Many of us have heard of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) from Al Gore’s the Inconvenient Truth, or the from fact that the IPCC won half of the Nobel Peace Prize. But a lesser known United Nations commisioned report called “The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD)” has an equally profound message for us.
The core message of this report is that if we continue to produce food the way we do now, there will be detrimental consequences in the next 50 years. The only remedy to this situation will be to switch to a more natural and sustainable way of farming.
“Many of the challenges facing agriculture over the next 50 years will require more integrated application of existing science and technology development (formal, traditional and community- based) as well as new approaches for agricultural and natural resource management.”
This means that business as usual is no longer an option.
The report lays out the cold hard facts.
For the last 100 years, we have been focussing on increasing yields – grow more and more using the least amount of money and the least acreage of lands. In the midst of this rush ro maximise production and monetary return, we have forgotten to take into account the externalised costs of food production. These include water pollution, air pollution, the extinction of many species of agricultural crops and many others.
The report lays out the cold, hard facts, and maximizing yields (a.k.a. BUSINESS AS USUAL) is not the rout to a sustainable future.
“Agriculture currently contributes 60 and 50% of global anthropogenic emissions of CH4 and N2O, respectively. During the last 50 years, the natural resource base on which agriculture depends has declined faster than at any other time in history due to increased global demand and degradation; 75% of the crop genetic base of agricultural crops has been lost. Degradation of ecosystem functions (e.g. nutrient and water cycling), constrains production and may limit the ability of agricultural systems to adapt to climatic and other global changes in many regions. Sustainable agricultural practices are part of the solution to current environmental change.”
This report was produced by nearly 400 experts, who spent 3 years in the study. The current methods of farming (planting one type of crop, maximising yields using chemical means, and disregarding the ecosystems) are set squarely against the reccommendations of these experts.
Instead, they suggest that the focus should be on acknowledging the interconnected nature of agriculture, that the effects of conventional farming is far-reaching and will effect the world.
The IAASTD recommends a broad discussion of possible sustainable solutions, allowing participation and input of ideas from all parties.
It also highlights the importance that the media plays in communicating scenarios. We all have seen the impact An Inconvenient Truth has had on creating climate change awareness among the general public. More films such as these should be encouraged to educate the consumers.
IAASTD is sponsored the United Nations and the World bank. The report was released in April of 2008.
The IAASTD is a three-year collaborative effort (2005 – 2007) that assessed AKST in relation to meeting development and sustainability goals of:
- Reducing hunger and poverty
- Improving nutrition, health and rural livelihoods
- Facilitating social and environmental sustainability
