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Panel discussion on:

Soil carbon sequestration and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa: Synergies and Tradeoffs

24th and 25th of March, 2022, 3-5pm (CET), online


 Outline:

Carbon sequestration in nutrient-deprived agricultural soils in SSA seems to hold a great potential to tackle two of the most pressing issues of our time: food insecurity and climate change. Carbon-rich soils increase the resilience of agricultural systems due to their improved water holding capacity, soil aggregation, and nutrient supply and hence, contribute to food security. At the same time, carbon sequestration in soils is regarded as one important nature-based solution to mitigate climate change. Nevertheless, the concepts proposed by scientists, how to improve soil health and soil fertility vary widely, and large discrepancies exist around the need for chemical inputs to quickly increase food and other biomass production. The different approaches might result in potential trade-offs between high levels of crop yields and carbon sequestration. During the two panel discussions, we would like to have a closer look at different land management practices and their synergies and trade-offs regarding climate change mitigation and current and future food production.


The guiding questions to the panel are:

→ What are the technical and socio-economical potentials of different soil management approaches on the given cropland (ISFM, conservation agriculture, organic agriculture, …) for a(A) achieving food security and b(B) carbon sequestration?

→ What are the tradeoffs associated with each of those approaches (currently and in a situation of advanced global warming)?

→ Is there a corridor within which those approaches can meet and achieve good results for crop production and eventually food security on one side and carbon sequestration on the other side under different ecological and socio-economical conditions in tropical countries, in particular Sub-Saharan Africa?


24th of March: The scientific point of view

Moderation: Leigh Winowiecki, CIFOR/ICRAF, Kenya


Time (CET)

Program

15:00 – 15:15

Welcome and housekeeping:

Juliane Wiesenhütter, Paul Luu

15:15 – 16:15

Inputs by the panelists:

Lydie-Stella Koutika, CRDPI; Congo

Bernard Vanlauwe, IITA, Nigeria / Kenya

Wellington Mulinge, KALRO, Kenya

Gatien Falconnier, CIRAD, France/ Zimbabwe

Rolf Sommer, WWF, Germany

16:15 – 16:50

Discussion: Questions from the audience

If there are urgent questions that cannot be addressed, we may take them into Friday.

16:50 – 17:00

Wrap up and closing




25th of March: The practioners' point of view


Time (CET)

Program

15:00 – 15:15

Welcome and short summary from day 1

15:15 – 15:25

Input by Pauline Chivenge, APNI, Morocco (to refresh the topic)

15:25  - 16:00

Inputs by the panelists,

Barbara Banda, NADPZ, Zambia

Francis Kondwani Ngopola, Simpson Foundation, Malawi

Upendra Singh ICDF,


16:00 – 16:45

Discussion: Questions from the audience

16:45 – 17:00

Wrap up and closing