The Institute of Life Sciences and the Institute of Economics of Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa in collaboration with CCAFS (Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security Programme of CGIAR) organized a transdisciplinary workshop regarding novel approaches for sustainable intensification of rural areas with a spotlight on Ethiopia.
The scope was to develop a joint discussion encompassing a holistic approach toward a more sustainable and climate-smart agriculture.
Eight keynotes and and five short presentations from ARARI, ATA, ICRAF, ICARDA, Bioversity, University of Pisa, University of Milano and IUSS of Pavia boosted the discussion creating an inter-sectoral cross fertilisation among several topics of environmental, economic and social sustainability and policy development.
The audience composed by about 80 persons from academic and non-academic institutions established a starting point for new global collaboration between Europe and Eastern Africa aiming at facilitating the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices through sharing the knowledge about agroecological principal, integrated crop-livestock and agroforestry systems of smallholder farmers in marginal areas.
In the open discussion, agroforestry has been proposed as suitable land use able to mitigate climate change and to increase resilience of farming system in smallholder agriculture, by atmosphere carbon dioxide sequestration and soil fertility conservation thanks to tree presence in farmland.
ARARI - Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute
ATA – Agriculture Transformation Agency of Ethiopia
ICRAF – World Agroforestry Centre
ICARDA - International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
IUSS – University school of Pavia
Report by Alberto Mantino and Martina Occelli, Sant’Anna Scholl of Advanced Studies of Pisa