The UN is sounding the alarm with a new publication from the UN Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) titled: "Trade and Environment Review 2013: Wake Up Before It Is Too Late," which included contributions from more than 60 experts around the world. The new publication builds on a 2010 study: one that essentially said organic and small-scale farming is the answer for “feeding the world,” not GMOs, factory farming and monocultures.

The report links global security and escalating conflicts with the urgent need to transform agriculture toward what it calls “ecological intensification.” The report concludes, “This implies a rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high-external-input-dependent industrial production toward mosaics of sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers.”

The UNCTAD report identified key indicators for the transformation needed in agriculture:

Increasing soil carbon content and better integration between crop and livestock production, and increased incorporation of agroforestry and wild vegetation

Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of livestock production

Reduction of GHGs through sustainable peatland, forest, and grassland management

Optimization of organic and inorganic fertilizer use, including through closed nutrient cycles in agriculture

Reduction of waste throughout the food chains

Changing dietary patterns toward climate-friendly food consumption

Reform of the international trade regime for food and agriculture

The report is especially harsh in stating that global trade rules should be reformed in order to work toward these ends, which is the opposite of what mega-trade deals like the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the U.S.-EU Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are seeking to accomplish.

The Institute noted that these pending deals are “primarily designed to strengthen the hold of multinational corporate and financial firms on the global economy …” rather than reflect the urgent need for a shift in agriculture described in the new report.

In 2007, another important report out of the multilateral system, the International Assessment of Agriculture Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), with contributions from experts from over 100 countries (and endorsed by nearly 60 countries), came to very similar conclusions. The IAASTD report concluded that “Business as Usual is Not an Option,” and the shift toward agroecological approaches was urgent and necessary for food security and climate resilience. Unfortunately, business as usual has largely continued. Maybe this new UNCTAD report will provide the tipping point for the policy transformation that must take place “before it’s too late.”

