People at risk of suffering from hunger: how the pandemic will change agriculture
The world now has a unique opportunity to: take long-term action to promote a healthier diet; encourage farmers to produce a wider range of food; to strengthen cooperation between health, food industry and agriculture. Agricultural science and research can play a critical role in transforming food systems to make these systems more sustainable, including environmentally.
The need for change is clear. To begin with, unhealthy diets are one of the top risk factors for Covid-19 deaths. The SARS-CoV-2 virus disproportionately strikes people who are overweight, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and all this is a consequence of poor nutrition.
In addition, the current crisis has exposed the extreme fragility of the global food system. Social distancing and quarantine decisions designed to limit the spread of the virus have significantly reduced human incomes and, by extension, global food demand. The resulting slump in food prices between January and May 2020 has had an extremely negative impact on the incomes of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers around the world.
The closures of restaurants and schools, as well as logistics disruptions and a shortage of migrant workers needed to harvest the harvest, have left vast amounts of agricultural produce thrown away. Many farmers are now hesitant to start a new planting cycle, while some highly competitive growers are thriving: for example, Brazil's soybean exports to China hit record highs in the first five months of 2020.
But because the food system is so fragile, any additional supply cuts or export restrictions can quickly reverse these price trends. Food prices could rise significantly, further weakening global food security.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that at least 14.4 million people in 101 net food importing countries are likely to suffer from malnutrition due to the economic crisis triggered by Covid-19. And in the extreme scenario (a ten percentage point reduction in real global GDP growth in 2020), this figure will increase to 80.3 million.
That is why, in the short term, governments must not only provide financial assistance to people and companies affected by the pandemic, but also take action to prevent the food crisis. The authorities should not cut off foreign trade ties, but promote them; they should also improve coordination and information exchange between food producers and food buyers, especially at the local level.
Long-term measures must necessarily include promoting healthier diets. Over the past 60 years, the global diet has become more homogeneous, increasingly dominated by mass, staple foods; they are very high in calories but low in micronutrients. Three crops - rice, corn, and wheat - provide over 50% of the calories that humans get from plants. People, mostly the poorest, do not eat enough nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. An estimated 11 million people die each year from unhealthy diets.
One of the top priorities is to identify the types of nutrient crops that can be included in the diet. For example, quinoa, fonio (a highly nutritious grain that is now in growing demand) and bambara peanut (African peanuts) contain higher quality proteins than most major grains and can still be grown in hostile conditions. Further research could lead to higher yields and lower prices, which would allow these products to become more massive and affordable. Governments and financial donors can help by providing more funds to local growers of these and many other rare (so-called orphan) crops.
In addition, researchers can use traditional plant breeding methods to biofortify the crops that dominate the diet today, especially among the poorest. Biofortification is the creation of nutrient-rich varieties by selectively crossing nutrient-rich varieties and varieties that provide higher yields. Such work involves the use of the genetic traits of thousands of grain varieties that are stored in genetic banks or still exist in nature in their places of origin.
However, the adjustment on the production side should not end there, because food production today is a major factor in environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. Agriculture consumes huge amounts of fresh water; it accounts for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions; it destroys the natural habitats of animals for the sake of areas for livestock and crops. Despite this, agrarian research has been focused on productivity rather than sustainability for too long, with investments focused primarily on developing better seeds and disease-resistant animal breeds, as well as improving the efficiency of production methods for a small number of crops and animal species. ... Governments have encouraged these trends with financial support, regulatory standards and trade agreements.
But this race to produce and supply cheap calories has collateral damage - mainly in the form of poor nutrition and local development. The calorie race involves production chains that focus on a few staple foods, sourced from a limited number of countries. As a result, many other countries have become net food importers. The pandemic has highlighted not only their excessive and dangerous dependence on multiple manufacturers based thousands of miles away, but also the need for shorter and more heterogeneous production chains.
The current food production model also relies on subsidies to farmers, mainly in developed countries, which are estimated at around $ 600 billion per year. Such programs lead to oversupply and lower prices, thereby limiting food production opportunities in countries that cannot budget to support their farmers.
Cutting this Gordian knot will require decisive action on several fronts. We need more research on food products to support a more varied and healthy diet; many of these products can be produced by developing countries. Authorities should also develop regenerative production systems that enhance biodiversity and improve soil and water quality, which will greatly aid adaptation to climate change. Governments, international organizations and NGOs must take the lead in creating the institutional environment that will bring about these major changes in the agrarian research agenda.
The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to transform agriculture. The ensuing restructuring of the economy will be an ideal opportunity to ensure better nutrition and health for all.
Перевод Статьи:301 группа.Нуркабекова А.
