Ruth Meinzen-Dick SPECIAL EVENT LAUNCH EVENT: 2019 Global Food Policy Report Washington, DC, USA MAR 27, 2019 - 12:15 PM TO 01:45 PM EDT

1. Ruth
Meinzen-Dick
Washington DC, 27 March 2019

2. ▪ Rural areas provide essential ecosystem
services for the planet
▪ Rural livelihoods can contribute to—and are
affected by—deforestation, groundwater
depletion, land degradation, water and air
pollution, and climate change
▪ Costs and benefits not equally distributed
▪ Rural residents and environmental degradation:
Beyond villains or victims to custodians and
partners in revitalization
Revitalizing, Restoring, and
Improving Rural Areas
Claudia Ringler and Ruth Meinzen-Dick

3. Photo credit: Foundation for Ecological Security

4. Rural areas are critical for key ecosystem services
Key functions and relationships affecting rural environments
ENVIRONMENT
Source: Ringler and Meinzen-Dick 2019

5. ▪ Invest in rural revitalization to create healthy and thriving rural areas and
to provide safe food, clean water, climate change mitigation, and other key
environmental services
▪ Provide economic incentives to address environmental degradation,
including through payments for environmental services, removal of subsidies
that distort resource use, and well-defined, tradable rights for environmental
“goods,” such as clean water, and “bads,” such as pollution
▪ Invest in innovative practices and technologies, such as precision
farming, small-scale irrigation, and communication technologies, that can
increase agricultural yields and reduce environmental degradation
▪ Support context-appropriate institutions to motivate and coordinate action
among rural dwellers to address environmental issues
Key recommendations
ENVIRONMENT
Source: Ringler and Meinzen-Dick 2019