[Vision2020] Nov. 16, 2011 CCAFS Report: Global Commission: Achieving Food Security in Face of Climate Change

[Ted Moffett]

Humanity is entering an unprecedented historical condition where our
impacts on the planet everywhere are both local and global in a
profound sense, regarding  energy, agriculture, how we build homes,
dispose of garbage, our transportation infrastructure, where and how
products are produced and in what quantities, and so forth.

The lines between local and global are increasingly blurred, as the
example of the 100s of thousands of tons of CO2 Moscow is responsible
for, given our economic activity, annually dumping into the global
atmosphere, contributing to potentially disastrous global (and local)
climate change, emphatically illustrates.  An example of local to
global impacts includes the polluting coal fired energy used in China
to produce the cheap China made products we consume in Moscow

Human population recently passed seven billion, and is expected to
reach 9 billion this century.  If all 9 billion attempted to live at
the energy and resource consumption levels of the US average, the
consequences would be disastrous, indeed, some researchers consider
this impossible. Nonetheless, China and India, representing over two
billion, proceed as though this energy and resource intensive
lifestyle, greatly still powered by fossil fuels, is an example of
progress!

It's painfully obvious that the short term profit motive of global
multi-national capitalism is ill-equipped to address the very serious
externalities of long term resource and climate change problems, even
as it creates short term wealth and well being for millions of people.
 However, this system is a juggernaut that greatly controls the very
institutions that could insist on sensible regulations to address
these long term externalities, externalities that ironically could
collapse the very system insisting that the externalities are not
enough of a problem to jeapordize the short term profits being
created.

I'd like to believe there are practical strategies to address this
situation that are politically viable, but realistically it appears
humanity will blunder its way into a environmentally degraded world
where billions will never achieve the good life, as it is defined here
in the US.

The US is already witnessing a decline, where it is doubtful the next
generation on the whole will live a life better than their parents.
The current US economic conditions are considered by some theorists to
be the new normal, as unavoidable given competition with cheap labor
in the billions in developing nations with weak labor protections and
environmental regulations, in the globalized multi-national capitalist
system.  Politicians are falling over each other to point blame away
from themselves, promising they have the answer to these problems, but
who among them honestly informs the public that we may have entered a
new normal of lower living standards?

And the Occupy protests are dismissed by many as having no critical or
coherant message?

Then I suppose the "global warming is a hoax" propaganda on FOX News,
coming from a network that is mocking and dismissing the Occupy
actions, is an example of a responsible coherant mindset?

Orwell rolls in his grave!
------------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 11/17/11, Art Deco <deco at moscow.com> wrote:

