Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Increasing Global Food Supplies Report of a Workshop (2011) / Chapter Skim
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3 APPROACHES TO ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY
3 APPROACHES TO ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY
Pages 37-64
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From page 37... ...
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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From page 38... ...
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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From page 39... ...
More sophisticated, sustainable intensification of agriculture approaches will be enabled by improvements in extension services and use of modern information systems for knowledge transfer to farmers.
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From page 40... ...
FOOD VALUE CHAINS LEADING TO SUSTAINABLE INTENSIFICATION24 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. There has been a decline in the agricultural importance of grains and other staple foods, with a move towards more consumption of high-value agricultural commodities.
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From page 41... ...
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 42... ...
The challenge of "sustainable food security," therefore, is not solely about increasing global food supplies by approximately 70 percent in the context of climate change and growing resource scarcity. It is about doing so while simultaneously meeting other societal needs from agricultural lands -- needs that include the provision of clean water and other ecosystem services to urban areas and other downstream users, mitigation of climate change by sequestering carbon, protection of biological diversity, and provision of energy for local use and/or world markets.
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From page 43... ...
With some notable exceptions, incentive structures do not adequately encourage farmers and land managers to consider the value of ecosystem services and the effects of environmental externalities in their decision making processes. Future research on the adoption, effectiveness, and functioning of ecoagriculture approaches to landscape management can help expand the contribution of such management solutions to food security at local, regional, and global scales.
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REDUCTION OF YIELD GAPS TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY26 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 45... ...
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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From page 46... ...
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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From page 47... ...
regard the majority of food purchasers as being naïve and regard it as their responsibility to educate them about the perceived dangers of contemporary large-scale food production. The preponderance of information that condemns technology use in food production is overwhelming and may mislead the consumer.
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From page 48... ...
Using the system-specific sustainable practices should ensure that consumer choice is maintained without prescription of a one-size-fits-all solution. ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL -- THE IMPACT OF FERTILIZER27 Donald Crane, IFDC Donald Crane discussed the use of fertilizers, energy efficiency, and implications for food security.
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. Fertilizer production accounts for approximately 1.2 percent of the global energy consumption, with N fertilizer production being the largest component.
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The "no action" or "status quo" scenario generated by the FertTrade model projects a doubling of GHG emissions from the year 2000 levels by 2050. However, adoption of current best management practices combined with phased-in adoption of expected "new" technologies are projected to reduce agriculture contribution to GHG emissions to current levels by 2050.
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From page 51... ...
One participant stated that fertilizer efficiency could be improved by several practices not discussed previously in Donald Crane's presentation, including crop enhancement chemicals that have been shown to improve nitrogen use efficiency and agronomic practices such as tillage, crop rotation, and cover crops, all of which might have an immediate impact on efficiency. Another participant noted that there are organizations already in the process of funding this type of work, including the Gates Foundation.
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From page 52... ...
PRIVATE INVESTMENT AND FARM SIZE ISSUES28 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. Several years of strong agricultural commodity prices have translated into rising demand and prices of farmland.
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From page 53... ...
However, impacts on food security in terms of access to food have in many cases been negative. Where land tenure is not well defined or land governance is subject to corruption, investments have often infringed on the rights of traditional users, without compensation.
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From page 54... ...
Strategies for loss reduction include use of cultivars with longer postharvest life, use of an integrated crop management system that maximizes yield and quality, and use of proper postharvest handling procedures to maintain quality and safety of the products. 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.
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From page 55... ...
Cost of providing the cold chain per ton of produce depends on energy costs plus utilization efficiency of the facilities throughout the year. Strategies reducing postharvest losses and waste of perishable foods in developing countries include (1)
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From page 56... ...
With more entrepreneurial farmers expanding through land rentals, he noted that there may be an increase in the number of professional farm managers including private companies. Byerlee noted that Africa is the least certain and that clearly "smallholders are going to be the way forward." Regarding investment in small farms, one participant inquired if public and private investments will likely materialize.
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From page 57... ...
Also important is the strength of domestic interest groups, which tend to strongly favor binding agreements and put less emphasis on the need for flexibility. On the other 32 Air pollution can affect food security both directly and indirectly through climate change.
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From page 58... ...
In terms of the four functions above, the issue is how best to harness "lower level" knowledge and capacity to implement and monitor agreements while simultaneously recognizing that greater centralization of certain functions provides greater credibility and overall compliance. 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.
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From page 59... ...
GLOBAL PUBLIC GOODS: FOOD SAFETY33 Laurian Unnevehr, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture34 Laurian Unnevehr discussed the international consensus on food safety issues, identifying four main conclusions.
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From page 60... ...
International institutions are emerging to support food safety in both public and private sectors. There is also an emerging international consensus that a preventative, risk analysis based approach to food safety, which addresses the entire supply chain from farm to table, is the best way to design management and regulation.
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From page 61... ...
Simmons summarized the presentations noting several crosscutting themes identified throughout the day related to achieving food security, including the need for additional research, better use of science, improved documentation efforts, and the need for location-specific data in some cases. She added that although the goal is the same, to achieve global food security, the presentations had demonstrated that the approaches for meeting this challenge vary extensively.
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From page 62... ...
2001. Landscape Approaches to Achieving Food Production, Natural Resource Conservation, and the Millennium Development Goals.
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From page 63... ...
2010. Sustainability and Security of the Global Food Supply Chain.
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From page 64... ...
2007. Food safety as a global public good: is there underinvestment?
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