Global Food Crisis Summit:The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) Rome food security summit concluded on Thursday and not surprisingly differences on rich country subsidies/protections for agriculture, biofuels and the opposition of well-fed Europeans to GM foods, remained unresolved.

The FAO estimates that global food consumption will double over the next 30 years as the global population increases by 42 percent to over 9 billion.

At the opening ceremony on Tuesday, FAO Director-General Dr. Jacques Diouf appealed to world leaders for $30 billion a year to re-launch agriculture and avert future threats of conflicts over food. He said that OECD countries* spent $372 billion in 2006 alone, to support their agriculture - Global Food Crisis Summit: FAO says world only needs $30 billion a year to eradicate the scourge of hunger; OECD countries spent $372 billion in 2006 alone to support their agriculture

Also on Tuesday, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon said that that there were nearly one billion people short of food and called upon countries gathered here to act with"a sense of purpose and mission."

"Only by acting together, in partnership, can we overcome this crisis,"he said.

But it was noted that the powerful politicians in attendance spoke mostly about economics and politics.

US Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer promoted the benefits of biofuels and how genetically modified crops could reduce world hunger. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil explained how Brazilian biofuels, made from sugar cane, had many advantages compared with the US use of corn. Zimbabwe tyrant Robert Mugabe, who has managed to convert one of Africa's most fertile regions into a wasteland, talked about how colonialism created the food crisis. And Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel will cease to exist with or without the involvement of Iran.

It was also noted that everyone complained about protectionism, though not their own.

The summit declaration  warned of high food prices “in the years to come” and on Thursday in Chicago, spot corn hit a record high of $6.43 a bushel and corn for delivery in 2009, when the US forecasts that about 33 percent of its corn crop will be consumed by the biofuels industry – rose to  a high of $6.97 a bushel. Soyabean prices hit a three-month high of $14.56 a bushel as Argentina, the world’s third largest soya exporter, refused to lift its export restrictions. The summit made a commitment to “eliminate hunger and secure food for all today and tomorrow”, but FAO Director General Jacques Diouf said at the summit’s final press conference:“The countries come together to the minimum common denominator.” Franco Frattini, Italian Foreign Minister, which was hosting the Rome summit, said that the declaration text was “disappointing relative to expectations”. He added that it was “unfortunately very watered down”.

The US, Brazil and some European countries defended their pro-biofuel policies at the summit while developing countries such as Venezuela have criticised them strongly.

Thursday's declaration says that biofuels present both “challenges” and “opportunities”, and their role should be analysed taking into account the“world’s food security, energy and sustainable development needs”.

Diplomats and FAO officials said that dialogue would focus on the Global Bioenergy Partnership, a group created at the Gleneagles G8 summit three years ago.

It includes the G8 countries plus developing nations such as Brazil and China. “This would be a way to bury the dispute and deal with it at a later stage,” said a diplomat according to the Financial Times.

European governments supported the US and Brazil’s position that biofuels were only one of the causes of food price rises, citing other factors such as the increase in oil costs, higher consumption in developing countries, adverse weather and export bans.

On Wednesday, there was agreement to boost investment in agriculture by tackling the slowdown in farming productivity, as well as announcements of multi-million dollar contributions to food aid and farm projects.

France promised €1bn, Spain €500m and the Islamic Development Bank $1.5bn for food aid and agricultural development over the next five years.

African Partnership

Kofi Annan (AGRA - Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa ), Josette Sheeran (WFP - World Food Programme ), Jacques Diouf (FAO - Food and Agriculture Organisation), and Kanayo Nwanze (Vice President, IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development, representing Lennart Båge) at the signing ceremony of a partnership agreement for Africa. ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

A partnership among key players in agricultural development aims to significantly boost food production in Africa’s “breadbasket regions,” link local food production to food needs, and work across Africa’s major agricultural growing areas—or agro-ecological zones—to create opportunities for smallholder farmers, was agreed. 

