Georgia College and State University's Global Citizenship Symposium

Agriculture, the Solution Danielle NierenbergWorldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet Project dnierenberg@worldwatch.org Twitter: @NourishPlanet Facebook.com/WorldwatchAg

Agriculture Is the SolutionInnovations MakingAgriculture More Sustainable: • Reducing Food Waste • Involving Youth in Agriculture • Urban Agriculture • Sequestering Carbon in Soils • Linking Agriculture and (Photo Credit: Julie Carney / Gardens for Health International) Nutrition

The Number of Undernourished People in the World Source: FAO

Volatility of Food Prices, 1990 - 2010300.0250.0200.0 Meat Price Index Dairy Price Index Cereals Price Index Oils Price Index150.0 Sugar Price Index100.0 50.0 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 Source: FAO

Vegetable Availability and Childhood Malnutrition and Mortality 300 60Children < 5 mortality rate (1/1000) Children < 5 underweight (%) 250 Niger 50 Mali Niger 200 40 Mali 150 Tanzania 30 Philippines Tanzania 100 20 50 Philippines 10 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Vegetable availability (g/person/day) N=171 Vegetable availability (g/person/day) N=159 Source: Keatinge, et al. AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center. Food Security. Forthcoming (2012).

Growing Obesity Trends, Worldwide Overweight Adults Worldwide by Time • For those 2.5 (Projected) aged 15Number of People Worldwide (billions) 2015 and over in 2 2010 177 nations— 1.5 2005 2002 home to the vast 1 majority of the world 0.5 0 2002 2005 2010 2015 Time Source: United Nations Population Division, World Health Organization , Worldwatch Institute Vital Signs Online: Levels of Overweight on the Rise

Obesity Leads to Rise in NCDsIn countries where moreand more are overweight,the result has been thesame—An increase inpreventable medicalproblems: • Heart & Vascular Disease (Photo Credit: nofinishlineblog.com) • Diabetes, Type II • High Blood Pressure • Chronic Kidney Disease • Breathing problems (Photo Credit: mcvitamin • s.com) Cancer

Emerging Diseases Health risks from factory farms: • Antibiotic-resistant bacteria • Food-borne pathogens- • Listeria • Parasites • E. coli • Salmonella • Campylobacter • Avian influenza • Bovine spongiform encephalopathy •Nipah virus (Photo Credit: Compassion in World Farming)

Innovation 1: Cutting Food Waste• On average, 25 to 50percent of a harvest iswasted• The global populationreached 7 billion inOctober 2011, making itmore important than everto find ways to make (Photo Credit: Randy Olson / National Geographic)better use of what wealready produce

Cutting Food Waste: Waste in the Food Chain• Millions of tons of food iswasted because ofnegligence, especially inindustrialized countries•In the developing world, 40percent of food losses occurafter harvest – while food isbeing stored ortransported, and duringprocessing and packaging (Source: Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2011, p. 107)

Cutting Food Waste: Solar-Powered Dryers• Solar-powered dryers areworking to preservemango and papayaharvests around the world• In Bolivia, collapsible A-frame dryers are allowingfarmers to dry and storecrops year-round (Photo Credit: geopathfinder.com)

Cutting Food Waste: Hermetic Sealing• Hermetically sealed bagsprotect crops frommoisture, insects, andfungus• Researchers at PurdueUniversity have developedinexpensive hermetic bagsthat are being used toprotect cowpea harvests in (Photo Credit: Purdue University)Western Africa

Cutting Food Waste: Consumer Education• Love Food, Hate Waste isbased in the United Kingdom• The organization has helpeddivert 670,000 tons of foodfrom landfills• This has saved consumersover US$970 million over thelast decade (Graphic Credit: Love Food, Hate Waste)

Innovation 2: Reaching the Young• The International LaborOrganization reports that youthunemployment around theworld rose by 4.5 millionbetween 2008 and 2009• Young people need to knowthat agriculture can beintellectually stimulating andprofitable (Photo Credit: Bernard Pollack)

Reaching the Young:Developing Innovations in School Cultivation• Developing Innovations inSchool Cultivation is reigniting aninterest – and a taste – forindigenous vegetables in Uganda• The project introduces students (Graphic Credit: Slow Food International)to organic farming techniquesand shows them how to makeagriculture into career (Photo Credit: Project DISC)

Innovation 3: Urban Agriculture• An estimated 14 million Africansmove to cities each year• By 2020, 35-40 million Africansliving in cities will depend on urbanagriculture to meet their foodrequirements•By 2050, 65 percent of the world’s (Photo Credit: Bernard Pollack)population will live in cities.

Urban Agriculture and the Poor• The pooresturban householdspractice urbanagriculture at highrates (Source: Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2011, p. 112)

Urban Agriculture in Colombia•Bogota is the capital ofColombia, and home to over 7 millionpeople, 20 percent of whom live inpoverty.•The Cities Farming for the Future(CFF) Bogota program, run by theResource Centres on UrbanAgriculture and Food Security (Photo credits: Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security)(RUAF), is spreading an innovativegarden design that works on hardground, such as rooftops and patios.•It is also helping to combine foodsecurity and scientific research bypartnering with the Botanical Gardenof Bogota.

Urban Agriculture: Kibera (Nairobi, Kenya) (Photo Credits: Bernard Pollack)

Innovation 4: Carbon Storing• 50 billion tons ofcarbon can besequestered overthe next 50 years (Photo Credit: Bernard Pollack)

Farm or Forest? (Photo Credit: World Agroforestry Centre) (It’s Both!)

Combining Traditional and Modern Practices Institute herd treating degraded area. Herd grazing on grass with full summer recovery(Photo Credit: Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute) (Photo Credit: Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute)

A Recipe for Better Agriculture • Investing in agro-ecological food systems- Landscapes for People, Food, and Nature (LPFN) initiative that develops a long-term strategy to scale up and support agro-ecological solutions • Recognizing nutrition, health & agriculture linkages - Investments in agriculture and hunger relief have often not actually delivered in terms of nutrition(Photo Credit: Bernard Pollack) • Recognizing agriculture’s multiple benefits - Compensating farmers for the ecosystem services their lands provide, and for farmers’ multiple roles • Cultivating better livelihoods -Building a better food system also depends on the root of the hunger problem—poverty (Photo Credit: Bernard Pollack)

Moving Forward• It’s time for agricultureto become a solution forglobal problems• Done right, farming canstrengthencommunities, nourishfamilies, and protect theearth (Photo Credit: Raïsa Mirza)

Everyone Can Help Change the Food System Whether were farmers in Africa or students in Georgia, we can all take part! • Support local food, local farmers’ markets • Grow your own food • Start a Local Slow Food chapter or support your current one • Meatless Mondays • Compost • Buy organic or sustainable foods with little or no pesticides • Encourage legislators to make the Farm Bill support small (Photo Credit: Bernard Pollack) farmers • Tell your lawmakers that food safety is important to you • Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections(Photo Credit:popupcanopies.org)

Danielle NierenbergWorldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet Project dnierenberg@worldwatch.org Twitter: @NourishPlanet Facebook.com/WorldwatchAg

Georgia College and State University's Global Citizenship Symposium

by Nourishing the Planet on Feb 17, 2012

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Georgia College and State University’s Global Citizenship Symposium — Presentation Transcript