BY SEYYADA A BURNEY,
Nourishing the Planet is traveling to Rio de
Janeiro to emphasize agricultural solutions as key to sustainable development
at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Each day over the next few
weeks, we will feature a blog highlighting special events or topics of
discussion at the conference.
The world's food and agricultural system is
fraught with problems such as toxic pesticide use and poor resource management
that jeopardize its ability to support a population of 9 billion in 2050. World
Food Prize Laureate and President of the Biovision Foundation for Ecological
Development, Hans Herren will address some of the root causes of food
insecurity and poverty in two panel discussions on sustainable food and
agriculture at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference for Sustainable
Development.
On June 17th, 'From Production to Consumption
- Towards a Sustainable Food System' will address how achieving food security
and nutrition for all requires development and implementation of more
sustainable practices at all stages of the food system - production,
distribution, and consumption. The event will involve a screening of Jan van
den Berg's film, "No Fight No Victory", about inequitable access to
food and a recent initiative in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to legalize the right
to food.
On 18th June, Herren will bring his expertise
in sustainable agriculture in Africa to a discussion highlighting the
importance of sustainable soil management. Soils ensure food, water, and energy
for current and future generations, but mismanagement and land degradation have
led to extensive soil loss in many regions. Soil is also a non-renewable
resource and it can take up to 500 years for one inch of topsoil to form, a
rate that is far exceeded by the current pace of soil erosion.
'Fertile Soil for our Future: Nourish our
People - Nurture our Planet' will draw attention to the crucial role soils play
in water management, climate change, agriculture, and resource extraction
around the world. It will also spotlight how a focus on soil management in
Biovision's BioFarm project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has contributed to a
sustainable economic, ecological, and social development in the region.
"The main focus in Rio must be on
implementing sustainable farming methods and linking science and policy more
closely," demands Herren. "This is the only way for the economy to
become truly green as well as socially sustainable."
Seyyada Burney is a research intern with
Nourishing the Planet.
Original Article Here
No comments:
Post a Comment