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FIAN International Zambia has raised the alarm over growing destruction of biodiversity caused by industrial activity, unsustainable agriculture, and human interference—warning that the trend threatens food sovereignty and long-term agricultural resilience.
Vladimir Chilinya, FIAN Zambia Country Director, told Zambia Monitor in an interview that though biodiversity was the backbone of sustainable food systems, it was being rapidly eroded.
He cited statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), noting that 75 percent of plant genetic diversity has been lost globally since the early 20th century, as farmers replace traditional seed varieties with genetically uniform commercial alternatives.
“Today, only 9 out of 6,000 cultivated plant species account for 66 percent of total crop production.
“Likewise, 90 percent of cattle in the global north belong to just six breeds, and 20 percent of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction,” Chilinya said.
He stressed that such genetic erosion undermined food and nutrition systems, particularly for small-scale producers who depend on diverse ecosystems for their livelihoods.
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“Ecosystem destruction and the rapid loss of biodiversity are directly undermining the sustainable production of food and the realization of the Right to Food and Nutrition (RtFN),” he warned.
Chilinya emphasized that biodiversity loss—driven by mining, climate change, monoculture farming, and encroachment—posed a serious challenge to Zambia’s food security.
He called for recognition of biodiversity not only as an ecological necessity but also a human rights issue. He pointed to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), which affirms the rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, and food sovereignty.
“Small-scale farmers, pastoralists, and fishers are key custodians of agricultural biodiversity through practices like seed saving, agroecology, and local natural resource management,” he said.
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