Rich and poor nations are being urged to diversify their crops and boostsupport to small farmers, according to a new report launched by theUnited Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The Trade and Environment Report 2013 recommends a rapid andsignificant shift away from "monoculture and industrial farming" becausethey are not providing sufficient affordable food where needed whilethe environmental damage caused by this approach is unsustainable.
Instead, the report released on September18 says that the goal shouldbe "mosaics of sustainable regenerative production systems that alsoconsiderably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers and fosterrural development".
The report, subtitled "Wake upbefore it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for foodsecurity in a changing climate", says that the highest priority must begiven to enabling the rural poor to become self-sufficient in food or toearn sufficient income through agriculture so that they can buy food.
It warns that continuing rural poverty, persistenthunger around the world, growing populations, and mounting environmentalconcerns must be treated as a collective crisis. Urgent andfar-reaching action is needed before climate change begins to causemajor disruptions to agriculture, especially in developing countries.
Climate change will drastically impact on agricultureprimarily in the developing regions with the highest future populationgrowth, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the report forecasts.Much slower agricultural productivity growth in the future andfast-rising populations in the most vulnerable regions will almostcertainly worsen current problems with hunger, drought, rising foodprices, and access to land.
Almost one billionpeople currently suffer from hunger, and another one billion aremalnourished, the report notes, even though current global agriculturalproduction already provides sufficient calories to feed a population of12 to 14 billion. Some 70 percent of the hungry or malnourished arethemselves small-scale farmers or agricultural labourers, indicatingthat poverty and access to food are the most critical challenges.
The past strategy of relying on international markets to meet staplefood demand, while specializing in the production and export of"lucrative" cash crops, has recently failed to deliver its desiredresults, because it has relied on low staple food prices and no shortageof supply in international markets, conditions that have drasticallychanged since the turn of the century, the report notes.
Also, globalization has encouraged high levels of specialization. Thishas resulted in an increasing scale of production of a smaller varietyof crops, and has created enormous cost pressures, the report states.All this has aggravated the environmental crisis of agriculture and hasreduced agricultural resilience.-VNA
The Trade and Environment Report 2013 recommends a rapid andsignificant shift away from "monoculture and industrial farming" becausethey are not providing sufficient affordable food where needed whilethe environmental damage caused by this approach is unsustainable.
Instead, the report released on September18 says that the goal shouldbe "mosaics of sustainable regenerative production systems that alsoconsiderably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers and fosterrural development".
The report, subtitled "Wake upbefore it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for foodsecurity in a changing climate", says that the highest priority must begiven to enabling the rural poor to become self-sufficient in food or toearn sufficient income through agriculture so that they can buy food.
It warns that continuing rural poverty, persistenthunger around the world, growing populations, and mounting environmentalconcerns must be treated as a collective crisis. Urgent andfar-reaching action is needed before climate change begins to causemajor disruptions to agriculture, especially in developing countries.
Climate change will drastically impact on agricultureprimarily in the developing regions with the highest future populationgrowth, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the report forecasts.Much slower agricultural productivity growth in the future andfast-rising populations in the most vulnerable regions will almostcertainly worsen current problems with hunger, drought, rising foodprices, and access to land.
Almost one billionpeople currently suffer from hunger, and another one billion aremalnourished, the report notes, even though current global agriculturalproduction already provides sufficient calories to feed a population of12 to 14 billion. Some 70 percent of the hungry or malnourished arethemselves small-scale farmers or agricultural labourers, indicatingthat poverty and access to food are the most critical challenges.
The past strategy of relying on international markets to meet staplefood demand, while specializing in the production and export of"lucrative" cash crops, has recently failed to deliver its desiredresults, because it has relied on low staple food prices and no shortageof supply in international markets, conditions that have drasticallychanged since the turn of the century, the report notes.
Also, globalization has encouraged high levels of specialization. Thishas resulted in an increasing scale of production of a smaller varietyof crops, and has created enormous cost pressures, the report states.All this has aggravated the environmental crisis of agriculture and hasreduced agricultural resilience.-VNA
