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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] World Hunger Best Cured by Small-Scale Agriculture
  • Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:53:55 -0700


(finally, somebody gets it ...)

World Hunger Best Cured by Small-Scale Agriculture: Report
Thursday, January 13, 2011 by The Guardian/UK by Nidhi Prakash
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/13/world-hunger-small-scale-agriculture

A move from industrial farming towards local food projects is our healthiest,
most sustainable choice, says Worldwatch Institute

The key to alleviating world hunger, poverty and combating climate change may
lie in fresh, small-scale approaches to agriculture, according to a report
from the Worldwatch Institute.

The US-based institute's annual State of the World report, published
yesterday, calls for a move away from industrial agriculture and discusses
small-scale initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa that work towards poverty and
hunger relief in an environmentally sustainable way.

The authors suggest that instead of producing more food to meet the world's
growing population needs, a more effective way to address food security
issues and climate change would be to encourage self-sufficiency and waste
reduction, in wealthier and poorer nations alike.

"If we shift just some of our attention away from production to consumption
issues and reducing food waste, we might actually get quite a big bang for
our buck, because that ground has been neglected," said Brian Halweil,
co-director of the project.

"The majority of incentives that governments give to farmers are still tied
to the production mindset. The farmers are rewarded for sheer production
quantity, with very little guidance for the quality they produce and the
impact of their farming practices on the environment and on human health and
nutrition ... It is necessary to change these incentives," he said.

The projects explored in the report include community-based initiatives in
urban farming, school gardening and feeding programmes, and indigenous
livestock preservation.

In Kenya's largest slum, in Nairobi, local women are growing vertical gardens
in sacks, providing them with a source of income but also an element of food
security for their families.

"They sell their produce and also consume part of what they grow," said
Danielle Nierenberg, Halweil's co-director.

"As we talk about all these innovations, it's important to remember that
farmers aren't just farmers: they're businesswomen and -men, they're stewards
of their land and they're educators passing on their knowledge to others in
their communities," she said.

In another programme in Uganda, Developing Innovations in School Cultivation
(Disc), children are being taught about nutrition, food preparation and
growing local vegetables. Pilot programmes are also being run in Mali and
Sudan to feed children in schools and educate them on food production and
consumption.

Anna Lappé, the author of a chapter in the report entitled Coping with
Climate Change and Building Resilience, said: "We have really emphasised a
set of policies over the past half a century that have prioritised an
agricultural system that is incredibly fuel-intensive and emissions-based."

Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the UK Soil Association, said the report
supports the case for the expansion of organic farming.

"Organic farming systems benefit biodiversity, are resilient in the face of
climate change, and have been shown to improve yields and the ability of poor
communities in the global south to feed themselves," she said.

Although Halweil says national governments should lead the way in
implementing change, the report suggests that international attitudes towards
agricultural development need to shift if the lessons from these case studies
are to bring about results on a larger scale.

"I think the African Union is a natural starting point, an organising body
for all these initiatives, to share between members the experience in these
initiatives, but also in setting themselves goals," said Halweil.

He suggests that international aid policies on food need an overhaul to
better serve the long-term interests of those on the ground.

"Food aid is a short-term fix, a Band-Aid rather than an opportunity to
infuse money into the local economy and an incentive to process and
distribute food locally," he said.





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