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Lessons learned on the Sustainability and Replicability of Integrated Food-Energy Systems in Ghana and Mozambique

PART 1: Main Findings











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    Book (stand-alone)
    Lessons learned on the Sustainability and Replicability of Integrated Food-Energy Systems in Ghana and Mozambique
    Analysis of case studies
    2018
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    Given the global relevance of Integrated Food-Energy Systems (IFES), FAO has developed the IFES Analytical Framework; which gives guidance on how to select and assess indicators of IFES sustainability. The Analytical Framework (AF) includes a set of criteria, indicators and measures to help screen IFES projects. The first part of the AF screens IFES projects based on their environmental, social and economic sustainability. The second part of the AF contains a set of leading questions and related features that will help to analyse which factors make IFES replicable. In order to upscale sustainable biomass production, it is important to understand the drivers and the barriers that encourage or limit the long-term adoption of sustainable biomass production practices such as IFES. The question at stake is: Can an IFES that has been proven to be sustainable in one location or community, be taken up in other locations, by other communities, be it in the same region, country or even abroad? One needs to recognize that there are large differences between different IFES, on the one hand, and different geographical and cultural areas where the replication might take place, on the other. Yet we argue that there are some common denominators or features that lie within the project and that create an enabling environment for the uptake of a specific IFES project. These features need to be built into and adapted to the specific context of an IFES when replicated elsewhere.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Evidence-based assessment of the sustainability and replicability of integrated foodenergy systems
    A guidance document
    2014
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    Bioenergy when managed sustainably and efficiently can be an alternative energy source that helps reduce energy access problems. Rural and urban communities can benefit from increased access to energy, and therefore improved food security when bioenergy feedstock is produced guided by principles of sustainable production intensification and energy efficiency improvements are made by applying agro-ecological practices and locally adapted technologies.. To mitigate the risks of bioenergy production threatening food security and to harness the potential benefits of bioenergy productionFAO recommends appling good practices of bioenergy production from the onset. The production of bioenergy in Integrated Food-Energy Systems (IFES) is one of such good practices since these systems meet both food and energy demands.This publication presents an analytical framework which serves to screen different IFES options systematically and helps to define which IFES sy stems are sustainable and replicable. In concrete terms, this framework is envisioned to be a guidance document that allows its user to assess which factors make an IFES truly sustainable and which factors need to be considered when replicating such a system - be it a pilot project, a business innovation or a research experiment. Furthermore, it helps to systematically describe the potential contribution of IFES to sustainable agriculture and the growing bioeconomy, and to raise aw areness among decision-makers about which factors can facilitate the replication of such innovative projects.While the concept of IFES builds on the principles of sustainable intensification and the ecosystem approach, it stresses the fact that the diversification of crop and livestock species can lead to a sustainable production of both food and energy feedstock, as long as relevant practices and technologies are locally devised and adapted. It further emphasises that energy efficiency can be reached in these systems when applying sound agro-ecological practices and locally adapted technologies. This can be observed in many smallholder farming systems around the world, for example, agroforestry or intercropping systems that provide food, on the one hand, and generate crop residues and woody biomass for cooking or heating, on the other. However, far less common are those IFES that build on a sustainable production of food and energy feedstock and c ombine it with renewable energy technologies, that eases access to modern energy. Many pilot studies, research projects and business innovations suggest that food and energy for fuel, heat and electricity can be sustainably produced in such foodenergy systems. Yet the supporting evidence to bring these types of IFES to scale is still scarce and projects often remain single islands of success.
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    Document
    Strengthening Food Energy Systems for Greater Food Security - GCP INT 237 GER 2018
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    Sustainable integrated food energy systems can significantly help to address the huge increase in demands for food, energy and water in the coming years. Therefore, there is need for better information and capacities on how to promote integrated food energy system (IFES) to inform decision-makers and secure policy support to that effect. The project aimed to assess the sustainability and replicability of integrated food-energy systems (IFES, particularly for countries such as Ghana and Mozambique, which face the challenge of producing enough food and energy in a non-competitive way.

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