A Sustainability Challenge Food Security for All: Report of Two Workshops (2012) / Chapter Skim
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[Part II]: 2 APPROACHES TO ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY
[Part II]: 2 APPROACHES TO ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY
Pages 165-194
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From page 165... ...
The session began with discussions on farm-level sustainable intensification, food value chains for smallholders leading to sustainable intensification, and sustainable ecosystem management while expanding food production. Subsequent speakers talked about barriers to sustainably increasing the productivity of crop yields and the need for increased energy efficiency in production systems.
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Public private partnerships will be an important part of developing local solutions. Modern technologies will be important but will not be the only limiting factor.
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Areas of particular risk are those where the principal risk factors are found together (i.e., areas where crops are planted on shallow soils on an impervious base, with a slope greater than 2°. Fields can be identified where run-off risk is highest and effective mitigation measures can be discussed with the farmer (could be enhanced watercourse protection through buffer strips or woodland, use of no-till or cover crop practices, or in some cases not using particular products or growing crops at all)
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From page 168... ...
Access to credit or instruments like crop input insurance will also be important to help increase financial resilience in the face of the risks and uncertainties of farming in the future. FOOD VALUE CHAINS LEADING TO SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION2 Maximo Torero, IFPRI Maximo Torero discussed food value chains for smallholders leading to sustainable intensification, introducing the topic by describing the evolution of agriculture over time.
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Regarding market failures and obtaining economies of scale, Torero discussed research examined various ways private companies are working with small farmers, including contract farming arrangements. He noted that there are barriers to vertical integration that make it desirable to contract out (e.g., land laws and need for flexibility)
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From page 170... ...
have historically been less widely used than farm-scale application, but are likely to be increasingly important for supporting sustainable food production in the future. Ecoagriculture approaches may be needed both to address challenges to agricultural production (e.g., adaptation to climate change, management of upstream-downstream water dynamics, and 3 The presentation is available at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/sustainability/foodsecurity/PGA_062564, presentation by Jeffrey Milder (May 3, 2011)
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, as well as ecosystem services provided by agricultural areas, economies of scale achieved through collective action, substitution of natural capital for financial capital, and several other mechanisms. A recent survey of ecoagriculture landscape approaches for achieving food production, natural resource conservation, and Millennium Development Goals identified five salient characteristics of such approaches (Milder et al., 2011)
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REDUCTION OF YIELD GAPS TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY4 Judith L Capper, Washington State University Judith Capper discussed barriers to sustainably increasing the productivity of crop yields to meet rapidly increasing global food demand.
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From page 173... ...
reported that consumers associated organic foods with positive attributes including "chemical-free," "healthier/more nutritious," "clean/pure" and "earth-friendly," whereas the main negative attributes were related to economic cost and a mistrust or lack of knowledge of the practices associated with organic production. Capper argued that although the generally positive consumer response to organic food production improves the social component of the sustainability triangle (economic viability, environmental impact and social acceptability)
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A recent FAO report modeled GHG emissions from dairy production using life cycle analysis, demonstrating that as production intensity increases and the average milk yield shifts from approximately 250 kg/cow for SubSaharan Africa to ~9,000 kg/cow for North America, the carbon footprint decreases from 7.6 kg CO2-eq/kg milk to 1.3 kg CO2-eq/kg milk. If we examine yield data for organic dairy production in the USA, conventional milk yields are significantly higher (10,062 kg/yr)
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Capper stated that one significant advantage of organic production from a consumer perspective is the prohibition of antibiotic use in livestock production. Despite the considerable debate as to whether antibiotic use in animals has significant implications for human health, evidence suggests that, when specifically asked, consumers consider it to be a concern (Wenderoff, 2011)
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ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL -- THE IMPACT OF FERTILIZER5 Donald Crane, IFDC Donald Crane discussed the use of fertilizers, energy efficiency, and implications for food security. Technologies to increase efficiencies in fertilizer production and use in well-managed cropping systems on existing arable land will be required to meet the challenges facing agriculture as the world's population increases.
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. Results indicated that success in implementing these "new" strategies combined with current technologies could produce the required increase in food production with little increase in N fertilizer use.
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emissions, of which only about 2.5 percent comes from fertilizer production and use. Unfortunately, another 6-17 percent of GHG emissions come from land conversion (Flynn and Smith, 2010; Jenssen and Kongshaug, 2003)
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dwarfs all GHG emissions reductions generated by new technologies and innovations while simultaneously providing global food security through agricultural intensification. However, widespread adoption of cost-effective, accessible and userfriendly "new" technologies and innovations relative to current technologies (including fertilizer options)
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However, this issue was not a focus of the workshop. PRIVATE INVESTMENT AND FARM SIZE ISSUES6 Derek Byerlee, Independent Scholar Derek Byerlee discussed the role of private investment and large scale farming in global food security, with particular respect to developing countries.
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The growing private sector interest in agriculture presents a major opportunity for developing countries to capture much needed access to capital, modern technology, and new markets to spur agricultural growth and employment. It might also be argued that the rapid expansion of large farms has contributed significantly to global food supply.
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Farmland ownership and operation is now highly concentrated in several countries of Eastern Europe and in centralwestern Brazil. Environmental concerns have also surfaced, especially where land expansion occurs at the expense of tropical forests, as with pastures in Latin America and oil palm in Southeast Asia.
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Although reducing postharvest losses of already-produced food is more sustainable than is increasing production to compensate for these losses, less than 5 percent of the funding of agricultural research, extension, and development internationally is allocated to reducing postharvest losses and waste in the food supply chain. Biological (internal)
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GENERAL DISCUSSION Emmy Simmons introduced the session by inquiring as to which of the low-cost methods described in James Gorny's presentation would be most effective in reducing global food waste. Gorny responded that there is no "silver bullet," but the methods he presented, including efforts to packaging materials, shading of produce, and transportation improvements, appear to be the simplest, least costly, and most easily implemented.
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GLOBAL GOVERNANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES: QUANTITY VS. QUALITY9 Nancy McCarthy, FAO Nancy McCarthy discussed global governance of natural resources.
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For instance, centralized monitoring and/or dispute resolution mechanisms can address otherwise potential weaknesses arising from the use of non-binding agreements or of vague language. It is worth noting that these functions can be performed at more than one level in a federated structure.
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This agreement has all of the signs of an ineffective agreement: non-binding nature; vague language; and no information sharing, joint monitoring, or dispute resolution structures. Assessing compliance with this agreement is nearly impossible, and its effectiveness in furthering sustainable management in the future is doubtful.
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From page 188... ...
Secondly, Unnevehr noted that food safety is a global public good because risks are shared across borders and mechanisms of control require international coordination. Microbial pathogens can enter the supply chain at many points between farm and consumer, and mixing commodities from multiple sources increases the potential spread of risks.
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From page 189... ...
Unnevehr stated that with regards to increasing CODEX13 enforcement capability, she believes that it is impossible to develop international standards for food safety, particularly as risk management activities are individual-country specific and cannot be predetermined. Rather, Unnevehr stated that when she discussed strengthening international institutions, she was in fact referring to giving these organizations more authority to take a broader assessment of 13 The CODEX Alimentarius is a food code used by global consumers, food producers and processors, national food control agencies and the international food trade.
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2001. Landscape Approaches to Achieving Food Production, Natural Resource Conservation, and the Millennium Development Goals.
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2010. Sustainability and Security of the Global Food Supply Chain.
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2003. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in fertilizer production.
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2007. Food safety as a global public good: is there underinvestment?
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