Om man vill ha en mer vederhäftig och hoppfull ingång till dessa frågor än vad SciFi-sajten io9.com erbjuder, så kan man kolla in den s k Johannesburgrapporten, alias International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development alias IAASTD (officiell länk finns längst ned).
Jag har bara skrapat lite på ytan av detta digra material. Kommentarerna som jag läst spretar åt lite olika håll, men några ganska genomgående teman tycks vara:
* Det går att föda en väsentligt större befolkning än vi har idag, men det behövs förändring och utveckling.
* Rent produktionstänkande fungerar inte. Ekologiska och social hänsyn är viktiga.
* Småskaligt jordbruk är till stor del rätt väg att gå, särskilt i tredje världen.
Det finns också kommentarer av typen ekologiskt jordbruk är rätt väg, och gmo behövs inte, eller kan inte ge något väsentligt bidrag. Men jag har inte fått klart för mig hur stor enigheten var kring detta.
Här är några källor och några citat:
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Change in farming can feed world - report
· Ample resources wasted, global study warns
· Biofuels exacerbating shortage of food crops
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/16/food.biofuelsRobert Watson, director of IAASTD and chief scientist at the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "Business as usual will hurt the poor. It will not work. We have to applaud global increases in food production but not everyone has benefited. We have not succeeded globally. In some parts of India 50% of children are still malnourished. That is not success."
Watson said governments and industry focused too narrowly on increasing food production, with little regard for natural resources or food security. "Continuing with current trends would mean the earth's haves and have-nots splitting further apart," he said. " It would leave us facing a world nobody would want to inhabit. We have to make food more affordable and nutritious without degrading the land."
The report - the first significant attempt to involve governments, NGOs and industries from rich and poor countries - took 400 scientists four years to complete. The present system of food production and the way food is traded around the world, the authors concluded, has led to a highly unequal distribution of benefits and serious adverse ecological effects and was now contributing to climate change.
The authors say science and technology should be targeted towards raising yields but also protecting soils, water and forests. "Investment in agricultural science has decreased yet we urgently need sustainable ways to produce food. Incentives for science to address the issues that matter to the poor are weak," said Watson.
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Global food system 'must change'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7347239.stmThe study found that access to food was taken for granted in many nations, and farmers and farm workers were poorly rewarded for acting as stewards of almost one-third of the Earth's land.
It recommended a fundamental rethink of agricultural knowledge, science and technology, in order to achieve a sustainable global food system.
The experts said that efforts should focus on the needs of small-scale farmers in diverse ecosystems, and areas with the greatest needs.
Measures would include giving farmers better access to knowledge, technology and credit. It would also require investment to bring the necessary information and infrastructure to rural areas.
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“GM-Free Organic Agriculture to Feed the World”
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/GMFreeOrganicAgriculture.phpA fundamental change in farming practice is needed to counteract soaring food prices, hunger, social inequities and environmental disasters. Genetically modified (GM) crops are highly controversial and will not play a substantial role in addressing the challenges of climate change, loss of biodiversity, hunger and poverty. Instead, small-scale farmers and agro-ecological methods are the way forward; with indigenous and local knowledge playing as important a role as formal science. Furthermore, the rush to grow crops for biofuels could exacerbate food shortages and price rises.
These are the conclusions to the most thorough examination of global agriculture, on a scale comparable to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. Its final report, The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), was formally launched at a plenary in Johannesburg, South Africa on 15 April 2008 [1-3] and simultaneously released in London, Washington, Delhi, Paris, Nairobi and a number of other cities around the world.
The IAASTD is a unique collaboration initiated by the World Bank in partnership with a multi-stakeholder group of organisations, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environmental Programme, the World Health Organisation and representatives of governments, civil society, private sector and scientific institutions from around the world [2]. The actual report runs to 2 500 pages, and has taken more than 400 scientists 4 years to complete.
In one mighty stroke, it has swept aside years of corporate propaganda that served as a major diversion from urgent task of implementing sustainable food production for the world. As UK’s Daily Mail editorial commented [4]: “For years, biotech companies have answered critics by insisting genetically modified crops are essential to bringing down food prices and feeding the world's hungry. Well, now we know they’re not.”
“Given the future challenges it was very clear to everyone that business as usual was not an option,” IAASTD Co-chair Hans Herren said [1]. He was speaking at an intergovernmental plenary in South Africa’s commercial hub, Johannesburg, where the assessment findings were reviewed ahead of the presentation of the report.
The report said that efforts should focus on the needs of small-scale farmers in diverse ecosystems, and areas with the greatest needs. Measures would include giving farmers better access to knowledge, technology and credit. It would also require investment to bring the necessary information and infrastructure to rural areas.
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Den officiella rapporten eller snarare rapporterna finns här:
http://www.agassessment.org/Kolla t ex in Synthesis Report
http://www.agassessment.org/reports/IAASTD/EN/Agriculture%20at%20a%20Crossroads_Synthesis%20Report%20(English).pdfeller EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE SYNTHESIS REPORT
http://www.agassessment.org/reports/IAASTD/EN/Agriculture%20at%20a%20Crossroads_Executive%20Summary%20of%20the%20Synthesis%20Report%20(English).pdfDen utförligaste rapporten verkar vara denna: GLOBAL REPORT
http://www.agassessment.org/reports/IAASTD/EN/Agriculture%20at%20a%20Crossroads_Global%20Report%20(English).pdf
