The report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, a major new report by over 400 scientists, sends out a strong message for change in the approach towards agriculture
The way the world grows its food will have to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with a growing population and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse. The assessment was considered by 64 governments at an intergovernmental plenary in Johannesburg in April 2008,
The authors' brief was to examine hunger, poverty, the environment and equity together. Professor Robert Watson Director of IAASTD said those on the margins are ill-served by the present system, “The incentives for science to address the issues that matter to the poor are weak... the poorest developing countries are net losers under most trade liberalization scenarios.”
Modern agriculture has brought significant increases in food production. But the benefits have been spread unevenly and have come at an increasingly intolerable price, paid by small-scale farmers, workers, rural communities and the environment.
In the year from March 2007 the price of commodities on which a large portion of the world's population depend: soybeans, corn and wheat rose by 87%, 31% and 130% respectively. A combination of factors are projected to continue to push up prices including; increased demand caused by ongoing world population growth; increasing demand for meat in developing economies like China and India; and the alternative use of maize and soybeans for bio-fuels. With global grain stores today at their lowest level ever the question of how to feed the world has never been more urgent.
It says the willingness of many people to tackle the basics of combining production, social and environmental goals is marred by "contentious political and economic stances". One of the IAASTD co-chairs, Dr Hans Herren, explains, "Specifically, this refers to the many OECD member countries who are deeply opposed to any changes in trade regimes or subsidy systems. Without reforms here many poorer countries will have a very hard time... "
The report has assessed that the way to meet the challenges lies in putting in place institutional, economic and legal frameworks that combine productivity with the protection and conservation of natural resources like soils, water, forests, and biodiversity while meeting production needs.
In many countries, it says, food is taken for granted, and farmers and farm workers are in many cases poorly rewarded for acting as stewards of almost a third of the Earth’s land. Investment directed toward securing the public interest in agricultural science, education and training and extension to farmers has decreased at a time when it is most needed.
The authors have assessed evidence across a wide range of knowledge that is rarely brought together. They conclude we have little time to lose if we are to change course. Continuing with current trends would exhaust our resources and put our children’s future in jeopardy.
Professor Judi Wakhungu, said “We must cooperate now, because no single institution, no single nation, no single region, can tackle this issue alone. The time is now.”
Professor Bob Watson, Director of IAASTD said, “To argue, as we do, that continuing to focus on production alone will undermine our agricultural capital and leave us with an increasingly degraded and divided planet is to reiterate an old message. But it is a message that has not always had resonance in some parts of the world. If those with power are now willing to hear it, then we may hope for more equitable policies that do take the interests of the poor into account.”
Prof. Watson adds, “Agriculture has a footprint on all of the big environmental issues, so as the world considers climate change, biodiversity, land degradation, water quality, etc. they must also consider agriculture which lies at the centre of these issues and poses some uncomfortable challenges that need to be faced. We've got to make sure the footprint of agriculture on climate change is lessened; we have to make sure that we don't degrade our soil, we don't degrade the water, we don't have adverse effects on biodiversity. There are some major challenges, but we believe that by combining local and traditional knowledge with formal knowledge these challenges can be met.”
More than 400 expert authors have assessed evidence across a wide range of knowledge that is rarely brought together. They conclude we have little time to lose if we are to change course. Continuing with current trends in production and distribution would exhaust our resources and put our children’s future in jeopardy. And the increasingly globalised food market and ever-increasing food imports mean that no country can assume itself to be immune to the implications.
Price volatility in staple foods such as rice, maize and wheat, on which a large portion of the world’s population depends, is expected to continue because of uncertainties surrounding increased demand caused by ongoing population growth, the alternative use of maize and soybeans for bio-fuels, and increasing speculation on agricultural commodities.
Gordon Brown, writing about the potential for improving developing country production capacity to help cope with recent food price inflation in his recent letter to the Japanese Prime Minister said, “Rising food prices provide an opportunity as well as a challenge for poor countries - with three out of four poor people in the world living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture. We must help smallholders address problems of limited and insecure landholdings, lack of access to inputs and markets, poor rural infrastructure and inadequate market information.”
The IAASTD report calls for a more holistic view of agriculture, and urges governments, NGOs and the private sector to work together to ensure that the needs of the future are better served by the practices of the present:
“Although considered by many to be a success story, the benefits of productivity increases in world agriculture are unevenly spread. Often the poorest of the poor have gained little or nothing, and 850 million people are still hungry or malnourished with an additional 4 million more joining their ranks annually. We are putting food that appears cheap on our tables but it is food that is not always healthy and that costs us dearly in terms of water, soil and the biological diversity on which all our futures depend.”
