News in Science

Modern farming 'harms poor and environment'

Free trade in agricultural markets can undermine attempts to ease poverty in developing countries and harm the environment, says a UN and World Bank backed report.

"Opening national markets to international competition ... can lead to long-term negative effects on poverty alleviation, food security and the environment," says the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report.

The report urges agricultural science to pay greater attention to safeguarding natural resources.

It promotes 'agro-ecological' practices, such as the use of natural fertilisers and traditional seeds and reducing the distance between the farm and the consumer.

Professor Robert Watson, director of the report's secretariat, says while calling for changes to agricultural practices is an "old message", it "has not always had resonance in some parts of the world".

"If those with power are now willing to hear it, then we may hope for more equitable policies that do take the interests of the poor into account," he says.

Environmental impacts

The IAASTD also calls for a careful study of the environmental impacts on genetically modified crops and biofuels without taking a clear overall stance on either issue.

Some 60 governments, including Brazil, China, France and India, have approved the report.

But the US, Australia and Canada have not endorsed the entire report and the UK has not yet officially responded.

"The US objection [to the report] was primarily around the trade issue ...They also felt we were not as positive as they would have liked on some of the new forms of biotechnology and transgenics. They have a less nuanced perspective than us," Watson says.

Poverty gap

The IAASTD, whose co-sponsors also include the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, says the benefits of increases in agricultural production are unfairly distributed with the current system often increasing the gap between rich and poor.

The report aims to set the agenda for hunger and poverty reduction in the next 50 years when demand for food is expected to rise sharply.

Food prices have already started to climb, which Watson says has been driven by increased demand, unfavourable weather, export restrictions, commodity market speculators, increased land use for biofuels, particularly in the US, and rising energy costs.

Dr John Williams, a commissioner to the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, says the report shows we can't just focus on agricultural research that deals with increasing production alone.

He says the report highlights the "huge problem" we have in finding ways to produce sufficient food for a rapidly growing population and halting the damage and increasing pressure on our natural resources, soils, water and biodiversity.

"We've got to look at whole ecological, energy and water systems to appreciate the impacts or the footprint of our food on our natural resource base," he says.

Urgency means 'technology essential'

But Dr Eric Craswell, a visiting fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University and former senior academic advisor to the United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security, criticises how the report handles issues like trade and biotechnology.

"With the urgency of food production problems we can't afford to be so picky about some of these issues. Why should developing country farmers be denied the opportunities of modern science in biotechnology, fertilisers and so on?"

While the report does not say poor countries should be denied access to such technologies, it recommends assessing their risks and benefits.

Craswell welcomes, however, how the report draws together the ideas of scientists and non-government organisations, especially in relation to the link between agriculture and the environment.