Biovision/IAASTD World Agricultural Report

The IAASTD World Agricultural Report documents that around 2.6 billion
people worldwide depend on agriculture for survival. The great majority of
the poorest people live in rural areas and are predominantly farmers. “The
fact that in the past, less and less has been done for small farmers in
developing countries, is fatal”, says Dr. Herren, “we must promote training,
access to information, small loans and land for farmers, and also create
market structures which give these people the chance to feed and support
their families!” The IAASTD report proves that enough food is produced
According to the World Agricultural Advisory Board, the main problems are dissemination and sustainability. The report documents that increasing use of chemicals and industrialisation, as well as lack of training and research into sustainable agricultural methods have lead to an increase in the overuse of natural resources and soil infertility “If we do not improve the soil and methods of cultivation, then even the best seeds and most modern techniques will be of no use
whatsoever,” – Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren comes to the point, and adds that a
trend reversal is urgently needed. “Agriculture must become more humane
and more sustainable”, says the Swiss recipient of the World Food Prize “and
we have good examples in Africa already, which show that adaptive
techniques and applied research lead to solutions which help both the
environment and small farmers”. more