Solving Hunger

The Socialist Party often receive demands to explain its solutions to the world's problems. Our answer is that these solutions already exist and often only require implementation or further expansion. There is no single technical or managerial fix to the interlinked problems of global hunger, poverty and environmental degradation. In India millions of households suffer from chronic undernourishment and malnutrition despite the fact that favourable years produce more than enough grain, and there is a public distribution system designed to supply poor households with subsidised grain.



The Problem

About 12 per cent (1.6 billion hectares) of the world's land area is used for agriculture. Land degradation, or the loss of land's productive capacity, is a global problem, but especially in dry-land regions, a quarter of which are devoted to agriculture.  Dry-lands also support over 30 per cent of the world's population.

Water management is another major challenge. Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of all water taken from aquifers, streams, rivers and lakes. To meet projected demands, the efficiency of water use (crop produced 'per drop') will need to improve in both irrigated and rain-fed zones. Forty per cent of global increases in food production have come from irrigated areas. Rain-fed systems are the world's largest agricultural system, taking up 80 per cent of cultivated land area and producing 60 per cent of the world's crops. In Africa, rain-fed agriculture produces 97 per cent of staples.

Soil health and crop productivity is also constrained by land management practices that lead to erosion, waterlogging and salinization (salt build-up), and loss of nutrients from soils Overgrazing, over-irrigation, using too much or too little inorganic fertilizer, ploughing and other mechanical disturbance all contribute to poor soils. Soil degradation is a particular problem in tropical developing countries, where soil is often less 'forgiving' of poor management. Across Africa, for example, agriculture that removes soil nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus without replenishing them (sometimes termed nutrient mining) contributes to low crop productivity. Phosphorus is essential for plant growth and, unlike nitrogen fertilizers, cannot be produced artificially. Phosphorus is mined from finite deposits that are expected to be depleted in 70-125 years.

Modern agriculture is energy intensive - tractor and transport fuel, producing agri-chemicals and storing and processing food all depend on affordable fossil fuels. So there are growing concerns about the carbon footprint of the agrifood sector. Agriculture contributes around 13.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions as a result of cultivation practices and the expansion of agricultural land into forest areas, releasing stored carbon from above and below ground.

Impacts associated with climate change such as delayed or early onset of seasons, more variable precipitation and temperatures, and increasing incidence of climate 'shocks' - such as unpredictable dry spells - can all affect plant growth.

The Solution?

These challenges and constraints call for a fundamental transformation in agriculture across the world. Increasing food production could follow either extensification (converting forests, grasslands and other 'natural' ecosystems into cropland) or intensification (increasing the amount produced per hectare within existing cropland). Intensification is generally preferred as it spares other ecosystems from agricultural use. Intensified agriculture will need to close so-called 'yield gaps' - the difference between current yields and those obtainable under optimal management - in ways that prevent, or in some cases reverse, environmental harm.

Farming depends on experimentation, observation, and carefully designed resource management systems. Mexican farmers' domestication of wild teosinte (maize's ancestor) 9,000 years ago provides one of the best-known examples of ancient crop-breeding. Careful husbandry of plant and animal biodiversity has been practised since antiquity in home gardens and through the domestication of edible species. Soil and water management also has a long history. Traditional irrigation techniques range from large-scale systems (e.g. a network of dams and canals) to small, decentralised and flexible systems (e.g. farm ponds, treadle pumps and drip irrigation) and the use of integrated soil and water conservation (e.g. through check dams and stream bunds).

In modern times, new techniques  have made key contributions through advances in plant breeding (notably improved varieties of maize, rice and wheat), by developing synthetic pesticides and fertilisers and by mechanising farming practices along the production chain from 'field to fork'. Applied in Asia and Latin America, these innovations contributed to substantial increases in food production in the early- to mid-twentieth century. Beginning with new high-yielding wheat varieties developed in Mexico, the 'Green Revolution' raised global yields of wheat (208 per cent), paddy rice (109 per cent), maize (157 per cent), potato (78 per cent) and cassava (36 per cent) between 1960 and 2000.  The Green Revolution stemmed from developments in biology and chemistry in the 1800s and early 1900s. Advances in plant breeding were based on Mendellian genetics. In chemistry, the Haber-Bosch process (developed by the German chemist Fritz Haber) converted atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia fertiliser on an industrial scale. The improved seeds and fertilisers these developments brought were supported by irrigation infrastructure and machinery and expert advice. The Green Revolution potently demonstrated science’s potential to increase food production. It was lauded for averting catastrophic famine in the developing world, and also for 'sparing' non-agricultural land from conversion to cropland.

