3/12/2023 0 Comments Remind me next centuryI would argue that we need to go further still. This was a key conclusion of the Food and Land Use Coalition report released in September – Growing Better: Ten Critical Transitions to Transform Food and Land Use – and a policy agenda that is gaining traction in different countries where the World Bank works. There is growing consensus that public support to food producers should be reexamined in the light of sustainable development goals, to reduce subsidies with perverse impacts, increase investment in research and development, and create positive incentives for farmers to embrace sustainability. (Witness the pains of a premium Guatemalan coffee farmer profiled by the Washington Post this summer, for example.) And premium products are out of reach for many consumers who struggle to feed and clothe their families. But price premiums for sustainably-grown crops or animals are often not enough to keep farmers afloat when a commodity faces a production glut or is hit by foreign exchange shocks leading to large commodity price declines. Responsible sourcing by big companies and market transparency can also help. That doesn’t mean consumers and wholesale buyers are off the hook.Ĭonsumers can play their part by purchasing high quality products that reward sustainable and inclusive practices. If farmers have the right incentives and access to affordable capital, the right technologies and relevant advice, they often do step up to the sustainability challenge because it is profitable to do so. Climate-smart agriculture includes practices such as improved water management, crop tolerance to stress, intercropping, soil amendments, improved animal waste management, and agroforestry, that allow farmers to reduce their exposure to floods and droughts, store more carbon on their farms, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase their profits. As a Dutch farmer reminded me recently: “If you are in the red, you cannot go green.” In other words: long-term sustainable practices that benefit the planet need to be profitable from a farming business perspective before a farmer can commit to them.įortunately, a wide range of practices can produce triple wins by providing adaptation, mitigation and productivity benefits. But they must begin with the farmers’ bottom-line. The answers of course vary from landscape to landscape. How can farmers adopt more sustainable farming practices that not only protect but also restore natural resources? What is the right mix of policy incentives, market signals, regulations, and public investment to support this urgent transition? In reality, farmers are already hard pressed to make a living in a world where market prices are volatile, weather patterns are changing faster than the ability to adapt, and pests and disease may wipe out a season’s production. But when it comes to implementing change, a lot is currently expected of one group in this system: the farmers. Whether we are primarily food consumers or food producers, taxpayers or policymakers, we all have a stake in greening agriculture for the ecological stability of the planet. With 1 million out of 8 million species threatened with extinction, and agriculture the dominant land use, it’s crucial to rethink farming as a source of both marketable goods and environmental planetary functions. Agriculture and land use change are leading contributors to deforestation, biodiversity loss and climate change. Not a week goes by without reports reminding us of the negative impacts of food systems on the environment.
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