Changing Course to Feed the World in 2050

http://www.biosafety-info.net/article.php?aid=1120

December 01, 2014

THIRD WORLD NETWORK INFORMATION SERVICE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE  The theme for this year's World Food Prize was: “The Greatest Challenge in Human History: Can We Sustainably Feed the 9 Billion People on our Planet by the Year 2050?” A report by ActionAid USA states that feeding the world is possible only if we change course, moving away from the current destructive model of industrial agriculture which has been fueled by the gross misconception that hunger is due to inadequate food production rather than the real cause: inequitable access to food and food-producing resources. The real threats to food security are identified as expansions in biofuel production, inadequate investment in climate-resilient small-scale agriculture, poor support for smallholder and women food producers, and spoilage and waste of one third of the food produced. Pro-biofuelpolicies in particular are projected to divert as much as 13% from cereal production by 2030. The recommendations to change course call for scaling back on industrial agriculture and biofuel production; establishing policies to reduce food wastage, and unfair distribution and access; and investing in sustainable small-scale food production in developing countries where most of the hungry live and rely primarily on agriculture for their livelihoods. An article on the report, and the report’s Executive Summary are reproduced below as Items 1 and 2, respectively. With best wishes Third World Network 131 Jalan Macalister 10400 Penang Malaysia Email: twnet@po.jaring.my Website: http://www.biosafety-info.net/and http://www.twn.my/ To subscribe to other TWN information services: www.twnnews.net Item 1 http://foodtank.com/news/2014/10/to-feed-the-world-in-2050-we-have-to-change-course?utm_source=GDAE+Subscribers&utm_campaign=15f4860d6b-FoodTank_Feed_World_10_17_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_72d4918ff9-15f4860d6b-52161433 To Feed the World in 2050 We Have to Change Course by Timothy A. Wise and Kristin Sundell 17 OCTOBER 2014 The 2008 global food price spikes were a wake-up call to global policymakers, shaking them from the lethargic slumber of the overfed. The rhetorical responses were swift, but policies and practices have changed little. That is in part because they relied on the tried-and-failed solution of increasing commodity food production. Item 2 Rising to the Challenge: Changing Course to Feed the World in 2050 Action Aid USA October 2013 Since the 2007-8 food price crisis, alarms have sounded regarding our ability to feed a growing population in 2050. Some warn that we need to double food production; others estimate that food production must increase by 60-70%. All feed the alarmist notion that global hunger is the result of flagging food production amid looming resource constraints. The misguided policy prescriptions that follow typically call for the expansion of industrial-scale agricultural development, ignoring the true threats to our global food supply: biofuels expansion, inadequate investment in climate-resilient agriculture, lagging support for small-scale and women food producers, and the massive loss of food to spoilage and waste.