This issue of 'The State of Food and Agriculture' examines the role of agriculture in the provision of ecosystem services using the payment for environmental services (PES) approach. It look at positive incentives to farmers emphasising the provision of three types of environmental services that have seen the most significant growth in PES programmes: climate change mitigation, improved water supply and quality and biodiversity conservation.
Five main messages emerge from the report:
- demand for environmental services from agriculture will increase;
- agriculture can provide a better mix of ecosystem services to meet society’s changing needs;
- if farmers are to provide a better mix of ecosystem services, better incentives will be required and payments for environmental services can help;
- cost-effective PES programmes require careful design based on the characteristics of the service and the biophysical and socio-economic context;
- payments for environmental services are not primarily a poverty reduction tool, but the poor are likely to be affected, and implications for the poor must be considered.
Key challenges identified, if the full potential of environmental services programmes is to be achieved, include:
- the rights to environmental services must be clarified;
- more information is needed through research in both natural and social sciences;
- institutions and capacity building must be strengthened.
