Blog Sustainable Agricultural Development: Roots of Peacebuilding
From the rainforests of Colombia to the drought-stricken farmlands amid armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sustainable land use systems such as regenerative agricultural practices, agroforestry and community seedbanks are doing more than creating sustainable and inclusive farming systems: they’re also increasing peace in post-conflict and unstable regions, making agricultural development a driver of social cohesion and community development.
“In environmental peacebuilding there’s an approach called the ‘contact hypothesis’, which says that putting conflicting parties together to talk about environmental issues or agricultural practices typically reduces prejudice, enabling them to have a neutral space for dialogue and to create a lasting trust.”
A 2023 publication co-authored by Alliance researchers highlights the close relationship between land use and peace. Analyzing post-conflict areas, researchers found that sustainable land-use systems (SLUS) can deliver four additional benefits: 1. socio-economic stability through the creation of new jobs, 2. social cohesion through the participatory design of land use between different social groups, 3. increased cooperation through shared natural resource governance, and 4. development of platforms that unite previously-divided parties through a common objective. This article will explore this connection between sustainable land use systems, agricultural development and peace in three regions: post-conflict areas of Colombia, socio-politically unstable regions in the Horn of Africa and conflictive agricultural lands in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where existing challenges are aggravated by climate variability.
Cacao farmers working together on an agroforestry plantation in Colombia. Credit: Juan Pablo Marín García
Colombia: Cacao agroforestry drives environmental peacebuilding
In Colombia, extreme fluctuations in deforestation have been strongly influenced by socio-political dynamics. In 2016, the Colombian government signed a landmark peace agreement with the FARC guerilla group, ending six decades of civil war. Although this was met by global celebration, it was shortly followed by attention-grabbing statements such as “Peace is destroying Colombia’s jungle”, as deforestation significantly increased in areas previously controlled by FARC: between 2015 and 2022, forest loss skyrocketed from 49,600 hectares to 128,000 hectares per year. This increase is primarily attributed to the end of FARC’s ‘protection’ of the forest cover that offered them security, leaving land open for other groups to exploit the forest for illegal logging, cattle ranching, mining and even coca farming, thus driving deforestation. However, in 2023, once again the Colombian rainforest caught global attention with an unprecedented 36% reduction in deforestation. While some argue that this is largely due to policies launched in 2022 by the progressive President Gustavo Petro, parallel efforts by conservation organizations to accelerate sustainable land use systems in post-conflict regions contributed to reduce pressure on forests, and offer an example of the contact hypothesis in action, bringing people together to protect land whilst also improving livelihoods and social cohesion.
The Alliance is one of the many organizations who invested in sustainable land use systems also known as regenerative farming in Colombia’s post-conflict regions.
One of the Alliance’s key initiatives in 2022-2023 was the development of cacao agroforestry with the original objective of regenerating forests and improving livelihoods. One example is the ‘Agroecological Regenerative Cocoa (ARC)’ project; Implemented in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, ARC promotes the integration of native cacao varieties with trees and other crops to create healthier landscapes while diversifying farmers’ incomes. Whilst the focus is environmental health, climate change mitigation and livelihoods, in a review of project progress, researchers shared their parallel interest in “integrating people, their culture and interactions with one another in farming and forest”. Likewise, an evaluation of the project’s impact in the regions of César and Caquetá considered wider social impacts, showing clear contributions to peacebuilding: “In a survey of 429 farmer households involved in cocoa agroforestry in Caquetá and 500 in Cesar, participants felt that agroforestry systems had increased spaces for dialogue... A majority of farmers considered that SLUS decreased disputes over natural resources.” Through cooperation between communities to manage shared land and sharing knowledge and best practices, the project provided multiple benefits beyond healthier ecosystems and stronger livelihoods. Analyzing the results from a ‘contact hypothesis’ perspective shows the connection between the project’s objectives and increased peace: by strengthening livelihoods, farmers no longer needed to engage in illegal activities to secure a stable income, thus reducing the need for activities that provoke conflict, tensions and deforestation.
Farmers receive new crop varieties from a seedbank in Uganda. Credit: CIAT/Georgina Smith
Participants at a meeting on gender inclusion in Kalehe, DRC, women without access to land are working as a cooperative. Photo Credit: Awotide Bola Amoke
Horn of Africa: Stronger seed systems build stronger communities
The countries of the Horn of Africa – Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda Djibouti and Eritrea – have a long history of socio-political instability driven by disputes over shared natural resources, ethno-linguistic tensions, ideological radicalization, and a lack of intergovernmental conflict management. Furthermore, in recent years an increase in food insecurity has aggravated these socio-political challenges, as 36 million people across the region face severe food insecurity, aggravated by recent extreme drought, estimated to be the region’s highest level of food insecurity in 40 years.
Multiple Alliance projects in the region show clear linkages between seed systems, food security and civil unrest. During protracted conflict, seed storage and distribution is interrupted, whilst in moments of acute conflict many fields have been abandoned or damaged, reducing access to healthy land and high-quality seeds, reducing food security and aggravating civil unrest. However, an Alliance initiative to establish community seedbanks in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan aims to address these challenges: “The community seedbank is expected to contribute to peacebuilding because it functions as a platform for interaction among farmers, thus contributing to community integration”. Specifically, the community seedbank in Ladu Payam, South Sudan brought together villages with a history of conflict. Researchers reported initial resistance towards seed exchange, but, following shared training on the importance of safeguarding local varieties and the role of community seedbank in this process, “beneficiaries in Ladu Payam have experienced peaceful co-existence during their interactions over the short community-seedbank implementation period”.
DRC: Women-led bean value chains increase social cohesion
Through an initiative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the potential of community seedbanks for social cohesion became even clearer, showing that beyond increasing cooperation and peace between neighboring communities, they can also increase equality within communities, in this case, with women playing an important role in the management of seedbanks. In the region of North Kivu, farmers have experienced numerous shocks, with ongoing internal conflicts aggravated by natural disasters, including a volcano eruption in 2021 that damaged land and infrastructure. Internal displacement grew in the following years, and yet, a small group of women began to work with the Alliance’s Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) to plant biofortified beans, with promising results. Since 2023, the ‘Bean for Women Empowerment project (B4WE)’ has strengthened women’s role in the bean value chain, starting with training on seed systems, seedbank management, sustainable farming practices, pest and disease control, business development and nutrition. By increasing women’s incomes and strengthening their decision-making power, these activities have increased farming families' resilience to regional conflict, as their independent food and livelihood security grows: “Even in conflict-affected areas there is hope, and collaborative actions can accelerate steps towards a brighter future”.
Cacao pulp and seeds taken for fermentation at a farm in Colombia. Credit: CIAT/Neil Palmer
Concluding thoughts: Sustainable agriculture and peace as a virtuous cycle
As shown by cross-continental initiatives to improve farming practices and increase farmers’ resilience, sustainable agricultural development in all contexts has the potential to improve social cohesion and therefore increase peace in conflict-prone regions due to shared goals, increased mutual understanding, and less need to rely on illegal activities for incomes. Alliance activities ranging from post-conflict Colombia to historically conflict-prone Democratic Republic of Congo prove the hypothesis that ecosystem protection and strong livelihoods are closely connected to social cohesion, making agricultural development a catalyst of a virtuous cycle where environmental and social resilience go hand in hand. As communities across the world continue to face insecurity, it’s time for supporters of both peacebuilding and agricultural development to bring these two pressing needs together, using collaborative and community-led environmental protection and agricultural development as a driver of cooperation between divided social groups, increased social equality within communities, and peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
