Small-Scale Farmering is Better, Says UN Report
The “Agro-ecology and the right to food” confirmed what many in the traditional food movement already knew, traditional small-scale farming is better than large-scale factory farming.
My vision is to see a community farm in every town, neighborhood, or every few city blocks. Modernity and civilization do not have to equal a separation of people from the natural world. People are happier and healthier around plants and fresh food, people and food have always existed together, children need to see their food growing and pick up fresh food. This is better for the health, mind, soul, and as this report shows this is better for the society, economy, and the environment.
GENEVA (8 March 2011) – Small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods, a new UN report* shows. Based on an extensive review of the recent scientific literature, the study calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a way to boost food production and improve the situation of the poorest.
“To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report. “Today’s scientific evidence demonstrates that agroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live — especially in unfavorable environments.”
Agroecology applies ecological science to the design of agricultural systems that can help put an end to food crises and address climate-change and poverty challenges. It enhances soils productivity and protects the crops against pests by relying on the natural environment such as beneficial trees, plants, animals and insects.
“To date, agroecological projects have shown an average crop yield increase of 80% in 57 developing countries, with an average increase of 116% for all African projects,” De Schutter says. “Recent projects conducted in 20 African countries demonstrated a doubling of crop yields over a period of 3-10 years.”
“Conventional farming relies on expensive inputs, fuels climate change and is not resilient to climatic shocks. It simply is not the best choice anymore today,” De Schutter stresses. “A large segment of the scientific community now acknowledges the positive impacts of agroecology on food production, poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation — and this is what is needed in a world of limited resources. Malawi, a country that launched a massive chemical fertilizer subsidy program a few years ago, is now implementing agroecology, benefiting more than 1.3 million of the poorest people, with maize yields increasing from 1 ton/ha to 2-3 tons/ha.”
The report also points out that projects in Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh recorded up to 92 % reduction in insecticide use for rice, leading to important savings for poor farmers. “Knowledge came to replace pesticides and fertilizers. This was a winning bet, and comparable results abound in other African, Asian and Latin American countries,” the independent expert notes.
“The approach is also gaining ground in developed countries such as United States, Germany or France,” he said. “However, despite its impressive potential in realizing the right to food for all, agroecology is still insufficiently backed by ambitious public policies and consequently hardly goes beyond the experimental stage.”
The report identifies a dozen measures that States should implement to scale up agroecological practices.
“Agroecology is a knowledge-intensive approach. It requires public policies supporting agricultural research and participative extension services,” De Schutter says. “States and donors have a key role to play here. Private companies will not invest time and money in practices that cannot be rewarded by patents and which don’t open markets for chemical products or improved seeds.”
It never hurts to look at your beliefs and question why you hold them. By asking “why” of your motives, thoughts and actions, you push, stretch and expand the capacity for the soul to express ItSelf.
As I was scanning my eyes over the buffet of bumper stickers plastered to the passenger side of a car, this one jumped out at me. I had never seen that before! Never heard that before, never thought of that before- “What does that mean to me?” I wondered, and toyed with the idea in my head. Immediately my mind showed me an image of a person, being bombarded with information and opinions, mainly mass media: magazines, television, newspapers, radio, advertisements, etc. Then i thought of a parent, pointing their finger at their child, telling them they are not enough of this, they are too much of that, etc. Then we can bring in religion. And societal ‘norms’. And culture. And the list goes on and on…
Greetings and salutations!
Happy New Year!
I always wondered if within my life time we, humans, would be able to make ‘living’ things. By living I mean ‘life’ in the traditional sense. I am not referring to artificial intelligence (AI), robots, learning computers, virtual living beings, viruses, etc. Interestingly, based on a news article titled ‘Artificial life is only months away‘ it seems we are getting closer.
I’m writing today to wish Earth a happy Earth day.
Earth day was on April 22nd 2009.
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