A “Memorandum of Understanding” was signed today by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP) at the FAO High-Level Conference on World Food Security.

Among the challenges facing accelerated food production in Africa are poorly developed markets, lack of investment, and poor infrastructure in rural areas. Despite this, there exist opportunities that can be tapped to help end chronic hunger and food problems. This new partnership aims to make a difference now by optimizing food production in areas with relatively good rainfall, soils, infrastructure, and markets—or “breadbasket areas.”

The new partnership announced that it will work closely with other stakeholders in these breadbasket areas to rapidly improve food production, food security and rural incomes. Careful environmental monitoring, and conserving biodiversity, water and land will be given high priority. The agreement also calls for coordinating and sharing agricultural development innovations across diverse ecological zones and associated crops. At the country level, the partnership will support the efforts of governments and work with farmers and other stakeholders to rapidly boost agricultural productivity and farm incomes. Each agency will deliver unique expertise towards achieving an environmentally and economically sustainable green revolution that will end the continent’s perennial food crisis.

“This collaborative initiative is part of AGRA’s strategic vision to build partnerships that pool the strengths and resources of the public and private sectors, civil society, farmers organizations, donors, scientists and entrepreneurs across the agricultural value chain,” said Kofi A. Annan, Chairman of the Board of AGRA a former UN Secretary-General. “We must implement immediate solutions for today’s crisis and do so in the context of a long-term concerted effort to transform smallholder agriculture, to increase productivity and sustainability, and to end poverty and hunger."

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano

Per capita food production has declined in Africa for the past 30 years and farm productivity in Africa is just one-quarter the global average. Today, more than 200 million people are chronically hungry in the region, and 33 million children under age five are malnourished. To turn things around, there is need for urgent focus on raising agricultural productivity. More investment is needed to improve soil and water management of rainfed and irrigation agriculture, more adaptable new crop varieties, improved access to seeds and fertilizers, environmentally sustainable integrated pest management practices, reduction in post-harvest losses, and improvement of rural infrastructure, especially roads and communication infrastructure. These will need to be bolstered by bold pro-poor policies to help transform smallholder agriculture.

FAO's Jacques Diouf said, "Unlocking the potential of agriculture in Africa is a huge challenge, but it can be done. This initiative is an important contribution to reduce the number of more than 200 million hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa by boosting food production and productivity, and improving the livelihoods of millions of people in rural areas. FAO will actively participate in this important initiative by assisting in stimulating local food production, providing technical input, and developing new agricultural investments.”

AGRA will develop and promote higher yielding, locally adapted seeds, soil fertility options, water management systems, and market development to aid smallholder farmers and pro-poor policies that will catalyze farm productivity growth in the breadbasket zones. “We hope to spur a green revolution in Africa which respects biodiversity and the continent’s distinct regions and great variety of crops—from millet and sorghum in the Sahel, to the root and tuber belts that cut across humid West Africa, to maize in the high and lowland areas of Eastern and Southern Africa,” said. Annan.

As a major buyer of food in Africa and the developing world, WFP will use its purchasing power to contribute to a green revolution in Africa and to market development—a powerful incentive for agricultural production. This agreement assures farmers a market, without which many well-meaning efforts to increase farm production have failed. Last year, WFP purchased a record amount of food—US$612 million in 69 developing countries—of which US$253 million was in Africa, most notably in Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Zambia and Malawi. From 2001-2007, WFP purchased more than US$1.2 billion of food on domestic markets in Africa. This new partnership could result in millions more being spent in potential breadbasket areas where surpluses exist.

"WFP is delighted to work with AGRA, a critical player who will help stimulate agriculture production," saidJosette Sheeran, WFP's Executive Director. "Together with FAO and IFAD, we can bring major improvements to the lives of small-scale producers and food- insecure farmers all across Africa, and help reduce hunger and vulnerability."

GM Foods

The US Agriculture Secretary Ed Shafer said in Rome that the world needed to use genetically modified organisms as there was “no way” yields could be raised without GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms). European governments opposed the idea -Developing Countries led growth of biotech/GM agriculture in 2007.