> Thank you for posting this, Ted.
>
> This has local application.  In the long run if resources for adequate food
> production are to be available, then the lost of agricultural land to
> residential development in Latah County should come to an end.  Once this
> land is lost, it is hard to reclaim.
>
> The same is true for water.  The earth is running out of potable water in
> part because of ground water contamination and over use of existing ground
> water.
>
> The competition for food and water in the future is likely to spawn a great
> deal of unrest/wars/etc unless we vigorously plan and work to  keep and to
> develop the resources necessary now.
>
> w.
>
>
>
> From: Ted Moffett
> Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 10:13 AM
> To: Moscow Vision 2020
> Subject: [Vision2020] Nov. 16, 2011 CCAFS Report: Global Commission:
> Achieving Food Security in Face of Climate Change
>
>
> http://ccafs.cgiar.org/commission/reports
> -----------------------------
> http://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/commission-sustainable-agriculture-and-climate-change/global-commission-charts-pathway
>
> Global Commission Charts Pathway For Achieving Food Security in Face
> of Climate Change
>
> Scientific experts outline concrete steps toward a sustainable global
> food system
>
> COPENHAGEN (16 November 2011) — In the lead up to UN global climate
> talks in Durban, South Africa later this month, an independent global
> commission of eminent scientists today released a set of concrete
> recommendations to policy makers on how to achieve food security in
> the face of climate change. Based on a thorough review of existing
> research, the commissioners urged immediate, coordinated action toward
> transforming the food system to meet current and future threats to
> food security and environmental sustainability.
>
> The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change’s
> “Summary for Policy Makers” outlines crucial policy responses to the
> global challenge of feeding a world confronted by climate change,
> population growth, poverty, food price spikes and degraded ecosystems.
> The seven high-level recommendations include significantly raising the
> level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems
> in the next decade; sustainably intensifying agricultural production
> on the existing land base while reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and
> reducing losses and waste in the food system.
>
> Prof. Sir John Beddington, Chair of the Commission, summed up the
> challenge: “It’s about reorienting the whole global food system – not
> just agricultural production, and not just in developing countries. We
> need a socially equitable, global approach to produce the funding,
> policy, management and regional initiatives that will deliver
> nutrition, income and climate benefits for all.”
>
> In making their recommendations, the Commissioners cited the
> interconnected relationship between agriculture and the environment.
> As populations grow to upwards of 9 billion people, so will demand for
> food, fuel and feed crops. This could put many agricultural systems
> under immense stress and result in further depletion of soil
> fertility, biodiversity and water resources and increase greenhouse
> gas emissions to the atmosphere, according to the Commission.
>
> The release of the Commission’s “Summary for Policy Makers” was timed
> to inform pivotal, upcoming meetings on climate change, including the
> UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa from November 28 to
> December 9 and the Rio+20 Earth Summit next year. “Efforts to
> alleviate the worst effects of climate change cannot succeed without
> simultaneously addressing the crises in global agriculture and the
> food system,” said Dr Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Research
> Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, which
> convened the independent commission in February 2011. “The
> commission’s invaluable contribution is to provide scientists and
> policy makers with the most authoritative, evidence-based action steps
> to date to achieve global food security.” The Commission’s detailed
> final report will be issued in 2012.
>
> The Commission brings together senior natural and social scientists
> working in agriculture, climate, food and nutrition, economics and
> natural resources from Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia,
> France, Kenya, India, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the
> United States and Vietnam.
>
> Creating a safe operating space for people on this planet
>
> “There is a strong risk we will live on a food-insecure planet in the
> future,” said Commissioner Dr Marion Guillou, President of the French
> National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), “and we need to
> reshape food access and consumption patterns to ensure basic
> nutritional needs will be met.” Today, a billion people are
> malnourished while millions suffer from chronic disease due to
> over-consumption. World population will grow to an estimated 9 billion
> by 2050 and diets are shifting towards higher consumption of calories,
> fats and animal products. Global demand is growing for food, fodder
> and bioenergy crops, and food prices are rising.
>
> “Climate change is already causing more extreme weather events, such
> as high temperatures, droughts and floods, and will particularly harm
> those people who already live on the brink of hunger and
> malnutrition,” said Commissioner Professor Tekalign Mamo, Advisor to
> the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture. “Food insecurity produces
> widespread human suffering, even in the world’s wealthiest countries,
> as well as political and economic instability, so it is clear the
> status quo is not an option.”
>
> Investment, innovation and empowerment
>
> The Commission reviewed the scientific evidence base to develop a
> package of solutions that address how food is produced, distributed
> and consumed. Their recommendations support climate-resilient
> agricultural production, efficient resource use, low-waste supply
> chains, adequate nutrition and healthy eating choices that, together,
> will constitute a sustainable food system.
>
> The “Summary for Policy Makers” presents concrete, urgent actions to
> be implemented simultaneously by a constellation of governments,
> international institutions, investors, agricultural producers,
> consumers, food companies and researchers. Recommended tactics range
> from shifting economic incentives and making ‘fast start’ funds
> available for agriculture to strengthening land rights and building
> transparency in food markets.
>
> “There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” said Commission Vice-Chair
> Dr Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Research Director at the Bangladesh Institute
> of Development Studies, “but we know that success depends on a
> combination of investment, innovation and deliberate effort to empower
> the world's most vulnerable populations.” The Commissioners called for
> significantly raising the level of global investment in sustainable
> agriculture and food systems in the next decade.
>
> Efficiency throughout food supply chains
>
> “Our global system wastes food, reducing efficiency in agricultural
