The Missing Ingredient: The World Wide (Food) Web.
The Missing Ingredient: The World Wide (Food) Web.
Welcome back to The Missing Ingredient series!
The Missing Ingredient series revisits conservation programs I’m familiar with and examines how incorporating a sustainable food systems perspective could improve or enhance them.
We examined fish as food in the last post. Today, we’ll explore what should happen after introducing an alternative to hunting.
Reducing pressure on forests
Protected areas and natural parks are designed to safeguard forests rich in biodiversity from destructive activities like deforestation, illegal hunting, and development. However, such conservation areas are often established in places where nearby communities rely heavily on those natural resources for their food and nutrition needs.
This creates a conservation challenge that has emerged time and time again.
Hunting activities in protected areas, even at average levels, can threaten species that reproduce slowly, including some of the most iconic and endangered wildlife on earth.
Yet, many protected areas are in remote locations where communities have extremely limited access to supply chains that offer multiple options for what to eat (especially fresh food options).
Additionally, wild meat consumption poses risks to remote communities, who are at a higher risk of contracting illnesses and diseases, especially when proper cooking and storing techniques are not utilized.
From hunters to growers.
Some conservation programs have begun tackling this challenge head-on by working with communities to establish backyard poultry farms.
Household farms provide a reliable source of protein for the immediate family, with the potential to generate income by selling surplus chickens and eggs to neighbors and local markets. Community members interested in starting their own farm can join structured learning programs to build skills in farm management and disease prevention.
I’ve been excited and relieved to see more conservation projects addressing the food and protein gap rather than just telling communities to stop doing things (stop hunting, stop going into the protected area, stop eating wild meat).
Programs willing to invest in practical and empowering solutions can simultaneously improve the health of the forest, the community, and all its collective inhabitants.
At this point, you might be saying, “Hey, Brooke! It sounds like you’re waxing on about projects that DO incorporate a food systems lens.”
To which I will reply…Yes, AND….
The Missing Ingredient: The World Wide (Food) Web.
While these program designs do focus heavily on expanding access to food, there may still be crucial implications and downstream effects of establishing household farms that are being overlooked. For example:
- Should household farms only grow chicken, or is there an opportunity for those same plots to produce vegetables, herbs, and other non-animal-based crops? How much access do community members have to fresh, local produce?
- Would household cooks be receptive to swapping wild meat for chicken in traditional recipes to continue reducing demand for wild meat? (The Wildlife Conservation Society ran a campaign like this in the DRC. Watch a 15-minute presentation on the program here.)
- What is the environmental and market-carrying capacity for household livestock farms? How do we know when we hit the ceiling of capacity? What options do other households have once the ceiling has been reached?
- What type of poultry feed will be used? How expensive and sustainable is it? Is feed imported to the community, or is there an opportunity to produce local, sustainable feed as another livelihood option?
- Will an increase in poultry farms produce other negative environmental impacts, such as deforestation for farm expansion, animal waste in water runoff, increased carbon emissions, and soil degradation?
- How can households prepare for and protect their poultry farms from damaging climate change impacts, such as extreme heat, drought, and floods that could put their livelihoods at risk (potentially increasing hunting pressure as a result)?
All of these factors affect whether a conservation program for fish will be successful in the long run.
Stirring up the project.
Yikes, right?! Asking questions like these can certainly make our heads spin, which might lead us to claim they are too far out of scope.
But even if we can’t answer or solve them all, these questions will lead us to a stronger merger between conservation, climate, and livelihood goals.
Well-balanced meals.
For example, if farms can grow vegetables and herbs alongside their chickens, they will provide households with more nutrients, have healthier soil, and, as a result, be more resilient to climate change.
Monoculture farms – those that only grow one thing – tend to deplete soil health and be more vulnerable to droughts, floods, and hotter temperatures.
Communal dining.
Understanding how the community views communal versus independent labor could help a project determine if establishing community-based organizations would be feasible.
In this scenario, communities can divide the work among several households, creating a safety-net system during disasters and illness. Working as a community helps spread investment costs across more households and increases cost efficiencies (by reducing redundancies), making the financial model of farming more sustainable.
Dishes to share
To increase market access, partnerships can be formed between local producers and schools, businesses, or government offices to purchase locally grown products to feed students and employees. Establishing community organizations that produce diverse local products can make these relationships more flexible, reliable, and profitable.
The solution of growing alternative protein sources is a real win for reducing hunting pressure on wild animal species. However, the long-term success of household farming requires incorporating a food systems perspective to ensure it continues to deliver value to families and avoids creating new environmental issues that could cause more problems down the road.
Finding the Missing Ingredient in Your Project
Does your project aim to swap out one behavior for another, or even one type of animal-based protein for a different one? If so, consider the extended food system connected to the alternative ingredient – the complete supply chain – to identify and avoid future environmental issues the alternatives may cause.
You may enjoy pecking at these additional resources from the World Food Programme (WFP):
- Smallholder Farmers: The Backbone Of Food Security.
- Anticipatory Action in Southern Africa: A new model for managing climate risk.