Most well-fed Europeans, have no understanding of the challenges faced by agriculture in tropical countries, in particular from pests. Besides the health scare aspect, antipathy to GM is also powered by anti-multinational sentiment.

American Norman Borluag is credited with saving the lives of more people than anyone who has ever lived, as the father of the Green Revolution- Global Food Crisis: Malthus, Food Price Surge, Climate Change and a 42% rise in World Population by 2050

"Our planet has 6.5 billion people," the 94-year old Borlaug says. "If we use only organic fertilizers and methods on existing farmland, we can only feed 4 billion. I don't see 2.5 billion people volunteering to disappear."

To feed everyone with organic and traditional farming, we would have to plough millions of acres of forests and other wildlife habitat, he calculates. If, instead, we continue to use commercial fertilizer and hybrids, and have strong public support for both genetic engineering (GE) and traditional research,"the Earth can provide sufficient food for 10 billion people."

Monsanto, the bogeyman of the well-fed armchair opponents of GM in Europe and the leader in agricultural biotechnology, pledged Wednesday to develop seeds that would double the yields of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030 and would require 30% less water, land and energy to grow.

Monsanto announced a three-point commitment to help increase global food production in the face of growing demand, limited natural resources and a changing climate. It pledged to work in new partnerships with other businesses, citizen groups and governments to meet one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.

"Agriculture intersects the toughest challenges we all face on the planet," said Hugh Grant, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Monsanto, in announcing the commitment to help address the needs of a global population expected to reach nine billion people by 2050. "Together, we must meet the needs for increased food, fiber and energy while protecting the environment. In short, the world needs to produce more while conserving more."

"As an agricultural company focused on increasing crop yields, we will do our part,"he said. "But it will also require the efforts of a diverse group of organizations with many points of view to work together and take action to address the daunting challenges facing us all."

Monsanto says its three-point commitment to growing yields sustainably includes:

-- Develop better seeds - Monsanto will double yield in its three core crops of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030, compared to a base year of 2000. The company will also establish a $10 million grant designed to accelerate breakthrough public sector research in wheat and rice yield.

-- Conserve resources - Monsanto will develop seeds that will reduce by one-third the amount of key resources required to grow crops by the year 2030. The company will also join with others to address habitat loss and water quality in agriculturally important areas.

-- Help improve farmers' lives - The company will help improve the lives of farmers, including an additional five million people in resource-poor farm families by 2020.

"We're undertaking this initiative after engaging many of our farmer customers, policymakers, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and experts in academia and industry. We asked them what agriculture must do to become more sustainable, and our commitment reflects how we will put their advice into action,"Grant said.

In discussing the challenges faced by agriculture, Grant noted that the world faces significant food price inflation for the first time in decades, driven largely by the demand for higher-protein diets in such countries as China and India and energy prices that have quadrupled over the past five years. Experts say it will be necessary to produce as much food between now and 2050 as has been produced in the last 10,000 years.As agriculture uses 70 percent of the world's fresh water and more than half of the habitable land, much of the production increase must come from increased crop yields.

Concern over climate change has also increased, with experts noting that the eight warmest years on record have all occurred in the last decade.

Grant said the quality of life for the world's one billion farmers is an important part of this equation. This includes both commercial farmers and the tens of millions of resource-poor farmers who survive on less than $2 per day.

Grant said Monsanto spends an average of more than $2 million a day on agricultural research. Yet he noted that partnerships with others are essential to developing and delivering approaches to these global challenges.

Examples of what Monsanto will undertake to achieve its three-point commitment include the following:

Develop better seeds

Monsanto's research program centers on increasing yields for three key crops used for food, feed, fiber and fuel - corn, soybeans and cotton. The company's research pipeline uses more precise breeding techniques to develop higher-yielding germplasm. Other technologies result in plant traits that provide better protection against pests and better weed control. Monsanto's objective under this new commitment is to double yield for these three crops by 2030 in countries where farmers have access to current and anticipated new seed choices offered by the company.