> productivity,” according to the Australian Commissioner Dr Megan
> Clark, Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Scientific and
> Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). For example, roughly
> one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted
> across the global food system. In addition, land clearing and
> inefficient use of fertilizers and organic residues make agriculture a
> significant contributor to greenhouse gas pollution on the planet.
> “Investments to increase efficiencies in agriculture and supply chains
> while also mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are critical for
> economic and environmental health and will realise important benefits
> to the global food system,” she said.
>
> “An estimated 12 million hectares of agricultural land – and their
> potential for producing 20 million tonnes of grain – are lost each
> year to land degradation,” explained Commissioner Professor Lin Erda,
> Director of the Research Centre of Agriculture and Climate Change at
> the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “At the same time, many
> regions have large gaps between potential and actual crop yields.”
>
> The Commission notes the importance of sustainably intensifying
> agricultural production on existing land – including improving
> supporting infrastructure and restoring degraded ecosystems – while
> reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. “Sustainable
> intensification is essential,” said South African Commissioner
> Professor Bob Scholes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial
> Research (CSIR), “and will be most successful at reducing greenhouse
> gas emissions if we improve land tenure and have strong land-use
> planning in place to protect forests, wetlands and other critical
> remaining natural ecosystems.”
>
> Supporting the most vulnerable
>
> A large section of the human population is highly vulnerable to
> extreme weather events and food price volatility. Severe food
> insecurity can lead to humanitarian crises such as the current
> situation in the Horn of Africa. Specific recommendations to assist
> vulnerable populations include insurance against climate shocks,
> strategies to moderate food price fluctuations and safety net
> programs. Education, health and nutrition programs provide much needed
> pathways out of food insecurity.
>
> “Building resilience to climate change must be deeply rooted in social
> systems beyond agriculture,” said the Commissioner Dr Rita Sharma,
> Secretary of India’s National Advisory Council. In India, for example,
> a program to guarantee rural employment is being used as a strategy to
> boost income and therefore reduce vulnerability.
>
> “Global donors can help promote better climate change risk management
> through a more coordinated, multi-benefit approach,” said Mexican
> Commissioner Dr Adrian Fernández Bremauntz, Senior Consultant at the
> ClimateWorks Foundation. The Commission calls for national and
> international agricultural development policies to prioritise boosting
> productive assets and infrastructure.
>
> Better information for integrated decision-making
>
> “We are already in the business of managing significant risk and
> navigating trade-offs,” said U.S. Commissioner Professor Molly Jahn of
> the University of Madison-Wisconsin. “Agricultural greenhouse
> emissions are undeniably a significant issue. We need to innovate
> approaches to deal with this, but not at the expense of food
> production by poor farmers today.” The Commission highlights the
> importance of improved monitoring and modelling to support integrated
> decision-making for economic growth, agricultural productivity,
> poverty reduction and long-term environmental sustainability.
>
> “If we are armed with real-time, spatially explicit information about
> land uses, markets and human populations, we can do a much better job
> of meeting our needs and taking care of the planet,” said Commissioner
> Dr Carlos Nobre of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and
> Innovation. “This means better capacity to forecast crises as well as
> testing specific interventions and scaling up the ones that work.”
>
> Policy kick-start
>
> At the same time, global and national policies need to increase the
> focus on sustainable agriculture and continue the momentum that has
> built on food security in order to kick-start a transformation of the
> whole food system. “Agriculture and food security tend to fall between
> the cracks of global policy making,” explained the Kenyan Commissioner
> Professor Judi Wakhungu, Executive Director of the African Center for
> Technology Studies (ACTS). The Commission points out the need for
> higher importance of agriculture in discussions concerning the United
> Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and at the Rio+20 Earth
> Summit to be held in Brazil in June 2012.
>
> Commissioners stress the need for multiyear commitments of financial
> and technical assistance to help agricultural producers build
> resilience to climate variability and improve their livelihoods, while
> contributing to climate change mitigation. Commissioner Dr Nguyen Van
> Bo, President of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science said,
> “Policies and finance streams must engage and empower poor rural
> farmers to improve yields and incomes on existing land bases without
> new environmental impacts.”
>
> The Commission’s final report, upon which the recommendations are
> based, will be released early in 2012. The Commission will share its
> recommendations at the upcoming Agriculture and Rural Development Day
> in Durban, South Africa and other policy forums throughout 2012.
>
> The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change is
> identifying what policy changes and actions are needed now to help the
> world achieve sustainable agriculture that contributes to food
> security and poverty reduction, and helps respond to climate change
> adaptation and mitigation goals. The Commission is an initiative of
> the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food
> Security (www.ccafs.cgiar.org), with additional support from the
> Global Donor Platform for Rural Development.
>
> The Commission’s Action points
>
> (Full details elaborated in “Summary for Policy Makers” document at
> http://www.ccafs.cgiar.org/commission)
>
> Integrate food security and sustainable agriculture into global and
> national policies
>
> Significantly raise the level of global investment in sustainable
> agriculture and food systems in the next decade
>
> Sustainably intensify agricultural production while reducing
> greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts of
> agriculture
>
> Target populations and sectors that are most vulnerable to climate
> change and food insecurity
>
> Reshape food access and consumption patterns to ensure basic
> nutritional needs are met and to foster healthy and sustainable eating
> habits worldwide
>
> Reduce loss and waste in food systems, particularly from
> infrastructure, farming practices, processing, distribution and
> household habits
>
> Create comprehensive, shared, integrated information systems that
> encompass human and ecological dimensions
> ------------------------------------------
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>
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