By Vanessa Meadu
In a world that is becoming increasingly
food-insecure, due to population growth, climate change, volatile food prices,
unequal food access, and inefficient supply chains, what solutions exist to
feed 9 billion people by the year 2050?
The problem we face is by its nature very
complex, so it stands to reason that solutions will need to address a range of
issues, often several at once. Where do we begin?
As agricultural researchers, it’s easy to
start by looking at the biophysical world. Hundreds of existing agricultural
technologies and practices have the potential to boost agricultural yields in
the developing world, and the International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) of the CGIAR has undertaken a massive effort to evaluate
which of these technologies and practices are most appropriate for different
places facing different conditions. The project seeks to compile evidence-based
information on risks and benefits of these technologies and practices and the
policies necessary to implement them. Claudia Ringler, who is part of the IFPRI
team implementing the work, shared early findings with participants on 16 June
at the Rio+20 sustainable development conference as part of a session called Feeding
the World: Sustainable Agriculture and Innovation.
"Agricultural technologies are really at
the heart of food productivity growth,” said Ringler. By surveying a wide range
of agricultural experts, and combining the results with crop models, her team
assessed common practices such as zero tillage, conventional breeding, genetic
modification, integrated soil fertility management, irrigation technologies,
water harvesting and organic agriculture, to better understand the impact of
each technology in different contexts. The results are enlightening: integrated
soil fertility management, for example, can significantly boost maize in
rainfed and irrigated environments, and has positive impacts on rice and wheat
yields grown under the same conditions. Drought-tolerant rice breeds are also
likely to help increase yields. These results are pertinent to policy
makers at Rio+20 seeking guidance for their investments in agricultural
technologies.
But technology isn’t everything. Ringer
concludes: “While biophysical potential often exists to significantly increase
yields, institutions, governance systems, political will and poor rural
infrastructure remain obstacles to achieving full technological potential.”
These challenges are particularly striking in African countries, which could
most benefit from new technologies and practices.
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, CEO of the Food,
Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) shared her
perspectives from working in African agriculture. She highlighted the need for
technology investments in both global and local research. Unless global
technologies are tailored to local conditions, then these interventions will
fail achieve the desired transformations. She also stressed that rural women,
who are already bear a disproportionally heavy work burden, must not be put at
further disadvantage by practices that are labour-intensive.
Dr. Sibanda also noted that in Africa the
private sector is not sufficiently robust, or engaged in, agricultural
development activities:
“For markets to be functional,” she said,
“you need buyer, seller, and the thread to tie it together. In Africa you see
middle-men who work as extractors; they are not part of the system. The system
is not in place to ensure your investment pays back over time. If the
technology breaks down you need to wait for the next middle-man to sell you
something new.”
The public sector also has an important role
to play in supporting the implementation of new technologies. Currently, she
said, insufficient money is going into research because African researchers are
often not working on local issues and that findings are not made public goods.
“Research is about empowering with knowledge,” she said “but research needs to
feed the development agenda.”
Dr. Sibanda lauded Brazil for leading the way
to ensure that research knowledge generated at local level indeed feeds the
development agenda. Elisio Contini from Embrapa, the Brazilian national
research agency, discussed the current state of Brazilian agriculture,
including the successes in implementing low-tillage approaches, and also
supporting multifunctional landscapes that combine crops, livestock and grasslands.
Farmers are “essential” to Brazil’s economy,
said Dr. Contini. He cited that in the year 2000, Brazil exported $20 billion
of agricultural products; in 2012 exports are expected to be worth $100
billion. Despite these successes, he noted that Brazil needs to increase yields
through more sustainable land use.
After we identify appropriate technologies,
and build the research and development support systems that ensure close links
with local knowledge and communities, what else is needed to achieve food
security? Adrian Fernandez, who sits on the Commission on Sustainable
Agriculture and Climate Change, helped link technologies to the wider picture
of the food system. We can only tackle these major food security issues and
challenges by approaching them in an integrated way, said Dr. Fernandez, who is
an Advisor on Sustainability, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico.
He shared the Commission’s seven key
actions for achieving food security in the face of climate change, specifically
highlighting the need for countries tosustainably intensify agricultural
production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative
environmental impacts of agriculture and how the Rio+20 process must
catalyse significant global investments in sustainable agriculture and
food systems in the next decade
[Watch: How to transition the global food
system into a "safe operating space" by balancing how much food we
produce, how we adapt to a changing climate, and how much agriculture
contributes to further climate change.
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