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According to the latest OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook, released Wednesday, sustainable farming systems will be essential for world farm production to rise by the necessary 60 percent by 2050 to meet the needs of a growing population. FAO head Jose Graziano da Silva made it clear at the public launch of the Outlook Document that the world had to pursue new and more sustainable ways to increase production. “We cannot increase production with the same model as in the past. We must increase productivity in a sustainable way, particularly in developing countries and among small-scale farmers,” he said. The FAO head went on to say that “for consumers, especially for the millions of people living in extreme poverty, high food prices have caused considerable hardship. We need to redouble our efforts to bring down the number of hungry people”. The Outlook document made clear the need for the world to focus more on increasing sustainable productivity growth, especially in developing countries, and especially for small producers. It also drew attention to the fact that 25 percent of all agricultural land is highly degraded and that for many countries critical water scarcity in agriculture is a reality. It is clear that developing countries should now focus on promoting investment in agricultural infrastructure in rural areas to improve storage, transportation and irrigation. Investment in human capital is, it was claimed, equally important and depends on more public spending on health care, education and training. The report also highlighted the importance of policies to address the reduction of food loss and food waste, making reference to a recent FAO study that found that roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted. Addressing this issue is of vital importance in order to limit the need to increase production and conserve resources.

This week, across Europe, sustainable food campaigners, industrial farming lobbyists and national governments will be putting together lists of suggestions to the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and passing them to MEPs for consideration. This is the week set aside in which MEPs on the agriculture and rural development committee have the opportunity to table amendments to a reformed CAP which is currently at the first reading stage in both the Parliament and Council. Over the course of this year and next the EU will then work to agree on a new subsidy regime which will define and shape European farming practices and subsidies over the coming years. Critics of the current system of subsidies given to farmers in Europe point to major negative impacts including encouraging intensive farming that degrades land, water and habitats. Similarly, rich-world subsidies, like the CAP, can make life even tougher for poor farmers in developing countries. It is increasingly accepted that developed world subsidies depress world prices, making it difficult for developing countries to compete and invest. Export subsidies can also result in "dumping" excess production, further undermining developing country agriculture. With reforms due to be finalised next year, the battle is on, not just to trim the subsidy bill but also to make the scheme work for, rather than against, the environment and international development. To address these concerns, the EU is currently proposing that almost a third of the main payments should depend on three environmental measures: crop diversification, retention of permanent pasture and the creation of "ecological focus areas". This is not enough for the critics. Some want the main subsidy payments to be dependent on farmers signing up for schemes to enhance biodiversity, protect water courses and mitigate climate change. In addition the European parliament environment committee wants a maximum period during which land can be left bare, to prevent soil erosion, while others, including Friends of the Earth, want radical changes to encourage a move away from intensive meat and dairy production. This is an important debate that we will all hear more about, as it takes its course, over the next 24 months.

An announcement issued recently by the Indian Government’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has stipulated that every food package containing genetically modified food must, as of January, 2013, bear at the top of its display panel, the words 'GM.' This new ruling will give Indian consumers the right to know whether the packaged food that they are buying contains genetically modified organisms bringing India up to date with Russia, China, Brazil, and 49 other major industrialized nations in requiring GMO labelling. In contrast, the US and Canada are conspicuous in not requiring such disclosure or protection, even though food labels are required to list more than 3,000 ingredients. But a similar labelling debate is brewing in the US: last month, nearly 1 million signatures were delivered to county registrars in California calling for a referendum on the labelling of genetically engineered foods. If the measure, to be on a state-wide ballot by November 2012, is passed, California will become the first US state to require that GM foods be labelled on the package. Polls show that 90% of Americans believe they have a right to know whether the food they eat contains GMOs, which leads commentators to assume that corporate efforts to continue to refuse to label are futile. Currently, in the US, about 70% of packaged food products contain traces of GM crops, since ingredients such as corn, soya and canola oil are genetically modified. In Europe, only 5% of food sold contain GM traces as the EU operates a 'zero tolerance' policy that bans any imported food from containing even traces of GM substances.

