Feed the World

Organic Farming and Food Security
To Rome for four days for a conference on organic farming and food security- a particular hobby horse of mine. I have been banging on about the potential of OF for food security for nearly five years since I wrote the Real Green Revolution. For most of that time the organic movement has been developing on the back of niche (now mainstream) markets for health conscious consumers and government support for its environmental benefits. Not the sort of basis on which organic farming can readily be sold to governments of developing countries or donor agencies working to promote food security. Sufficient reason in fact for many to completely reject organic farming as an approach with any relevance to solving world hunger.
But in recent years there has been growing evidence that organic farming increases yields and returns to farmers in marginal areas - precisely those farmers who are the most prone to food deficits. This is irrespective of whether they are engaged in international supply chains. It is great at last to see the FAO offering a platform not only to discuss these issues but also for policy makers and purse holders to come and listen to the evidence prior to the inter ministerial meeting on Food Security next week. Let's hope that at least some will come along and and listen and comre to question conventional wisdoms about how industrialised farming systems are a solution to world hunger and ask what opportunities the organic alternative has to offer.
Click here for a report on the conference