How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments

Agroecology is gaining traction across the global south as part of the potential solutions to food insecurity, soil health loss and degradation and for managing climatic stresses. Yet, there are many sceptics arguing that agroecology cannot sustain the food security needs of a growing population and...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mkondiwa, Maxwell, Ngoma, Hambulo
Formato: Informe técnico
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168078
_version_ 1855534890887413760
author Mkondiwa, Maxwell
Ngoma, Hambulo
author_browse Mkondiwa, Maxwell
Ngoma, Hambulo
author_facet Mkondiwa, Maxwell
Ngoma, Hambulo
author_sort Mkondiwa, Maxwell
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agroecology is gaining traction across the global south as part of the potential solutions to food insecurity, soil health loss and degradation and for managing climatic stresses. Yet, there are many sceptics arguing that agroecology cannot sustain the food security needs of a growing population and that probably much more input intensification on the existing lands would be the best alternative as it will allow conservation of crop and forest biodiversity. In this paper, we develop a virtual landscape model (the spatial bioeconomic model for agroecology, SpBiMA) that maximizes economic value from crop production and pixel level crop biodiversity while meeting food consumption needs, and restricting cropland expansion. We then apply this stylized model to a case study in Malawi: a country plagued with very high deforestation rates due to cropland expansion. The spatially explicit model allows us to pinpoint the changes in the spatial footprint of crop production, at landscape level, that will attain the economic and biodiversity goals and simulate if an agroecology practice (e.g., doubled up legume or others) can help in getting to the pareto frontier. We use the model to suggest the different locations where agroecological practices can be targeted in future agricultural and biodiversity investments to minimize the environmental costs while maximizing economic value.
format Informe técnico
id CGSpace168078
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
publisherStr International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1680782025-05-04T09:22:06Z How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments Mkondiwa, Maxwell Ngoma, Hambulo agroecology bioeconomic models landscape crop production Agroecology is gaining traction across the global south as part of the potential solutions to food insecurity, soil health loss and degradation and for managing climatic stresses. Yet, there are many sceptics arguing that agroecology cannot sustain the food security needs of a growing population and that probably much more input intensification on the existing lands would be the best alternative as it will allow conservation of crop and forest biodiversity. In this paper, we develop a virtual landscape model (the spatial bioeconomic model for agroecology, SpBiMA) that maximizes economic value from crop production and pixel level crop biodiversity while meeting food consumption needs, and restricting cropland expansion. We then apply this stylized model to a case study in Malawi: a country plagued with very high deforestation rates due to cropland expansion. The spatially explicit model allows us to pinpoint the changes in the spatial footprint of crop production, at landscape level, that will attain the economic and biodiversity goals and simulate if an agroecology practice (e.g., doubled up legume or others) can help in getting to the pareto frontier. We use the model to suggest the different locations where agroecological practices can be targeted in future agricultural and biodiversity investments to minimize the environmental costs while maximizing economic value. 2024 2024-12-19T17:17:41Z 2024-12-19T17:17:41Z Report https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168078 en Open Access application/pdf International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Mkondiwa, M., & Ngoma, H. (2024). How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments. CIMMYT. https://hdl.handle.net/10883/35160
spellingShingle agroecology
bioeconomic models
landscape
crop production
Mkondiwa, Maxwell
Ngoma, Hambulo
How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments
title How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments
title_full How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments
title_fullStr How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments
title_full_unstemmed How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments
title_short How much is enough? A Spatial Bioeconomic Model for Agroecology (SpBiMA) trade-off assessments
title_sort how much is enough a spatial bioeconomic model for agroecology spbima trade off assessments
topic agroecology
bioeconomic models
landscape
crop production
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168078
work_keys_str_mv AT mkondiwamaxwell howmuchisenoughaspatialbioeconomicmodelforagroecologyspbimatradeoffassessments
AT ngomahambulo howmuchisenoughaspatialbioeconomicmodelforagroecologyspbimatradeoffassessments