May 10, 2014

Resilience: Are We Just Buying Time?

Drying Cocoa. Photo by Bread for the World/Laura Elizabeth Pohl

It’s time to ask hard questions as we lead up to the 2014 International Science and Policy Conference on the resilience of social and ecological systems. Just as this event calls on us to mobilize for transformation of development to include resiliency, our agricultural experts are exploring these ideas in the palm oil, soy and cocoa sectors. EcoAgriculture Partners’ Director of Research, Christine Negra, tackles the topic of supply chain approaches to protecting biodiversity in agricultural commodity landscapes in CGIAR’s Agriculture and Ecosystems Blog by asking: Are voluntary sustainability standards actually capable of transforming agricultural production?

The question came up toward the end of a workshop on supply chain approaches for protecting biodiversity in agricultural commodity landscapes, co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and EcoAgriculture Partners in early April. After a day spent learning about twenty projects that accomplished targeted objectives for three commodities in seven countries, the question prompted reflection at a higher level: are we just buying time for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes or are we truly building a new foundation for biodiversity-friendly agriculture?

So, are we just buying time? Read Christine’s answer on CGIAR’s Agriculture and Ecosystems Blog.

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