Call for evidence 2019

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global initiative focused on drawing attention to the economic benefits of biodiversity including the growing cost of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. TEEB presents an approach that can help decision-makers recognize, demonstrate and capture the values of ecosystem services and biodiversity.

The ‘TEEB for Agriculture and Food’(TEEBAgriFood) study seeks to review the economic interdependencies between human (economic and social) systems, agriculture and food systems, and biodiversity and ecosystems. In doing so, it addresses the economic invisibility of many of these links while exploring how biodiversity and key ecosystem services deliver benefits to the agriculture sector and also beyond, itself being a key contributor to human health, livelihoods and well-being.

The first major output of TEEBAgriFood is a ‘Scientific and Economic Foundations’ report, which addresses the core theoretical issues and controversies underpinning the evaluation of the nexus between the agri-food sector, biodiversity and ecosystem services and externalities including human health impacts from agriculture on a global scale. As part of this research, authors have developed an Evaluation Frameworkthat provides broad categories of all interactions that may exist within a given ‘eco-agri-food system’.

The overall purpose of the Framework is to provide a clear and common starting point for future assessments that seek to carry out holistic evaluations in line with the systems view advocated by TEEBAgriFood. These ‘Framework-testing studies’ will generally have the following features:

• broad and systemic in nature,
• reflect the contributions of all four capitals (natural, produced, human and social), and
• examine connections along the full value chain, including production, processing & manufacturing, distribution, marketing & retail, and consumption.

With support from the European Commission, a project on ‘TEEBAgriFood in Africa: assessing options to improve livelihoods’seeks to develop a regional narrative and perspective on the relevance and application of TEEBAgriFood and its Framework on the agriculture and food sector in Africa. It will explore the agricultural policy landscape in the region, and in particular the extent to which these policies influence the way in which inter alia ecosystems and biodiversity, livelihoods and equity, and nutrition and health are captured.

A report will also synthesize the findings from three case studies, namely rice in Senegal, livestock in Tanzania, and agroforestry in Ghana and Ethiopia, and assess the various types of interventions that might be used to capture these values so that hitherto invisible value-additions and recognized and accounted for in decision-making, leading to better livelihood outcomes.

In order to support the development of the report described above, TEEBAgriFood is seeking voluntary contributions in the form of scientific literature (published research, journal articles, etc.) from the scientific and research community on the following topics:

1. Impacts and dependencies across environmental, social and human (including health) dimensions across agriculture and food value chains in Africa

The TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework (chapter) includes four elements: stocks, flows, outcomes and impacts. The stocks of eco-agri-food systems comprise the four different “capitals” – produced capital, natural capital, human capital and social capital. These stocks underpin a variety of flows encompassing production and consumption activity, ecosystem services, purchased inputs and residual flows. The dynamics of an eco-agri-food system lead to outcomes that are reflected in the Framework as changes in the stocks of capitals, both quantitatively and qualitatively. In turn, these outcomes will have impacts on human well-being.

The Framework has thus been designed to provide broad categories of all interactions that may exist within a given eco-agri-food system. This provides a clear and common starting point for all assessments as they work towards identifying the elements that are most material in their context.

It is thus important that this study provides a complete picture of eco-agri-food systems in Africa, i.e. the wide range of (positive and negative) impacts and dependencies that result from various drivers and pressures in different agri-food systems and practices.

Data including (but not limited to) the following topics are being sought in particular: health and nutrition, biodiversity, small-scale farmers, women in agriculture, mixed systems, social equity and justice issues, processing and manufacturing, consumption and waste.

 

2. Data on policy reform opportunities in agriculture and food value chains in Africa

A key element of TEEBAgriFood is the aim to influence policy- and decision-makers with a clear Theory of Change (chapter), i.e. the information required to enact concrete policy, business and behavioral changes in order to positively affect inter alia the state of agro-biodiversity and agro-ecosystems, employment and income generation, greenhouse gas emissions, human health outcomes, and the preservation of cultural and social capital; they will lead to the more equitable distribution of benefits and costs across communities, within communities, and between genders.

It is important that this study offers valuable insights into policy opportunities and recommendations for capturing impacts and externalities in decision-making so as to lead to better livelihood outcomes (e.g. sustainability standards and certification, information-provision, market-based schemes, fiscal (dis-)incentives).

Information is being sought in particular on regional/transboundary and national policy documents and initiatives that influence (or will influence), for better or worse, the economic environment of eco-agri-food systems in which farmers, agri-businesses and consumers all operate. Links to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other international processes are also welcome.