Why choose organic?
2023-08-23
Organic farming can be a solution not only to hunger and malnutrition, but also to other challenges such as poverty, water use, climate change and unsustainable production and consumption.
We are in crisis on many fronts
More than 800 million people are hungry and about 2 billion are malnourished. About 30% of adults globally are overweight or obese, and about 30% of the food produced globally is lost or wasted.
The global natural environment is declining at a rate unprecedented in human history. Up to a million species are threatened with extinction, many within decades.
Land degradation has reduced productivity across 23% of the world's land area, putting up to $577 billion in annual global crops at risk of pollinator loss.
According to the FAO report on the state of biodiversity, of the thousands of plant species used for food, fewer than 200 make a significant contribution to global food production, and only nine account for 66% of total crop production.
Unsustainable agriculture is part of the problem
Unsustainable agriculture is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss, contributing to global warming, contaminating soil, and threatening rural livelihoods and food and nutrition security.
A recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report shows that our food systems account for an estimated 29% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.
Chemical fertilizers used to grow food are responsible for most of the nitrous oxide released into the atmosphere by human activities.
It is estimated that 80% of global deforestation is directly caused by agriculture.
Farmers often suffer the consequences of our unsustainable economy and lifestyle. They are the poorest and most food insecure people in the world, and the ones most affected by climate change.
We need systemic change
The negative environmental and health impacts of input-intensive or industrial agriculture, its inability to provide farmers with decent incomes, its high dependence on fossil fuels and its high vulnerability to climate change all point to the need for change.
Many of our policies only exacerbate the problem. According to a recent analysis, only 1% of the $700 billion given to farmers each year benefits the environment.
It should be clear to all of us that sustainably nourishing the world requires that we protect the ecological resources necessary to produce food now and in the future.
Organic farming offers solutions
The good news is that agriculture can bring us solutions, too. About 30% of global crop production and the global food supply is provided by small plots of less than 2 hectares, using about 25% of agricultural land and often maintaining rich agrobiodiversity.
If done well, agriculture based on organic farming principles can be a transitional pathway to the solutions needed for sustainable food systems and climate resilience.
Organic farming is an accessible, affordable and empowering system for most smallholder farmers because it is based primarily on the use of local biodiversity and resources and incurs few external costs – for the cash-poor This is especially important for subsistence farmers.
future agriculture
The major issues of our time – energy, the environment, climate change, food security, financial security – cannot be understood in isolation. We need to develop food and agricultural policies that take into account all the common concerns of humanity.
These policies and policy instruments that favor sustainable agriculture are crucial to supporting organic farmers who contribute to the common good and produce high-quality food for all.
Transforming food systems also means changing conditions for farmers and food workers through a greater emphasis on equity, social justice and inclusion. Changing our eating habits, such as eating less meat and choosing locally grown, seasonal, organic produce, also plays an important role.
source: