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Major challenges in the food system impacting ACP countries Hans R Herren

This policy brief discusses the major challenges in the food system that are affecting ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) countries. It highlights the need for a new paradigm in agriculture to address issues such as hunger, poverty, climate change, and environmental degradation. The brief explores the importance of transitioning to sustainable and organic agriculture practices and investing in agricultural research and development.

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Major challenges in the food system impacting ACP countries Hans R Herren

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  1. Major challenges in the food system impacting ACP countries Hans R Herren President Millennium Institute www.millennium-institute.org Co-Chair IAASTD Geopolitics of Food: implications for ACP countries Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Wednesday, February 2, 2011 Brussels Policy Briefing n° 21

  2. The IAASTD IAASTD Development and Sustainability Goals (=MDG) The 4 main areas where agriculture needs to transition: • Eradicating of Hunger and Poverty • Improving Rural Livelihoods • Improving Nutrition and Human Health • Facilitating Environmentally, Socially, Equitable and Economically Sustainable Development …under the Challenges of: • Climate Change • Population and Demand Growth • Shrinking Natural Resources / Energy ….to which agriculture itself is contributing negatively IAASTD….more info @ www.agassessment.org

  3. Human condition need for quality and quantity of nutrition not met and increasing Why a new paradigm? (social/economic) • One billion hungry & one billion obese • 1.5 billion jobless people • Humanity will grow to nearly 9 billion by 2050 • Rising affluence brings diet demands for more meat, dairy & fish • Greatest population growth in the tropics where CC impact is expected to be worst, environment difficult or at limit • Today’s total food production sufficient for 9 billion people, but: • Wrong place • Access issues (poverty – hunger nexus) • Post harvest losses >30% • Significant retail and home losses

  4. Agriculture’s environmental impacts are substantial and are getting worse –Not sustainable Why a new paradigm? (environment) • High external input conventional farming has high GHG emissions (14%) • Low input, traditional farming lower yields driving deforestation (18%) • Both farming systems lack adequate CC stress resilience & • both are inefficient in their natural resource use • Water pollution by fertilizer/pesticide runoff and soil erosion

  5. Why a new paradigm? Move from NR exploitation to management Business as usual is not an option

  6. Why a new paradigm? Provide for food security and sovereignty 2010 food risk map (Maplecroft) Business as usual is not an option

  7. Terms of trade Net farm income Production livestock Environmental degradation crops Rural employment labor Productivity farmers Role in the economy Indebtedness TRENDS IN AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE 1950s – 1970s Source Richard Gawden 2010)

  8. What new paradigm? Interconnectedness Society Environment Water demand Water stress Agriculture R&D Effective crop yield per ha Natural crop yield per ha Crop losses Soil quality Fertilizer use Agriculture labor Chemical fertilizer Organic fertilizer Energy demand Forest land Sustainable mgmt. Oil price Population Harvested area Agriculture production Agriculture capital GDP Economy

  9. What new paradigm? Multifunctionality

  10. Transition to sustainable / organic / ecological / resilient / equitable agriculture High productivity Low productivity Un-sustainable Sustainable

  11. Invest in agricultural R&D in ACP countries (IPG) that benefit small farmers / women especially (participatory) How to transform / transition agriculture? • Soil sciences • Plant physiology and ecology • Plant health (Insect, diseases, etc / pre and post harvest) • Plant / animal breeding • Plant / animal diversity, orphan species • Agroforestry • Water management • Biotechnology (tissue culture, marker assisted breeding) • Farm mechanization • Aquaculture

  12. Public / private agricultural R&D spending year 2000

  13. Total Agricultural Output 1970-2004 (1974 = 100)

  14. Reducing Post Harvest Losses are as Important as Increasing Yields How to transform / transition agriculture: • 30% of harvested crops are lost to spoilage and pest damage and never reach consumers • Improving post harvest storage & handling capabilities for immediate benefits • Supporting appropriate value added food processing in rural areas also reduces losses and creates jobs • Parallel investment needed to improve market access infrastructures

  15. Ecological Agriculture provides the best prospects for sustainability –more of what works How to transform / transition agriculture: • Uses organic nutrient and N-fixing crop rotations to restore soil fertility (Microorganism mediated nutrient mobilization) • Organic matter & crop residue build soil carbon EA reduces use of fossil fuels & agrochemicals and GHG emissions • EA sequesters carbon (neutral / positive impact on CC) • EA improves yields by 70% vs traditional farming

  16. What new paradigm? Organic agriculture Organic bananas in the Dominican Republic Organic Conventional In 1995 –drought year

  17. What new paradigm? Push-Pull Organic maize in Kenya

  18. Appropriate scaled mechanization for small farmers and cooperatives How to transform agriculture: • Financing for farmers to buy mechanized ag equipment to improve labor productivity • R&D for No Till equipment; and incentives for domestic marketing/tech support supply chain • Local production of biofuels & power to enable use of mechanized systems

  19. EA is knowledge intensive: need for human and social capital development How to transform agriculture(Institution building) • Improve and expand extension services and farmer field schools to train and demonstrate EA practices and values • Introduce capacity building for cooperatives to enable locally owned and operated input and output firms • Increase higher education for implementation of EA • Agriculture is very localized = regional and local solutions

  20. Improving small farmer access to local, urban and foreign markets How to transform agriculture: (Trade and markets) • Improving food safety • quality control (compliance with organic, fare trade, Global Gap and other certification standards) Essential policy Actions to stimulate transition to EA • Remove perverse subsidies (fossil fuels, commodity crops, power, etc…) • Account for externalities (reward positive externalities) • Introduce support for transition to EA • Allow countries to implement trade policies that protect local farmers

  21. Agriculture in a Green Economy (UNEP Report –February 2011) Investing between 0.1% and 0.16% of total GDP ($83-$141 Billion) / year 2011-2050 (green economy report UNEP/Millennium Institute

  22. You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that created it. A Einstein Thank you for your attention

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