 The African Orphan Crop Consortium (AOCC) aims to map and analyse the genomes of 100 so-called 'orphan' crops, selected by African scientists, which have so far been neglected as they were not economically important on the global market. Tef  is the main cereal grown in Ethiopia and vital for food security there. It is resilient to drought, waterlogging, diseases and pests. Research on improving tef varieties began in the 1950s, but had limited success due to the lack of funding and research. However, a new hybrid tef variety called Quncho was released by the Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Centre in 2006 and is proving popular with farmers. Farmers participated in Quncho's development, helping select and breed the variety. Their involvement meant breeders developed a variety which closely matched farmers' and consumers' preferences.
Quncho was also disseminated using an innovative approach. Instead of relying on conventional 'technology transfer', farmers were introduced to the new variety and its cultivation techniques through farmer-led testing, coordinated between research centres, administrative bodies, farmers and farmers groups, seed-growers associations and agro-processors. Breeding new crop varieties is only one of many options for resource-conserving and yield-enhancing agriculture.

Agroecological methods rely on management rules and packages of technologies carefully calibrated to suit local conditions and farmers' preferences.

Methods include systems such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, the system of rice intensification, integrated pest management, the inclusion of aquaculture and small livestock into farming systems, water harvesting, soil conservation and integrated nutrient management. A 2006 analysis of agroecological methods based on 286 projects in 57 countries in the developing world, showed that projects increased crop yields by 64 per cent on average while improving water efficiency and carbon sequestration and reducing pesticide use.  In 2009, agroecological methods were endorsed by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, a process consulting some 900 participants over three years. These new management systems, and new crop varieties, promise to enable the world to produce more food while conserving resources and protecting the environment.

Agroforestry incorporates trees or shrubs into cropping systems, offering a range of benefits such as replenishing soil fertility and providing food, fodder, timber and fuelwood - and so helping produce greater value than single crops. The system's potential is most powerfully demonstrated in the Sahel, where agroforestry supported by soil and water conservation has 're-greened' the desert. In Niger, for example, five million hectares have been rehabilitated, benefitting some 2.5 million people.  Agroforestry can also increase yields substantially. In Burkina Faso, for example, planting trees and shrubs on farms across 200,000-300,000 hectares of farmland has boosted food production by some 80,000 tonnes a year. In Cameroon, maize yields have increased by 70 per cent on average, where leguminous trees and shrubs were planted on croplands.  Across Africa, using 'fertiliser tree' systems has increase the yields of food crops such as maize while reducing the use of expensive inorganic fertiliser.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) combines targeted use of agrochemicals with growing practices and biological techniques to control pests. Assessments of IPM show that it is possible to improve crop yields while reducing overall pesticide use. An assessment of 62 IPM initiatives in 26 countries revealed a 35 per cent increase in yields of various crops, alongside a 72 per cent decrease in pesticide use. A new IPM system, called 'push-pull technology' has been developed by Kenyan scientists in collaboration with UK researchers to control pests (notably stem-borers and Striga weed). It attracts pests to nearby plants (pull) while driving them away from the field using a repellent crop grown among the farmers' main crop (push). This system is now widely deployed across Africa - an estimated 30,000 smallholders in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania use it. In a recent assessment of push-pull IPM, researchers report 3-4-fold increases in maize, 2-fold increases in sorghum, improved soil health and increased farm biodiversity.

Then there is Conservation agriculture (CA) and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). CA consists of three interlinked principles: minimal soil tilling, maintaining permanent organic soil cover, and cultivating diverse crop species. CA was first developed in Latin America, and is now practiced on around 106 million hectares of arable and permanent crops. SRI, based on principles such as minimal use of water and transplanting of young seedlings, is widely used across Asia, Latin America and Africa, and has resulted in substantial yield increases while improving water-use efficiency. SRI benefits include 20-100 per cent or more increased yields, up to 90 per cent reduction in required seed, and up to 50 per cent water savings. Both of these management systems may contradict conventional advice from agricultural research institutes and the agriculture service, and often clash with what farmers think works best.

For example, cultivating SRI rice involves an unconventional irrigation schedule where fields are periodically drained rather than perpetually saturated. However, applying them while involving farmers as co-creators at every stage can help both farmers and research and extension agents to engage in creative and transformative change, rethinking established practices and exploring new ideas.

