Declining biodiversity causing distortion in food supply

By Godfrey Ssempijja

The Commissioner Crop production Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Alex Lwakuba has said a decline in the country’s biodiversity has led to an increase in disparities in the supply of food across the country.

“There is increasing disparities in food, feed and fire because of the deteriorating livelihoods, hope and expectations due to the production and productive capacities of the resources we depend on, the biodiversity being on a decline, that’s the reason we are experiencing distorted food supply” he said.

Mr Lwakuba made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the Learning Journey on Mainstreaming Biodiversity held at Golden Tulip Caanan Hotel in kampala on Tuesday.

Mr Lwakuba further said it’s time for people to identify nature-based solutions to the bio diversity decline.

“We need several multi-faceted approaches to reverse the rise of degradation, desertification, prolonged droughts and some of these are the agricultural policies, the National Agricultural Policy, National Extension Policy, and the National Policy to conserve wetlands” he said.

Mr Lwakuba noted that the recently approved National Organic Agriculture Policy will directly address sustainable agriculture and promote sustainability of the environment.

The FAO Country Representative, Dr. Antonio Querido said FAO’s mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors project, aims to strengthen sectoral policies that promote sustainable agriculture and food systems, scale up sustainable and biodiversity-friendly practices to safeguard the livelihoods of small-scale producers, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities.

“According to the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (2014), agriculture-related drivers will account for around 70% of projected terrestrial biodiversity loss and 50% of freshwater biodiversity loss by 2050. FAO estimates that about 28% of local breeds of domesticated animals are at risk of extinction, 38% of fish stocks are overfished, and around 178 million hectares of forest have been lost globally since 1990. Agricultural activities account for around 80% of worldwide deforestation” he said.

Mr Querido said the national agro ecology strategy will guide national efforts to promote agro ecology across all subsectors of crops and livestock production, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture that will protect biodiversity and the environment for present and future generations and help in ensuring food security.

“Through these efforts, we are confident that agrifood systems can play a pivotal role in restoring degraded lands, conserving agro biodiversity, and ensuring the sustainable use of land and natural resources, ultimately enhancing food and agricultural production” he said.