Environmental conservation and the war on poverty: Agriculture provides key answers

The FAO Committee on Agriculture met from the 25th to 28th last April to present the conclusions of a report devoted to the opportunities provided by agriculture in the fight against environmental degradations and their many consequences.

Increased preoccupation with the environment – illustrated in particular by the multiplication of international treaties - has not prevented the continued extinction of species, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions or desertification. And the acceleration of environmental degradations and climate change have direct repercussions on agricultural production systems, on the viability of farms in various regions and therefore, in the long-run, on food security.

According to widely accepted demographic projections, the world population should reach 9 billion people in 2050. Agriculture must therefore be capable of prod

ucing enough food to meet human needs while providing answers to the environmental, economic and social challenges of the sector by:

>Guaranteeing food security for the world’s population;
>Providing solutions to reach the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol (carbon capture, production of raw materials for biofuels and bioplastics);
>Promoting a viable and remunerative agriculture that contributes to reaching the Millennium Development Goals by decreasing poverty and malnutrition.


As the report points out, this essential role must lead to the inclusion of agriculture (and all the players involved) in the definition of strategies dedicated to the preservation of biodiversity, the fight against climate change and the development of bio-energy.

According to Alexander Muller, Assistant Director-General of the FAO, it is urgent to take the environmental risks linked to agriculture into account in order to find solutions on both ecological and economic levels. The NAR Agency, with its exhaustive evaluations and realistic analyses of the agricultural sector and its challenges, will be able to respond to this need starting in 2008.