Happy Soils and Happy Farmers
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Rebuilding the conditions for sustainable food production absolutely requires an approach that values the role of the family farms at the heart of our food system. Get USC’s take on the issue in a response by our Executive Director, Susan Walsh, published last week in Canada’s Globe & Mail.
Ottawa – David Malone is absolutely right: Global agriculture deserves more attention (Agriculture Needs A Great Leap Forward – March 3). Northern investment in agricultural assistance has dropped from $6-billion in 1980 to $2.8-billion in 2006, even though growing the GDP through agriculture is four times more effective in raising the incomes of people living with extreme poverty.
Mr. Malone does not fully explain what sustainable growth of farm produce means. Last year’s groundbreaking International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development does. It asks us to consider the “multi-functionality” of agriculture and those at the very heart of our food system – family farmers. Eighty-five per cent of the food our world consumes comes from close circuit markets – farms close to home. Some 1.4 billion people depend on farmers’ saved seeds.
Sustainable agriculture produce is the result of good land stewardship, water conservation techniques, using natural, local inputs, and the valuing of farmers’ hard work and ingenuity. We need to invest in a farmer-centred system that rebuilds the conditions for sustainable production: happy soils and happy farmers.
Susan Walsh
Executive Director, USC Canada
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USC Canada
was founded by
Dr Lotta Hitschmanova in 1945. Our award-winning Seeds of Survival program promotes vibrant family farms, strong rural communities, and healthy ecosystems around the world.
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You have raised my interest in matching the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development report for last year with your response to David Malone.
Can you help me sort through the many citations for that report, and direct me to where it might be most easily accessed?
This topic and USC’s work are ideal fodder for my student teachers to wrestle with as they prepare lessons for their Gr. 12 Human geography lessons.
Many thanks.
Dave
Thank you, David, for your comment. The results of the IAASTD project are contained in seven reports: a Global Report, five regional Sub-Global Assessments, and a Synthesis Report. You can find an executive summary of the report, as well as a Global Summary for Decision makers at http://www.agassessment.org/. Copies of the various parts are all available for purchase at http://www.islandpress.org/iaastd. They are somewhat expensive, however, and if you’re restricted by a budget, I would suggest you look into nearby libraries (public, university, government department, etc.) to see if the report is available on loan. Many thanks for your continued support.