A COLOURFUL DISPLAY\, Negros Occidental\, Philippines\, by Amb
er Heckelman[/caption][caption id="attachment_30463" align="alig
ncenter" width="620"] A COLOURFUL DISPLAY\, Negros Occidental\, Philippines\, by Amb
er Heckelman[/caption]
Drop by the Liu Institute Lobby Gallery betwee n now and September 20th\, 2019 to enjoy our latest Lobby Gallery exhibitio n\, Nature & Nourishment: The Agrobiodiversity and Food Security Nexus< /em>.
Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
Diversifie
d Agroecosystems Cluster
Photo Gallery Team Members: Amber Heckelman\,
Matthew Mitchell\, Laura Morillas\, Hannah Wittman
We are wh at feeds us…
Agrobiodiversity includes all of the genetic\, species\, ecosystem\, and cultural diversity\, and associated local knowle dge\, that occurs within agricultural landscapes and food systems. Food sec urity is the condition where all people\, at all times\, have physical\, so cial\, and economic access to sufficient\, safe\, and nutritious food that meets their cultural food preferences and dietary needs for an active and h ealthy lifestyle. Food sovereignty brings these together – as a set of prac tices\, processes\, and policy frameworks that ensures the rights of Indige nous peoples\, farmers\, fishing communities\, urban dwellers and regional governance bodies to foster ecologically and socially just food systems. Th is exhibit tells this story. Worldwide\, agrobiodiversity plays a critical role in the production of food\, maintenance of human livelihoods and biocu ltural traditions\, and is essential to protect the resilient ability of co mmunities to sustain culturally and ecologically diverse landscapes for foo d sovereignty.
The exhibit takes you around the world through the eye s of food systems researchers to explore the agrobiodiversity-food security nexus. In photographs from Asia\, Africa\, and the Americas\, two key mess ages emerge from the images. The first is one of concern and warning. Agric ultural biodiversity is critical to food production and the ecosystem servi ces that agricultural landscapes provide\, and loss of this diversity will have significant and far-reaching negative consequences. The second is hope ful and courageous. People globally are working diligently and enthusiastic ally to understand\, conserve\, and increase agrobiodiversity to create a m ore resilient and food sovereign future.
The images presented here de monstrate the inextricable role humans play in stewarding and augmenting ag robiodiversity. From farmers and researchers nestled in diversified farming systems\, to colorful markets in city and rural landscapes\, the diversity of images is deliberate and intentional. Viewers will see mosaic landscape s\, field-level cultivation of multiple crops\, innovative urban agricultur e initiatives\, cultural traditions\, and ceremonies associated with agricu ltural diversity\, along with examples of participatory methods to increase crop diversity. Other images highlight specific aspects of agricultural bi odiversity – including key groups of species such as pollinators\, benefici al insects\, birds\, and mammals that are significant to maintaining health y agricultural ecosystems.
What are the relationships between agrobio diversity and food security? This critical question is central to and motiv ates each of the photographs in this exhibit. Each image illustrates a diff erent link between the organisms that makeup agricultural systems\, the peo ple who live and work in these landscapes\, and the food that they coproduc e. The exhibit conveys the diversity of interconnections between people and nature that are embodied in the food that each of us consumes every day.
[caption id="attachment_30465" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
SUNSET OVER UBC FARM. Vancouv
er\, British Columbia\, Canada\, by the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems
at UBC Farm[/caption]
Gallery Contributors
Aerin Jacob is a conservation scientist at the Yellowstone t
o Yukon Conservation Initiative. Based in Canmore\, Alberta\, she conducts
and communicates applied research to inform conservation that helps people
and nature to thrive.
Amber Heckelman is a Ph.D. Can didate at UBC’s Faculty of Land & Food Systems and the Centre for Sustainab le Food Systems. She is committed to creating sustainable\, equitable\, and resilient food systems through public scholarship and knowledge mobilizati on. Her dissertation research centres on exploring pathways and barriers to smallholder resilience in the Philippines.
Amy Panikowski is an American freelance researcher and consultant (B.S. Biology\; M .A. Geography) currently living in South Africa. She focuses on human-envir onmental interactions\, conservation development\, gender development\, and participatory science.
Andrea Reid is a Nisg a’a fisheries scientist and conservation biologist\, and Ph.D. Candidate af filiated with the Department of Biology at Carleton University and the Depa rtment of Forest & Conservation Sciences at UBC. As an Explorer with the Na tional Geographic Society\, a Fellow of The Explorers Club\, a Natural Scie nces and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Aboriginal Ambassad or\, and the 2019 Partners in Research Young Researcher Ambassador\, Andrea has significant experience leading community-engaged research and outreach around the globe.
Aspen Ono is a Masters Student at UBC’s Institute for Resources\, Environment and Sustainability\, researchi ng environmental justice and immigrant populations. Aspen’s past research a llowed her to live\, work\, and engage with local communities around the wo rld\, including India and Kenya on issues of community resilience and envir onmental justice.
Barbara Gemmill-Herren (Ph.D. in E cology\, University of California) served as Manager for Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na tions (FAO). Within FAO\, she built and coordinated a global project on pol lination services\, implemented in Brazil\, Ghana\, Kenya\, South Africa\, India\, Pakistan and Nepal and contributed to FAO’s new focus on agroecolog y. She has been a contributor to the UN initiative “The Economics of Ecosys tems and Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food” – exploring True Cost Accou nting in Agriculture – and led the “Beacons of Hope” initiative of the Glob al Alliance for the Future of Food.
