MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

Sustainable Agroecosystem Development

One-line solution summary:

Sustainable agroecosystem development for the enhancement of biodiversity and farmers income in mountainous valleys

Pitch your solution.

The project aims to increase biodiversity and income of farming community through the development of sustainable agroecosystems in a land scarce mountainous region. The most sustainable agroecosystem will be identified and implemented for the improvement of farm productivity and income of the farming community. Sustainable farming practices will encompass the biodiversity and land resource conservation to minimize adverse climate change impacts while ensuring economic benefits. The key strategy is to develop farmers capacity through participatory approach at farmer fields for sustainable and biodiversity rich agroecosystem.

What specific problem are you solving?

Land resource degradation and biodiversity reduction are noticeable in mountainous agroecosystems. This is due to gradually increasing burden of food and economic needs of multiplying population in mountainous valleys. Intensive cultivation of land and use of inappropriate cultivation practices have led to degradation of land resource. Consequently, food and economic resources have become scarce for the farming community. This degradation of agroecosystem and economic bottlenecks has generated cultural and social poverty. Due to prevailing poverty in the farming community of mountainous regions, environmental entities such as deforestation for fuel wood, degradation of land for sand, overgrazing by animals, and ameliorating the soil productivity.

What is your solution?

The project solution is to develop capacity of farming community to adopt sustainable farming practices to increase biodiversity and their income. Sustainable farming practices will include multiple cropping system development and soil management strategies to augment biodiversity and farm productivity. A participatory approach will be followed to develop the capacity of farming community at their doorsteps. Farmers capacity development will increase interest of farming community in sustainable farming and will consider it as entrepreneurship. This solution is designed to use agroecosystem resources as alternative business established by the farming community including women and disables.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

The solution will serve poor farming community such as women, disables and the other vulnerable persons in mountainous valleys of Gilgit, Pakistan. Lack of awareness of good farming practices has led to degradation of land resources and economic opportunities for the farming community in the mountainous valleys of this region. Introduction of appropriate soil cultivation and sustainable cropping systems in the area will improve biodiversity, food chain and economic opportunities for the inhabitants.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Provide scalable and verifiable monitoring and data collection to track ecosystem conditions, such as biodiversity, carbon stocks, or productivity.

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

The solution is based on the participation of farming community in agrobiodiversity conservation practices for sustaining green ecosystem to ensure land resources improvement such as fertile land and increase agriculture production, and agribusiness development that includes financial outcomes. The project solution will concentrate on ecosystem conservation and economic development for farming community through their effective solution participation.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

District Gilgit, Pakistan

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

The solution is of farming community participation in agrobiodiversity conservation for sustaining green ecosystem to ensure land resources improvement such as fertile land to increase agricultural productivity. Majority people are farmers and due to ecosystem degradation agricultural activities are not done well. When ecosystem will be conserved, agribusiness economic will be developed and financial return are expected. Farmers will concentrate on conservation of agroecosystem that will support community economic development through effective solution participation.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Dr. Muhammad Arshad Assistant, KIU, Gilgit, PK