A new report offers hope for rural communities fighting to protect their land and natural resources from global 'land grabbing'. The report, published by Namati and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), documented the experiences of communities, all located in Sub-Saharan Africa, who had survived years of war and upheaval merely to find their lands sought after by foreign investors and local elites. Pioneering collaboration between Namati, IDLO and local communities helped villagers use national laws to document community lands, protecting not only family land, but also common resources. The report concludes that community land protection should combine three processes: the technical task of mapping and titling community lands, the peace-building task of land conflict resolution, and the governance task of strengthening local land administration and management. Ilaria Bottigliero, Director of Research and Policy for the IDLO said "Land titling can be the key that unlocks traditional barriers faced by women and vulnerable groups in rural communities. Law and legal tools can be successfully used to mediate disputes over land claims and at the same time help empower rural communities to realize their rights." A community leader of one community in Liberia's Rivercess County went on to said. "I don't care what anyone says, this project is the best thing to happen in our history. Imagine: now we know our borders, we know our resources, we know our rules and they are written down for everyone to see and know. People are attending clan meetings; and our clan feels stronger together. This has never happened before! Now it is easy for us to organize and ask the government or [foreign investors] for things we want or refuse things we don't want in our community." According to the World Bank, between October 2008 and August 2009, transactions covering at least 56.6 million hectares--including 39.7 million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, more than the size of Germany and Switzerland combined--were concluded or under negotiation.

Cuban researchers are currently developing crops which are adapted to climate change. The National Institute for Basic Research in Tropical Agriculture (INIFAT), a government institution, has been investigating over 30 species of vegetable, including cabbages, tomatoes and cucumbers, in order to breed resilient varieties that can cope with tropical conditions. Development of resistant varieties can take up to 15 years, depending on the vegetable. According to INIFAT researcher, Laura Muñoz, the targeted characteristics of the new plants are “growth, resistance and vitality”. The researchers have already obtained varieties which are more resistant to pests and droughts, and which can be cultivated outside the normal planting season. INIFAT also supports the development of urban farming on the island. Almost 45% of the fresh vegetables in Cuba derive from urban and suburban agriculture, a form of production which has evolved in recent years following national efforts to promote sustainable and agro-ecological agriculture, and become less dependent on food imports. These urban crops are known as ‘organoponic’ - a term for organic production in reduced spaces. One success of INIFAT is a drought-resistant cabbage variety called ‘Marien’, which took 12 years to be developed and is now used for urban gardening. It is the first cabbage species which produces seeds. In the past, Cuba had to import five tons of cabbage seed annually, but in 2011, a ton of Marien seeds were produced and exchanged.

A coalition of more than 60 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has today published a joint declaration, calling on all states and financial institutions to end the practice of land grabbing. The declaration was timed to coincide with the annual Agriculture Investment Summit, being held in London between 26th-29th June 2012. During the event, financial investors and pension funds gather to explore investment opportunities in agriculture across the globe. The NGO declaration highlights deep concerns surrounding the soaring number of pension funds, acquiring large stretches of farmland in developing countries, a practice that threatens the livelihoods and food sovereignty of local communities. Highlighting the coalition’s deep concerns, Rachel Tansey of Friends of the Earth Europe said “European pension funds are driving land grabs across the globe, with serious social and environmental impacts. Anyone with a pension could be implicated in human rights violations and ecological destruction. In a world where 1 billion people already go hungry, land must stay in the hands of local communities so that they can feed themselves”. Research indicates that millions of hectares of land have been leased or bought up in recent years, mainly to produce food or fuel for an international market, seriously damaging the livelihoods of the local population who have relied on these same lands to survive for generations. The declaration calls on states to ensure that pension funds stop speculation on land and damaging investments in global food chains.The signatories have demanded the disclosure of information about direct or indirect financing of land acquisitions and other deals that might involve land grabbing, and have called for a mandatory, prior and independent impact assessment of these investments.

