Agriculture at a Crossroads - Business as Usual is Not an Option!
Why should 870 million people on our planet be going hungry while 1,4 billion are suffering from the ill effects of overweight and obesity? In 2011 more grain was harvested than ever before: 2.3 billion tons worldwide. Despite this record-breaking harvest, only 46% was used to feed people.The rest was used to feed livestock, fill our petrol tanks, support industrial production processes or was simply wasted. Our global food system is one of the most significant contributors to climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution and water shortages as well as preventable disease, poverty and injustice.
On behalf of the United Nations and the World Bank, in a four-year-process, more than 400 scientists summarised the state of global agriculture, its history and its future. The outcome was the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The findings are uncomfortable and alarming: providing a warning on the misleading ways of the past and showing new ways forward. This website makes the IAASTD’s findings available by topics, and offers all reports as well as updated figures, background information and news.
Global News Update...
29/01/2013 +++ EU Commission fails to ban bee-killing pesticides +++ NEW
24/01/2013 +++ CAP Reform: Greening proposals watered down +++
22/01/2013 +++ Deutsche Bank: Speculating with Food “in the interest of clients” +++
21/12/2012 +++ Cameroon: Palm Oil Plantation threatens Local Livelihoods +++
18/12/2012 +++ Boosting Local Food Production by Linking Producers and Consumers +++
13/12/2012 +++ Multinationals to benefit from unified EU Patent Scheme, NGOs warn +++
10/12/2012 +++ Doha: Impact of Climate Change on Food Security neglected +++
25,000 take to Berlin’s streets for a better agricultural policy
On 19th January, 25,000 people came together in Germany’s capital to demonstrate against industrial farming and call for a change of course in Europe’s Agricultural Policy. With the slogan “We are fed up! Good food, good farming now!”, the demonstration was coordinated by 35 organisations to coincide with an international meeting of Agricultural Ministers in Berlin. Equipped with posters and creative costumes, farmers, consumers, beekeepers and activists joined the march which ended in the Government quarter. Now in its third year, the demonstration saw protesters from across Europe demand an agricultural policy that focuses on the protection of small farmers, rural communities, the environment and animal welfare, and an end to factory farming, genetic engineering, and the use of antibiotics and pesticides. Photos
Spotlight on Soil Degradation: ‘Let’s Talk About Soil’
The animated film ‘Let’s Talk About Soil’ emphasises human dependence on soils and describes how sustainable development is threatened by certain soil use trends. The five-minute clip offers options to make the way we manage our soils more sustainable – a necessity given the fact that worldwide, over 24 billion tons of fertile soil are being lost each year. The film was produced for the Global Soil Week, a conference which took place in Berlin in November. Watch the film
Hundreds Join Good Food March in Brussels
Farmers, citizens, and young people from more than 20 European countries took part in the final day of the Good Food March on September 19th, bringing their demands for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) directly to those responsible for its reform. For some the event marked the end of a long journey as they had been travelling for weeks to Brussels from Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and other parts of the EU by bike or tractor. Sofia Gatica and Maria Godoy of the Mothers of Ituzaingó, Argentina joined the Good Food March after a two-week speakers tour across Europe.
Press release: Hundreds join Good Food March in Brussels for radical farming reform
Rio+20: Sustainable Agriculture Strengthened - Now the Work Begins
The Rio+20 conference is over. While many were disappointed at the overall result and lack of commitment in most areas, the paragraphs on food and agriculture in the outcome document largely go in the right direction. This document commits to the strengthening of sustainable agriculture and small-scale farming. It reaffirms the role of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in supporting countries in their move towards sustainable farming. The newly reformed and inclusive CFS will introduce country-initiated assessments, giving civil society and farmers’ organisations a voice. It is now time to turn the commitment on sustainable agriculture into action and initiate a real change of course in food and agriculture.
English Brochure on the IAASTD Report
"Agriculture at a Crossroads: Food for Survival" Climate change, loss of biodiversity, forest destruction, water crises, food safety, hunger and poverty all have one thing in common: the principal cause of these threats is the way in which we produce, trade, consume and discard food and other agricultural products. This brochure, also written by Benedikt Haerlin, is available through Greenpeace International.