Chris Hergesheimer holds a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Land & Food Systems at UBC and a M.A. in Sociology from Simon Fraser University. His Ph.D. work revolved around t he relationship between food sovereignty and fair trade in high value fruit chains. These days he is busy performing economic development services as Program Manager for the Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Organi zation.
Colin Shanley is a wildlife biologist in Ala ska. His research broadly explores the intersection of applied ecology and natural resource conservation utilizing geospatial tools and quantitative m odeling. Colin’s science and art are inspired by wild landscapes and cultur es of place.
Dana James is a Ph.D. Candidate at UBC’ s Institute for Resources\, Environment and Sustainability and the Centre f or Sustainable Food Systems. She is also a UBC Public Scholar using transdi sciplinary research methods to investigate the enabling and constraining fa ctors for agroecological transitions in Brazil.
Danny Karp is an Assistant Professor at the College of Agricultural and Environ mental Sciences at the University of California\, Davis. His research focus es on harmonizing conservation and food production across working landscape s\, both in temperate and tropical agroecosystems.
Devon Samp son is an agroecology researcher and community organizer based in Oaxaca\, Mexico who is fascinated with the complexity and beauty of diverse farms. His research explores the many ways farmers use agrobiodiversity to build food security and healthy nutrition outcomes. Devon is a principal r esearcher at Polyculture Research and Media and co-producer of Delicious Re volution\, a radio show and podcast about food movements.
Eva n Bowness is a Ph.D. Candidate at UBC’s Institute for Resources\, Environment and Sustainability studying urban agriculture and food movement s in Canada and Brazil. He is a UBC Public Scholar who uses visual methods\ , including video-making and photography in his research. He is also an ins tructor at the University of Manitoba where he teaches courses in visual so ciology and film.
Ilyas Siddique is Professor of Agr oecosystems at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)\, Brazil\, t eaching agroecology\, agroforestry\, ecological weed management\, research synthesis\, epistemology\, science methods and communication. Active engage ment in knowledge systems dialogue among ecology\, social science\, technic al practitioners\, and indigenous/peasant knowledge encouraged Ilyas to pro mote synergies among food sovereignty\, on-farm conservation of agrobiodive rsity\, and productive tropical forest restoration\, most recently as coord inator of the Network of Agroecological Agroforestry of Southern Brazil.
Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI) of Jambi branch is an o rganization of peasants in the Jambi provinces. SPI Jambi is part of a nati onwide peasant organization focused on agrarian reform\, peasant rights\, f ood sovereignty and sustainable agriculture. Currently\, SPI is active in e leven provinces in Indonesia\, including North Sumatra\, West Sumatra\, Sou th Sumatra\, Jambi\, Lampung\, Banten\, Yogyakarta\, Central Java\, East Ja va\, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara. The SPI is also a member of the international peasant movement La Via Campesina.
M atthew Mitchell is a postdoctoral research fellow at UBC’s Institu te for Resources\, Environment and Sustainability and the Centre for Sustai nable Food Systems. His research focuses on how to manage human-dominated a gricultural and urban landscapes for ecosystem services and biodiversity.
Sean Kearney studied ecosystem service synergies and trade-offs resulting from agroforestry and organic management of smallholde r maize and bean production in northern El Salvador. He is currently a post doctoral research fellow in the Integrated Remote Sensing Studio at UBC\, w here he is analyzing the effects of landscape change and anthropogenic acti vity on grizzly bear behaviour and health in western Alberta\, Canada.
< p>Sean Smukler is Associate Professor in Applied Biology & Soil Science and the Junior Chair of Agriculture and the Environment for U BC’s Faculty of Land & Food Systems. His research is focused on working wit h farmers\, and other managers of agricultural landscapes to find ways to b etter monitor\, protect and enhance biodiversity and the availability of ec osystem services.Sieglinde Snapp is Professor of So ils and Cropping Systems Ecology at Michigan State University\, and Associa te Director of the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations. For ove r two decades she has conducted action learning with farmers and interdisci plinary students and scholars\, from Malawi to Michigan. Sieglinde is deepl y committed to agroecology education and extension\, integrated with adapti ve research for sustainable lands and livelihoods.
The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm is a research centre and local-to-global food hub working towards a more sustainable\, food-secure future. Photos of activities at the farm were taken by various contributors \, including Duncan McHugh\, Martin Dee\, the BC Association of Farmers Mar kets\, and others.
Yudi Bachri is a Ph.D. Student at the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Bern. He is also a lecturer in the History Department at the University of Indonesia and a researcher at the Agrarian Resources Center in Bandung\, Indonesia.
< strong>Zulfi Saeful graduated from Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung\, majoring in Islamic History and Civilization. He is currently an active researcher at the Agrarian Resources Center (ARC) Bandung\, Indonesia.
Acknowledgements
Peter W all Institute for Advanced Studies\; the Liu Institute for Global Issues\; the UBC VPRI Research Excellence Cluster Program\; Emily Amburgey and Rosal een McAfee for help with curation\; and Lindsay Marsh for promotion. We als o thank the numerous people\, farmers\, organizations\, and funding agencie s who made the research projects displayed here possible.
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="attachment_30464" align="aligncenter" width="426"]
GOGO & UMUTHI (GRANDMOTHER & MEDICINE)\, Mbonglowane\, Sou
th Africa\, by Amy Panikowski[/caption]