Ecosystems and Well-being

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hidden-costs-of-american-food-revealed-300254196.html The hidden cost of seemingly cheap food production is damaging the planet, driving human disease and jeopardizing food workers exposed to toxins every day. Experts who gathered at the  True Cost of American Food  conference in San Francisco this past weekend said for every dollar American consumers pay for food, the country is spending up to two dollars to fight diseases linked to poor food production, worker abuse and environmental harms. "The bill consumers pay at the grocery checkout does not reflect the true cost Americans are actually paying for food," said Patrick Holden, chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust. "We have to recognize this before we can do a better job growing our food, educating society to make informed decisions and incentivizing farmers and sustainable practices – and thereby save both lives and money." One promising soluti...

Our research on impacts of climate change in agriculture featuring Goyder's line and farming at the margins of good earth - a documentary filmed by the Vietnam TV. It examines climatic variability and the significance of the Goyder's line drawn in 1865 to establish areas which receive good rainfall to support cereal cultivation from the pastoral country, north of Adelaide.

To bridge the science-policy interface across its member nations, United Nations agreed to assess global Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at its General Assembly in December 2010. This led to the formation of an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES; www.ipbes.net ) with secretariat in Bonn, Germany. IPBES is now conducting global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services similar to more widely recognised Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The assessment is about the benefits that Earth’s ecosystems provide to human beings. These benefits are widely known as ecosystem services that include pollination, nutrient cycling, freshwater supply, climate regulation and cultural and spiritual benefits. Currently scientists across the globe are working to produce assessment of pollinators and pollination services that they provide to global agriculture (see details on the web). Pollination assessment, as a first IPBES re...

Sustainable and equitable development in the post - 2015 period requires urgent action to eradicate poverty through global partnerships and investments. Global efforts to address poverty led by the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), from 2000-2015, fell short of their targets in many poor regions. This is partly due to the failure to simultaneously address economic and environmental problems in poor regions across the world. The key to equitable and sustainable development in economically poor regions is to improve the well-being of poor in addition to the livelihood. This can be achieved by integrating poverty alleviation with livelihood generating activities as published in the article - Linking ecosystem services with the constituents of human well-being for poverty alleviation in eastern Himalayas. Ecological Economics 107: 65-75 ( http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180091400250X# ).     This work is ded...

Many corporates dream of leading change to bring prosperity to rural people. One such organisation is working with rural stakeholders to bring that change. Change is towards better outcomes for society, economy and the environment.   Growing trees for timber or pulp are not uncommon worldwide. However, such a project taken up on marginal farmland with the help of local farming communities, backed up by endless work of forestry scientists and social marketing team with the support a conglomerate has brought positive changes to the barren landscapes in Bhadrachalam and surrounding districts in Andhra Pradesh, India. This project has spread across many neighbouring states and marginal and resource poor farmers are reaping the benefit due to the growing demand of sustainably grown paper. How does it works? Resource poor farmers often leave their farmland barren as they cannot either afford to grow food crops or the land is unfertile. Trees can grow anywhere with minimum inte...

Sitaram, an organic cotton farmer struggles to develop non-GM cotton seed for his future generations. (Photo H. Sandhu) On my recent visits to rural parts of India, I came across a group of organic farmers in Kasrawad town, Khargone District, Madhya Pradesh. These farmers switched from high input cotton growing to organic cotton about 15 years ago. I talked to some farmers and they claimed that the smiles on their faces are all due to organic way of producing cotton. They are free from debts owing to input costs of pesticides, GM (genetically modified) seed and fertilisers. Instead they are boasting of fixed deposits in their banks as compared to fellow conventional farmers who are still sticking to GM cotton and hoping for some relief and expecting end to the vicious cycle of debt and crop failure due to periodic droughts in the area. Having said that these organic farmers are not rich or living a luxurious life however, they are living a decent life, largely free fro...

Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes Edited by Steve Wratten, Harpinder Sandhu, Ross Cullen and Robert Costanza Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans derive from natural and modified ecosystems (for example, food, fuelwood, pollination of crops by insects, or water filtration by wetlands). The ecological wealth from ecosystems underpins economy and support life on earth. Agricultural and urban areas are the highly modified ecosystems. This book explores the role that ecosystem services play in these managed environments. The book also explores methods of evaluating ecosystem services, and discusses how these services can be maintained and enhanced in our farmlands and cities. This book will be useful to future proof these ecosystems to the global issues such as population increase, doubling of food demand by 2050 and loss of biodiversity worldwide.