Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

Planting Ideas to Solve the Food Supply Crisis
by David Runnalls
 Published on Monday, May 12, 2008 by The Regina Leader-Post (Canada)
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/viewpoints/story.html?id=521ab50a-c7f3-4f41-9c54-299a5bd0c193&p=1

Canada is not immune to the forces driving the world food crisis, nor can it 
afford to shirk its responsibilities at home and abroad.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned high prices and shortages of food 
could “touch off a cascade of related crises — affecting trade, economic 
growth, social progress and even political security around the world.”

While the world grapples with the urgent need to find short-term solutions to 
the immediate crisis, which not only threatens millions with starvation, but 
is forecast to push at least 100 million people into poverty, we must also 
give priority to developing policies that address the issues driving this 
crisis here at home.

Unsustainable farming practices are at the heart of the problem, but changing 
practices will require co-operation and leadership of the world’s largest 
suppliers of food, which includes Canada as the fourth-largest agriculture 
and agri-food exporter, after the EU, U.S. and Brazil.

The government should be commended for committing $50 million to the UN’s 
urgent plea for an extra $755 million for emergency food aid, as well as 
untying all Canadian food aid. Experience has shown repeatedly that food 
purchased locally arrives much quicker and has a greater effect on the local 
economy than food shipped all the way from Canada. But relief alone won’t 
lead to a long-term sustainable solution.

Climate change and an associated increase in biofuels production are 
recognized as key drivers behind the food shortage, but they aren’t the only 
concerns. If we are going to address the ongoing threat to our food supply, 
we need to keep sight of the other drivers of the food crisis.

One of the most important aspects is a rapidly increasing global appetite for 
meat, as a growing number of people in China and India are now eating more 
grain and meat, for example.

In a perverse turn of events, even the subprime mortgage crisis seems to be 
playing its part. Market speculation in grain futures appears to have been 
driven by a shift in focus from real estate to commodities. It is estimated 
that 60 per cent of the U.S.-based wheat market is now controlled by hedge 
funds. This is a major change for a market that was not traditionally 
characterized this way. It has lead to price points that have more to do with 
speculation than actual costs.

More investment will be required to develop policies that enable people in 
developing countries to support themselves, rather than rely on food aid. In 
a way, development assistance to agriculture is a victim of its own success. 
The Green Revolution, that swept Asia and Latin America in the latter part of 
the 20th century, greatly expanding yields, gave us the impression that the 
food crisis had gone away for good. It sent a signal that donor countries and 
governments of developing countries could now turn their attention to urban 
and industrial problems.

This crisis should serve as a wakeup call. For Canada, this means revaluating 
its priorities and level of commitment for official development assistance 
(ODA). There has been a significant fall in the level of ODA investment in 
rural development over the past 30 years.

Here at home, Canada’s activities in response to climate change will also 
need to be reviewed in light of a policy that gives priority to the 
production of biofuels, which have been widely identified as a driver behind 
the food crisis.

Canada’s EcoENERGY for biofuels program at $2.2 billion represents the 
largest environmental spending as part of its program to reduce greenhouse 
gas emissions.

Climate change is going to have a significant impact on farming practices in 
Alberta, Sask-atchewan and Manitoba, and will have some effect on yields and 
prices as there is expected to be an increase in climate variability. 
Planning for adaptation to the effects of climate change is required, if our 
own agricultural sector is to address the predictable outcomes of extreme 
changes in climatic conditions and other factors with the potential to 
significantly impact the production and availability of food.

In summary, Canada’s policy priorities to the world food crisis should be 
essentially threefold: to increase the resilience of Canadian agriculture to 
climate change; secondly, to critically review Canadian biofuels policy, and 
thirdly, to increase the agricultural component of Canadian ODA with the 
intent of increasing the food self-sufficiency in the most food-insecure 
countries.

David Runnalls is president and CEO of the Winnipeg-based International 
Institute for Sustainable Development, which champions sustainable 
development around the world through innovation, partnerships, research and 
communications.