When it comes to the big global food issues of hunger and environment, a standard set of presumptions have remained pervasive.It is presumed that only very intensive farming will produce enough food to feed the world's ever increasing population.
It is also presumed that organic farming, because of its lower yield, would take up too much valuable land to produce the required amount of food.
(Photo by David Shankbone )
These presumptions are carried by the media, by what can be termed 'applied academia' (see below) and by various advocacy individuals and groups.
Recent research by Professor Tim Benton (University of Leeds) suggested that, notwithstanding higher biodiversity levels on organic farms, there would indeed be too much land taken up with these farms, were there significant numbers of them. This would then lead to biodiversity loss.
Benton claimed that �over the next 40 years, we're going to have to double food production worldwide to keep pace with population increases�.
Benton's specialisation is in conservation. And yet, he and many others in academia make these presumptions about feeding the world, organic farming and yield, though it is not their own area of expertise.
The Omnivore's Dilemma contains another. There, Princeton philosophy Professor Peter Singer and the book's author Michael Pollan debate animal ethics and feeding the world.
Singer, persuasive on ethics, argues less convincingly against more animal-friendly farms: farms that are small to medium sized mixed enterprises, with low levels of industrial inputs and with outdoor grazing, because they will not be replicable on a global scale to feed the world.
Arguments against these presumptions have been dealt with here before. What is new however, is information from a recent (22nd June) UN's seminar. By the actual experts in the specific area of global food and hunger.
This seminar explored what is called agroecological farming. This is a broad term to describe farming with many of the organic principles and practices, and more, cut from the same cloath.
The seminar, held in Brussels, was organised under the auspices of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Professor Olivier De Schutter, and featured many world experts on the subject.
According to the UN News Centre: �Agroecological farming approaches include agroforestry (planting trees and crops on the same parcel), biological control of pests and diseases through the use of natural predators, water harvesting methods, intercropping, green manure cover crops, mixed crops, livestock management, and a range of additional practices.
�Agroecological farming, which improves food production and farmers� incomes while at the same time protecting the soil, water and climate, could feed an estimated world population of nine billion people by 2050 and go a long way to save the climate, if implemented now, experts at a United Nations seminar concluded�.
A contrast was specifically made with the usual approach of �large-scale investments in land � and in �improved seeds, chemical fertilisers and machines�.
Specifically: �The widest study ever conducted on the subject found that agroecological approaches resulted in an average crop yield gain of 79 per cent. The study covered 286 projects in 57 developing countries, representing a total surface of 37 million hectares.�
The use of these sorts of techniques allows for previously barren places to be restored to food production: �In Tanzania, where the western provinces of Shinyanga and Tabora were once known as the �Desert of Tanzania,� agroforestry techniques and participatory processes allowed some 350,000 hectares of land to be rehabilitated in two decades. Profits per household rose by up to $500 a year. Similar techniques are being used successfully in Malawi.�
The basic point here is that precisely where food production needs to be improved, these techniques are more affordable and less environmentally damaging, in terms of deforestation and climate change.
The aim now is to move beyond individual examples of success and towards upscaling: �What is needed now is political will to move from successful pilot projects to nation-wide policies,� according to Professor De Schutter.
He has suggested that the Committee on World Food Security work on the policy levers to upscale agroecology.
�This is the best option we have today,� he added. �We can�t afford not to use it.�
To see the UN info, click here
These presumptions are carried by the media, by what can be termed 'applied academia' (see below) and by various advocacy individuals and groups.
Recent research by Professor Tim Benton (University of Leeds) suggested that, notwithstanding higher biodiversity levels on organic farms, there would indeed be too much land taken up with these farms, were there significant numbers of them. This would then lead to biodiversity loss.
Benton claimed that �over the next 40 years, we're going to have to double food production worldwide to keep pace with population increases�.
Benton's specialisation is in conservation. And yet, he and many others in academia make these presumptions about feeding the world, organic farming and yield, though it is not their own area of expertise.
The Omnivore's Dilemma contains another. There, Princeton philosophy Professor Peter Singer and the book's author Michael Pollan debate animal ethics and feeding the world.
Singer, persuasive on ethics, argues less convincingly against more animal-friendly farms: farms that are small to medium sized mixed enterprises, with low levels of industrial inputs and with outdoor grazing, because they will not be replicable on a global scale to feed the world.
Arguments against these presumptions have been dealt with here before. What is new however, is information from a recent (22nd June) UN's seminar. By the actual experts in the specific area of global food and hunger.
This seminar explored what is called agroecological farming. This is a broad term to describe farming with many of the organic principles and practices, and more, cut from the same cloath.
The seminar, held in Brussels, was organised under the auspices of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Professor Olivier De Schutter, and featured many world experts on the subject.
According to the UN News Centre: �Agroecological farming approaches include agroforestry (planting trees and crops on the same parcel), biological control of pests and diseases through the use of natural predators, water harvesting methods, intercropping, green manure cover crops, mixed crops, livestock management, and a range of additional practices.
�Agroecological farming, which improves food production and farmers� incomes while at the same time protecting the soil, water and climate, could feed an estimated world population of nine billion people by 2050 and go a long way to save the climate, if implemented now, experts at a United Nations seminar concluded�.
A contrast was specifically made with the usual approach of �large-scale investments in land � and in �improved seeds, chemical fertilisers and machines�.
Specifically: �The widest study ever conducted on the subject found that agroecological approaches resulted in an average crop yield gain of 79 per cent. The study covered 286 projects in 57 developing countries, representing a total surface of 37 million hectares.�
The use of these sorts of techniques allows for previously barren places to be restored to food production: �In Tanzania, where the western provinces of Shinyanga and Tabora were once known as the �Desert of Tanzania,� agroforestry techniques and participatory processes allowed some 350,000 hectares of land to be rehabilitated in two decades. Profits per household rose by up to $500 a year. Similar techniques are being used successfully in Malawi.�
The basic point here is that precisely where food production needs to be improved, these techniques are more affordable and less environmentally damaging, in terms of deforestation and climate change.
The aim now is to move beyond individual examples of success and towards upscaling: �What is needed now is political will to move from successful pilot projects to nation-wide policies,� according to Professor De Schutter.
He has suggested that the Committee on World Food Security work on the policy levers to upscale agroecology.
�This is the best option we have today,� he added. �We can�t afford not to use it.�
To see the UN info, click here