We have not yet mentioned urban farming, vertical farming, or hydroponic cultivation.

Nor have we raised the possibilties of the rich harvests of the oceans, a vast source of still untapped food potential, especially of protein-rich foods. As far as obtaining food from the sea is concerned mankind is still largely in the hunting and gathering stage from which on land we developed millions of years ago. Very little farming of the sea is done as yet,despite number of the salmon and shrimp farms that exist.

Moreover, we have not raised the argument that much of the world could move to the more efficient vegetarian-based diet and eat less meat.

Democracy

It is clear that innovation by itself is not enough to ensure increased food production, resource conservation or social-ecological well-being. Farmers, rural workers, local groups and community leaders need to participate in innovation, rather than being treated as passive recipients of new technologies. Participatory models work - a recent analysis of 40 cases of sustainable intensification of agriculture in Africa shows the ways in which farmers, public and private-sector partners have developed, adapted and disseminated agroecological systems that have increased yields while delivering environmental and social benefits. All the cases highlight the importance of farmer engagement, peer-to-peer learning, and of developing and using local institutions.

 Food sufficiency is affected strongly by the current market driven system, which produces in response to effective demand i.e. demand from those who can afford to pay. Food production and selling is big international business. It is true that there is also waste, misdirected production and unexploited resources: addressing these could increase food production. Hunger is caused by poverty and inequality, not scarcity. For the past two decades, the rate of global food production has increased faster than the rate of global population growth. The world already produces more than 1 ½ times enough food to feed everyone on the planet. That's enough to feed 10 billion people, the population peak we expect by 2050. But the people making less than $2 a day -- most of whom are resource-poor farmers cultivating small plots of land -- can't afford to buy this food. There is ample and growing evidence that workers engaged in the food industry are among the most exploited and poverty-stricken producers of a vital “commodity”. Which methods are sustainable? Environmentalists rightly show how many of our current productive methods are not 'sustainable' in that they damage the environment for future generations. Such methods could only be used to their full when we remove the market forces that drive producers to the short-term, cheap methods. This short-termism has prevented progress on a whole range of environmental issues.  With profit no longer the spur to activity, short-term policies leading to environmental damage will give way to long-term and sustainable policies. When food is produced for the sole reason that people need it then we shall have socialism —a world community based upon common ownership of the means of production and distribution. It will be a way of life divorced from the stupidities of a wages and monetary system. For the good of all, the earth with its riches and potential, harnessed with humanity's creative ability, will provide what we need for a full and meaningful life.

Facts from here

Addendum: The GMO Debate

Since the 1990s, a second 'wave' of technology development has sought new crop varieties through biotechnology, with controversy focusing on genetically modified (GM) crops. Some say GM crops are now "being taken up faster than any other agricultural technology since the plough 8,000 years ago, and are presently being used by 16 million farmers". The first GM crop to be released for commercial cultivation was Monsanto's 'Roundup Ready' soybean in 1996, which resists the herbicide glyphosate, allowing farmers to apply the herbicide without harming soy crops. One of the best known and most widely used forms of transgenic crop . This variety of cotton has been developed using genetic material from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, allowing the plant to produce an insecticide that harms certain cotton pests.

Unlike the Green Revolution, which was funded and supported by public-sector bodies, the 'gene revolution' is primarily driven by a private and global research system where new technologies find their way to developing countries through the market.There is tremendous private sector funding support for transgenic crops. As of 2005, for example, the top ten multinational bioscience corporations collectively spent nearly US$3billion per year on agricultural R&D - ten times more than that spent annually by the 15 CGIAR research centres, which together constitute the largest international public sector consortium supplier of agricultural technologies.  The manipulation of food for profit, such as Monsanto's "terminator gene", is an indictment of capitalism. Such an abuse of scientific knowledge would simply be inconceivable in a socialist society geared to meeting needs. What would be the point of modifying a crop so that its seeds were sterile? Only capitalism could think up such a project, let alone try to implement it. The prudent application of GM technology could be of some benefit to humanity and may be developed in socialism where food will be produced simply to feed people and not for profit. Properly applied to enhance human welfare, as for instance by developing varieties of crops that grow better in conditions that are currently unfavourable, it has a future in a socialist world free of profits, patents and markets. GM technology could allow the development of plant varieties suitable to organic farming and there is no reason why GM crops too couldn't be grown organically. The opposition organic/non-organic does not have to be the same as the opposition GM/non-GM.