Source: https://forbes.kz/life/observation/lyudi_riskuyut_postradat_ot_goloda_kak_pandemiya_izmenit_selskoe_hozyaystvo/?utm_source=forbes&utm_medium=mlt_news
The need for change is clear. To begin with, unhealthy diets are one of the top risk factors for Covid-19 deaths. The SARS-CoV-2 virus disproportionately strikes people who are overweight, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, and all this is a consequence of poor nutrition.
In addition, the current crisis has exposed the extreme fragility of the global food system. Social distancing and quarantine decisions designed to limit the spread of the virus have significantly reduced human incomes and, by extension, global food demand. The resulting slump in food prices between January and May 2020 has had an extremely negative impact on the incomes of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers around the world.
The closures of restaurants and schools, as well as logistics disruptions and a shortage of migrant workers needed to harvest the harvest, have left vast amounts of agricultural produce thrown away. Many farmers are now hesitant to start a new planting cycle, while some highly competitive growers are thriving: for example, Brazil's soybean exports to China hit record highs in the first five months of 2020.
But because the food system is so fragile, any additional supply cuts or export restrictions can quickly reverse these price trends. Food prices could rise significantly, further weakening global food security.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that at least 14.4 million people in 101 net food importing countries are likely to suffer from malnutrition due to the economic crisis triggered by Covid-19. And in the extreme scenario (a ten percentage point reduction in real global GDP growth in 2020), this figure will increase to 80.3 million.
That is why, in the short term, governments must not only provide financial assistance to people and companies affected by the pandemic, but also take action to prevent the food crisis. The authorities should not cut off foreign trade ties, but promote them; they should also improve coordination and information exchange between food producers and food buyers, especially at the local level.
Long-term measures must necessarily include promoting healthier diets. Over the past 60 years, the global diet has become more homogeneous, increasingly dominated by mass, staple foods; they are very high in calories but low in micronutrients. Three crops - rice, corn, and wheat - provide over 50% of the calories that humans get from plants. People, mostly the poorest, do not eat enough nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. An estimated 11 million people die each year from unhealthy diets.
One of the top priorities is to identify the types of nutrient crops that can be included in the diet. For example, quinoa, fonio (a highly nutritious grain that is now in growing demand) and bambara peanut (African peanuts) contain higher quality proteins than most major grains and can still be grown in hostile conditions. Further research could lead to higher yields and lower prices, which would allow these products to become more massive and affordable. Governments and financial donors can help by providing more funds to local growers of these and many other rare (so-called orphan) crops.
In addition, researchers can use traditional plant breeding methods to biofortify the crops that dominate the diet today, especially among the poorest. Biofortification is the creation of nutrient-rich varieties by selectively crossing nutrient-rich varieties and varieties that provide higher yields. Such work involves the use of the genetic traits of thousands of grain varieties that are stored in genetic banks or still exist in nature in their places of origin.
However, the adjustment on the production side should not end there, because food production today is a major factor in environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. Agriculture consumes huge amounts of fresh water; it accounts for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions; it destroys the natural habitats of animals for the sake of areas for livestock and crops. Despite this, agrarian research has been focused on productivity rather than sustainability for too long, with investments focused primarily on developing better seeds and disease-resistant animal breeds, as well as improving the efficiency of production methods for a small number of crops and animal species. ... Governments have encouraged these trends with financial support, regulatory standards and trade agreements.
But this race to produce and supply cheap calories has collateral damage - mainly in the form of poor nutrition and local development. The calorie race involves production chains that focus on a few staple foods, sourced from a limited number of countries. As a result, many other countries have become net food importers. The pandemic has highlighted not only their excessive and dangerous dependence on multiple manufacturers based thousands of miles away, but also the need for shorter and more heterogeneous production chains.
The current food production model also relies on subsidies to farmers, mainly in developed countries, which are estimated at around $ 600 billion per year. Such programs lead to oversupply and lower prices, thereby limiting food production opportunities in countries that cannot budget to support their farmers.
Cutting this Gordian knot will require decisive action on several fronts. We need more research on food products to support a more varied and healthy diet; many of these products can be produced by developing countries. Authorities should also develop regenerative production systems that enhance biodiversity and improve soil and water quality, which will greatly aid adaptation to climate change. Governments, international organizations and NGOs must take the lead in creating the institutional environment that will bring about these major changes in the agrarian research agenda.
The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to transform agriculture. The ensuing restructuring of the economy will be an ideal opportunity to ensure better nutrition and health for all.
Перевод Статьи:301 группа.Нуркабекова А.
Source: https://forbes.kz/life/observation/lyudi_riskuyut_postradat_ot_goloda_kak_pandemiya_izmenit_selskoe_hozyaystvo/?utm_source=forbes&utm_medium=mlt_news