Finding Optimal Trade-offs Between Food Security and Conservation in Africa: A Review of Tools and Presentation of Case Studies from Zambezi and Ituri Landscapes

The group's mission is to tackle complex and changing conservation challenges by catalyzing and strengthening collaboration among its member organizations. ABCG's vision is to create an African continent where natural resources and biodiversity are securely conserved in balance with sustained human livelihoods. ABCG's Food Security Task Group conducted a review of tools and presented case studies from the Zambezi and Ituri landscapes. The report, titled "Finding Optimal Trade-offs Between Food Security and Conservation in Africa," was produced by the African Wildlife Foundation, Conservation International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society on behalf of ABCG. The report was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The report highlights the need for clear conservation objectives that promote production, the role of partnerships in achieving conservation and food security goals, and the importance of appropriate scale and boundary, multi-sectoral perspective, intensity and duration of contact with farmers, market linkages, and guiding policy framework, dialogue, and coordination. The report also presents lessons learned from the case studies, including the role of agricultural intensification in African conservation strategies, keys to designing conservation agriculture efforts that lead to effective conservation and food security, and risks associated with conservation agriculture efforts. The report assesses tools to improve management of food security and conservation trade-offs and synergies, including broad-scale spatial planning, localized/participatory mapping, and non-spatial community-based natural resource management. The report concludes with next steps for ABCG FS work group members, including replicating conservation agriculture techniques among more farmers, implementing land use zone management, completing participatory land use planning exercises, and developing coupled guidelines to assess efforts to promote food security and biodiversity conservation. The Zambezi Heartland, a case study presented in the report, is a region in southern Africa where conservation agriculture approaches have been implemented to improve food security and conservation outcomes. The Ituri Landscape, another case study, is a region in central Africa where conservation agriculture approaches have been implemented to improve food security and conservation outcomes. The report highlights the importance of partnerships, including government, traditional leaders, partner non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations, in achieving conservation and food security goals. The report emphasizes the need for a multi-sectoral perspective, including agriculture, rural development, and poverty reduction, in addressing food security challenges in Africa. The report also highlights the importance of knowledge management and program implementation, including defining appropriate time horizons, in achieving conservation and food security goals. The report concludes that conservation agriculture approaches can be effective in improving food security and conservation outcomes in Africa, but require careful planning, implementation, and monitoring to ensure success.