea, Niger and Burkina Faso highlight the importance of
growing and sourcing food locally (Anonymous, 2021e, 2021g, 2021f, 2021b,
2021d, 2021c), which might contribute to the promotion of NUS. For instance,
Nigeria considers producing blended foods from local food sources for the
prevention and management of moderate acute malnutrition (Anonymous, 2021f).
CONCLUSIONS
This review paper analyses whether and how agro-biodiversity is addressed in the
transformation pathways submitted by West African countries within the UN Food
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Systems Summit. The analysis suggests that agro-biodiversity is not a central topic
in the national transformation pathways. In fact, it is completely overlooked in
some pathways documents, and rather marginal in others. Some pathways refer to
the promotion of the diversity of crops and farm animals as a means to adapt to
climate change, improve livelihoods and living conditions of rural communities as
well as diversify diets thus contributing to nutrition security. While the
productivism-inspired approach of West African countries, focusing on the
increase of agricultural production and productivity, might be understandable in the
short term, as these countries suffer from malnutrition and food insecurity, it might
result short-sighted and unsustainable in the long run. Indeed, agriculture
intensification might lead to the degradation and depletion of the natural resource
base, including local crop and animal resources. A growing body of evidence
suggests that there can be no sustainable and resilient food systems without the
conservation, sustainable management and restoration of agro-biodiversity and
agro-ecosystems. Therefore, a change of paradigm with the promotion of agro-
ecological practices and methods and nature-positive solutions in agriculture and
food systems is needed in policy, science and practice realms. In this context, the
valorisation of NUS is crucial since these neglected and underutilised crops can
contribute not only to food and nutrition security, especially in poor households
and remote communities, but also to food system sustainability and resilience.
This, in turn, requires investments in research, innovation and dissemination of
knowledge and good practices (in, inter alia, production, conservation/storage,
processing, use) of NUS with the involvement of all actors of the agricultural
knowledge and innovation system (AKIS) in West Africa.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was carried out within the project SUSTLIVES (SUSTaining and
improving local crop patrimony in Burkina Faso and Niger for better LIVes and
EcoSystems - https://www.sustlives.eu), of the DeSIRA initiative (Development
Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture), financed by the European
Union (contribution agreement FOOD/2021/422-681).
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