United Nations Conference on trade and development

UNCTAD
Link: http://unctad.org/en/pages/PressRelease.aspx?OriginalVersionID=154
2013
PRESS RELEASE
For use of information media - Not an official record
Take mosaic approach to agriculture, boost support for small farmers, UNCTAD Report
urges
Trade and Environment Report says small-scale farming needs
EMBARGO
The contents of this press release and the related Report must not be quoted or summarized in
the print, broadcast or electronic media before 18 September 2013, 17:00
UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2013/043
Geneva, Switzerland, (17 September 2013)
Farming in rich and poor nations alike should shift from monoculture towards greater
varieties of crops, reduced use of fertilizers and other inputs, greater support for small-scale
farmers, and more locally focused production and consumption of food, a new UNCTAD
report recommends.
The Trade and Environment Report 2013 warns that continuing rural poverty, persistent
hunger around the world, growing populations, and mounting environmental concerns must
be treated as a collective crisis. It says that urgent and far-reaching action is needed before
climate change begins to cause major disruptions to agriculture, especially in developing
countries.
The report, subtitled Wake up before it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for
food security in a changing climate, was released today. More than 60 international experts
contributed to the reports analysis of the topic. The study notes that the sheer scale at which
production methods would have to be modified under these proposals would pose
considerable challenges. In addition, it would be necessary to correct existing imbalances
between where food is produced and where it is needed, to reduce the power asymmetries
that exist in agricultural input and food-processing markets, and to adjust current trade rules
for agriculture.
The Trade and Environment Report 2013 recommends a rapid and significant shift away from
conventional, monoculture-based industrial production of food that depends heavily on
external inputs such as fertilizer, agro-chemicals, and concentrate feed. Instead, it says that
the goal should be mosaics of sustainable regenerative production systems that also
considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers and foster rural development.
The report stresses that governments must find ways to factor in and reward farmers for
currently unpaid public goods they provide such as clean water, soil and landscape
preservation, protection of biodiversity, and recreation.
Climate change will drastically impact on agriculture, the report forecasts, primarily in the
developing regions with the highest future population growth, such as sub-Saharan Africa and
South Asia. Much slower agricultural productivity growth in the future and fast-rising

populations in the most vulnerable regions will almost certainly worsen current problems
with hunger, drought, rising food prices, and access to land. These pressures may easily lead
to massive migrations, and to international tensions and conflicts over food and resources
such as soil and water.
The report cites a number of trends that collectively suggest a mounting crisis:
Food prices from 2011 to mid-2013 were almost 80 per cent higher than for the period
20032008;
Global fertilizer use has increased by eight times over the past 40 years, although global
cereal production has only doubled during that period;
Growth rates in agricultural productivity have recently declined from 2 per cent per year to
below 1 cent;
Two types of irreparable environmental damage have already been caused by agriculture:
nitrogen contamination of soil and water, and loss of biodiversity;
Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are the single biggest source of global warming
in the South. They also the fastest growing (along with emissions from transport);
Foreign land acquisition in developing countries (often termed land grabbing) in recent
years has amounted, in value, to between five and ten times the level of official development
assistance.
But most important of all are the persistent problems with hunger, malnutrition, and access to
food. Almost 1 billion people currently suffer from hunger, and another 1 billion are
malnourished, the report notes, even though current global agricultural production already
provides sufficient calories to feed a population of 12 to 14 billion. Some 70 per cent of the
hungry or malnourished are themselves small-scale farmers or agricultural labourers,
indicating that poverty and access to food are the most critical challenges.
Monoculture and industrial farming methods are not providing sufficient affordable food
where it is needed, the report says, while the environmental damage caused by this approach
is mounting and is unsustainable. It says that the highest priority must be given to enabling
the rural poor to become self-sufficient in food or to earn sufficient income through
agriculture so that they can buy food.
The report emphasizes that a shift is necessary towards diverse production patterns that
reflect the multi-functionality of agriculture and enhance closed nutrient cycles. Moreover,
as the environmental costs of industrial agriculture are largely not accounted for,
governments should act to ensure that more food is grown where it is needed. It recommends
adjusting trade rules to encourage as much regionalized/localized food production as
possible; as much traded food as necessary.
The past strategy of relying on international markets to meet staple food demand, while
specializing in the production and export of lucrative cash crops, has recently failed to
deliver its desired results, because it has relied on low staple food prices and no shortage of
supply in international markets, conditions that have drastically changed since the turn of the
century, the report notes. Also, globalization has encouraged high levels of specialization.
This has resulted in an increasing scale of production of a smaller variety of crops, and has
created enormous cost pressures, the report states. All this has aggravated the environmental
crisis of agriculture and has reduced agricultural resilience.
For more information, please contact:

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