The government of the second most populous state in India, Maharashtra, is rethinking its policy of promoting Bt cotton. Officials have announced a pilot project, designed to increase yields of cotton while reducing cultivation costs, by implementing a ‘Brazilian’ model which uses straight varieties of cotton and not hybrid or Bt (genetically-modified) ones. Questions have recently been asked about the suitability of Bt Cotton in Maharashtra. According to official statistics, in 2012, nearly 12.1 million hectares of land was under cotton cultivation in India, of which around 90% is Bt cotton. However, state agriculture commissioner Umakant Dangat said, “India has the lowest cotton productivity in the world and Maharashtra, the lowest in India. A recently released study by the Council of Social Development (CSD) called ‘Socio-economic impact assessment of Bt cotton in India’, raises similar concerns around yield. The CSD study questions whether the marginal land of the eastern region of Maharashtra is suited for Bt cotton at all. CCIR director Keshav Kranthi, optimistic about the new pilot project, said. “We can even match the world average if our experiment becomes successful,” adding that the Brazil pattern not only increases the yield per hectares, but also reduces the cultivation cost by almost two-thirds compared to Bt cotton. He explained that the cost of seeds of straight varieties is much lower than Bt varieties, and that these varieties become ready for plucking in 150-160 days whereas BT varieties take about 180-200 days, substantially reducing the need for fertilizers, pesticides and other nutrients. And unlike Bt cotton varieties, seeds derived from straight cotton varieties can be used during the next season also, he said, adding: “All these factors reduce the cost of cultivation from around Rs. 12,500 per ha. to under Rs. 5,000 per ha.”

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a new report yesterday, warning that the ecological foundations supporting food security are under threat. The UNEP report ‘Avoiding Future Famines’ was written by 12 leading experts involved in world food systems. The authors found that agriculture is facing multiple threats, including competition for water, deforestation and conventional agricultural practices. The report went on to illustrate how these threats are being exacerbated by population growth and the changing of lifestyles and diets. “The era of seemingly ever-lasting production based upon maximizing inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides, mining supplies of freshwater and fertile arable land and advancements linked to mechanisation are hitting their limits,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. The report also highlights the importance of ecosystems and the environmental aspects of food security, and is critical that past debates were mainly restricted to factors such as the availability of food and access to it. The authors issued recommendations on how to protect these ecological foundations and improve food security, which include: designing sustainable agriculture on a larger scale, improving soil management, securing efficient agricultural water use, supporting farmers and promoting sustainable diets with less meat consumption in developed countries.

International NGOs and United Nation’s food agencies have called on G20 leaders to put food security high on their agenda at the G20 summit in Mexico. Oxfam’s spokesperson Steve Price-Thomas said “The G20 is failing to address the most important drivers of the food price crisis: increased demand for biofuels, financial speculation on commodities, and climate change”. Oxfam activists went on to present, at an imitation G20 leaders ‘working lunch’, a to-do list in which poverty reduction and food security ranked highly. However, worries about economic crises in European countries are overshadowing other important issues on the agenda. Neil Watkins from ActionAid USA said the conference should focus on all economies, not only the largest ones. He also drew attention to the biofuel policies of G20 nations as one of the root causes of the hunger crisis, highlighting a recently published ActionAid report which illustrated how increases in US corn production for biofuels had the knock on effect of triggering a rise in food import prices in Mexico. Today, three key UN food agencies, FAO, IFAD and the WFP, joined with the NGOs to demand that the G20 redouble their efforts to fight hunger, issuing a statement with 17 recommendations.

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned on Thursday that both agricultural production methods and food systems must move away from fossil fuel dependence towards renewable energy sources. The FAO report on ‘energy-smart food’ released ahead of the Rio+20 conference, also made clear that to improve food security and achieve sustainability it is important to both increase food energy efficiency and cut food losses. The FAO highlighted the fact that global food production from farm to fork accounts for 30% of total energy use, with more than 70% of this consumed ‘beyond the farm gate’ during transport, processing, packaging and marketing. As one third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted - 1.3 billion tons per year - almost 40% of the energy used in the food chain is wasted as well. To tackle this problem, the FAO are calling on companies and organisations to join SAVE FOOD, an initiative set up by UN agencies and the private sector to reduce food losses and waste.