This would mean, for example, that corn production in the prominent agricultural markets of Argentina, Brazil and the United States would reach a weighted average of 220 bushels per acre by 2030, compared to 109.1 bushels per acre in 2000. Soybean production in those countries would rise from a weighted average of 39.5 bushels per acre in 2000 to 79 bushels per acre in 2030. Cotton would increase from 1.4 bales (672 pounds) per acre to 2.8 bales (1,344 pounds) per acre.

Monsanto will establish a five-year, $10 million grant for rice and wheat research to be administered by a panel of world experts on food production in developing countries. Rice and wheat are key crops for food security, but are not a primary focus for the company. The chairperson of this panel will be named in the near future. A panel of independent judges will select one project per year to receive a $2 million grant. Further details on this program will be developed and announced in the coming months.

Conserve resources

Monsanto's research pipeline includes new corn, soybeans and cotton products that will result in more production per unit of land, and reduced use of energy, fertilizer and water per unit produced. Monsanto will track the progress of its products toward the goal of reducing by one-third the cumulative amount of key resources like land, water and energy required per unit of output.

Monsanto will also undertake a series of partnerships that will address key environmental issues associated with agriculture.

Help improve farmers' lives

The third element in Monsanto's commitment is to improve the lives of farmers, including smallholder and resource-poor farmers. Part of this commitment is offering products that increase productivity and reduce the risks of farming, such as fewer inputs to manage insects, weeds and other yield-robbing stresses.

The availability of these new commercial products can help. In India, for example, the use of insect-protected cotton increased yields by more than 50 percent and profits to farmers by more than US$250 per hectare, according to third-party studies.

In special circumstances for resource-poor farmers, Monsanto also is committed to sharing its expertise in a way that gives them access to modern agricultural technology.

For example, one of the first of these projects was announced in March, a collaboration with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Monsanto to develop drought-tolerant maize for Africa that will be made available to farmers royalty-free.

The AATF is leading this project in which Monsanto and CIMMYT are donating unique germplasm and technology expertise. In addition, Monsanto is contributing breeding tools and the same water-use efficiency genes being developed for commercial global markets. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation are providing funding for product testing and development in Africa. Government researchers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa are also playing a key role in this public-private partnership called Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA). Among other partnerships, Monsanto will also work with public institutions to develop products for non-commercial crops that are important in some world areas, including cassava, cowpea and papaya.

"These commitments represent the beginning of a journey that we will expand on and deepen in the years ahead. We will report on our progress as we engage our entire organization in this effort," Grant said.

Monsanto’s goal of doubling yields by 2030 over levels in 2000 might require a sharp acceleration in the rate by which agricultural productivity has been increasing. James E. Specht, a soybean genetics expert at the University of Nebraska, said. according to the New York Times, he doubted it could be done.

“The hype-to-reality ratio of that one is essentially infinity,” Specht said. “Seeing an exponential change in the yield curve is unlikely.”

Specht said that on irrigated farms in Nebraska, soybean yields have been increasing by about 0.6 bushels an acre every year. At that rate it would take 83 years for yields to double from the 50 bushels an acre recorded in 2000.

The Times says that  Monsanto executives say that a new technique called marker-assisted selection could double the rate of gain made from breeding. That technique does not involve altering crops by putting in foreign genes. Rather it uses genetic tests to help choose which plants to use in conventional cross-breeding, vastly speeding up the process.

Monsanto executives say genetic engineering could provide additional increases in output beyond that. The company’s insect-resistant crops already help protect corn and cotton. And Monsanto scientists are working on genetically engineered crops that would grow better with less water and fertilizer.

Moreover, the company is not talking about the United States alone.In some countries, output could be increased sharply just by introducing modern hybrid corn, whether or not that corn is genetically engineered, Grant said.