Rome, Italy
April 17, 2009
On the eve of the first ever
meeting of the G8 devoted to agriculture, which opens tomorrow
in Treviso, Italy,
Bioversity
International calls on Ministers to seize the opportunity to
give greater prominence to agricultural biodiversity.
“Humanity faces great challenges: to feed a growing population
and reduce hunger and malnutrition in a world that also needs to
protect the environment and to address climate change,” said
Emile Frison, Director General of Bioversity International. “I
urge the Agriculture Ministers to ensure that agricultural
biodiversity can play a greater role in ensuring real food
security.”
Agricultural biodiversity comprises the different ecosystems,
species and genetic variability that contribute to food
production. Some components, such as livestock breeds and crop
varieties, are actively managed by farmers and scientists.
Others, such as soil microbes and many pollinators, provide
valuable services without being actively managed. While it has
been common to consider agricultural biodiversity solely as a
source of traits for breeders to incorporate in advanced crop
varieties and livestock breeds, Frison points out that reliance
on this approach may be unsustainable.
Research over the past 70 years has achieved large increases in
agricultural production and productivity that have allowed food
supplies to keep pace with a growing population.
However, this success has required production methods that
depend on greater use of fossil fuels and the development of
high yielding uniform varieties, which together drive increasing
specialization, simplification and homogenization of production
systems. Continuing inputs of water, synthetic fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides and increasing uniformity of crops and
livestock underpin today’s fragile food security.
Partly in response to increasing specialization, simplification
and uniformity, concerns about the sustainability of modern
agricultural methods are growing.
The use of a few varieties of a few crops brings with it
increased vulnerability to pests and diseases. It also reduces
the availability of the agricultural diversity essential for a
nutritionally sound diet. The extensive use of fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides damages the environment, while the
financial and energy costs of these inputs can put them out of
the reach of farmers, so that productivity suffers.
Climate change will have a significant impact on agricultural
production. Temperature regimes, precipitation patterns and the
distribution of pests and diseases will be transformed,
requiring different crops and new varieties in many production
systems. Climatic variability is expected to increase, calling
for new approaches to maintain adaptability and provide
resilience in food production systems. Some parts of the world
may have to radically transform the way they produce food.
Unquestionably there is a continuing need to produce more food.
However, this must be combined with improving sustainability,
increasing nutritional well being and ensuring that agricultural
production practices are able to adapt to climate change.
Research by Bioversity International and others has shown that
the judicious use of agricultural biodiversity is a vital factor
in meeting these challenges. It can reduce problems of pests and
diseases, improve nutritional health, increase soil fertility,
deliver other ecosystem services, and promote resilience and
true food security. Diverse farms will be better able to
withstand the shocks and unpredictability of climate change.
Agricultural biodiversity also provides the basis to adapt to
climate change, since it is from this diversity that selections
better adapted to the new conditions caused by climate change
will emerge.
Durable food security is needed not only in the developing world
but also in the G8 countries represented at the historic meeting
of G8 Ministers of Agriculture. Investment in agricultural
research has been declining around the world.
Only a renewed commitment to research will ensure that
production systems are able sustainably to meet the needs of the
people and to respond to and mitigate the effects of climate
change.
“We need to increase productivity and diversity,” said Frison.
“We need intensification without simplification. I hope
Ministers will embrace the challenge offered them and will take
concrete action to ensure that agricultural biodiversity is
enabled to play its rightful role as a key component of real
food security.
Bioversity International, with its Headquarters in Rome,
Italy, has worked for more than 35 years to support the improved
use and conservation of agricultural diversity.
Through international research, in collaboration with FAO and
partners throughout the world, Bioversity strives to build the
knowledge base needed to ensure effective use of diversity to
increase sustainable agricultural production, improve
livelihoods and meet the challenge of climate change. |
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