Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils Office Home Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils VACS Champions VACS Research Agenda VACS – SoilFER Remarks and Releases HomeOffice of Global Food Security...The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) hide The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) Office of Global Food Security The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) seeks to build a resilient food system grounded in diverse, nutritious, and climate adapted crops grown in healthy, fertile soils. Build Supply and Demand for a Diverse Range of Crops Promote Sustainable Land Use with Opportunity Crops Opportunity crop: A crop with great unrealized potential to improve food and nutrition security in the context of climate change. Most are nutrient-rich traditional and indigenous crops that have suffered historically from underinvestment. VACS addresses the core challenges facing the global food system: More than 700 million people are undernourished, and child stunting and nutrient deficiencies are widespread in developing countries. Food demand will increase by more than 50 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050, 25 percent globally; meanwhile climate change and land degradation are decreasing crop yields Malawi: A Case Study In Malawi, an over-reliance on maize has led to systemic agricultural vulnerability, minimally diverse and nutrient-poor diets, and child stunting. Diversifying to climate-resilient native crops is key to the country’s food and nutrition security. Maize has become an integral part of the Malawian diet, but maize yields are expected to decline ~30% by 2100. Nearly 40% of children under 5 in Malawi experience stunting, which is measured by low height-for-age. It is a metric of linear growth retardation and indicative of chronic undernourishment. Malawi’s traditional food crops (e.g., sorghum, millet, Bambara groundnut, yams) can boost climate resilience and meet childhood nutrient needs. Conservatively, precipitation over the full growing season is projected to decrease by 36 mm (4%) by 2050, while temperature increases by 2°C (6%). Diverse crops will be more resilient to Malawi’s changing climate. VACS Investment Framework Illustrative Interventions WHERE TO PLANTFor sustainable land use and food production WHAT TO PLANTFor productivity and nutrition WHAT CROP MANAGEMENTSYSTEMSFor efficiency & productivity HOW TO APPLY TO DIVERSE CROPSFor each crop and conditions in a given year Global Develop tools to inform land use planning, including by integrating soil and crop information. Enable plant breeding programs; increase awareness about benefits of opportunity crops. Develop knowledge systems to accelerate innovation and sharing globally of successful practices. Develop novel fertilizers and formulations that will support increased production of opportunity crops. National +Subnational Share technical advice and research to inform land use and agricultural subsidy policies. Build R&D capacity; Build value chains for new varieties to deliver them to markets and consumers. Expand agricultural curricula and extension services to focus on nutrition, sustainability, and diverse crop management. Invest in crop management Decision Support Tools for pest and nutrient management for opportunity crops. Landscape Strengthen land use planning and extension services. Expand access to crop suitability information to identify crop options for specific landscapes. Develop systems to analyze the impacts of different management systems on nutritious diets and sustainability. Support learning collaboratives that accelerate real-time knowledge sharing and reduce adoption risk for farmers. Farm Enable hyper-local recommendations by integrating farmer inputs into soil information systems. Expand access to more crop options, allowing farmers to diversify and improve income, nutrition, and soil health. Develop and provide access to app-based, locally-tailored Decision-Support Tools and local training and education. Provide access to mobile and remote consultation services and local demonstrations of best practices. Field Develop low-cost tools to help small farmers deploy precision farming techniques. Expand access to crop suitability information to identify crop options for specific fields. Expand access to knowledge on how to successfully manage traditional and indigenous crops. See Farm and Landscape. Join the VACS Movement! Become a VACS donor. IFAD, CGIAR and FAO each have established mechanisms to accept donor funding for VACS. They coordinate their activities via a VACS Implementer’s Group. In coordinating activities in support of common VACS goals, the Group works to leverage each institution’s comparative strengths while allowing for flexibility in roles and responsibilities to meet the requirements of any given context. Become a VACS Champion. We welcome non-government and private sector organizations to join the movement as VACS Champions. The VACS Champions program formally recognizes such organizations for funding or undertaking projects that promote VACS Objectives. Join the VACS Community of Practice. The community brings together stakeholders, allies, and experts to crowdsource solutions to VACS implementation challenges and approaches, coordinate and collaborate on VACS and VACS-related activities across organizations, and share information and solicit feedback on topics related to VACS. Tags Agriculture and Sustainable Food Production Food and Agriculture Organization Office of Global Food Security
