b'INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTFeeding the World WithoutDamaging the EnvironmentI READ AN INTERESTINGdocument the other dayproduct? An example of this would be using no-till from the International Institute for Applied Systemsmethods to increase soil carbon, thereby lowering Analysis (IIASA) entitled How Can We Feed the Worldgreenhouse gases.Without Overwhelming the Planet? Their suggestion?Losses in agricultural production are sometimes Explore different ways to end hunger by reducing therelated to supply and demand. A farmer knows that if inequalities in access to food rather than increasingthey oversupply a market, this may lead to a decrease agricultural production, therefore reducing the potentialin price. Therefore, they may throw out some of their conflicts with environmental protection. produce to prevent this drop-in price below what The first method they suggest was to focus onit costs the farmers to produce it. The lack of open bridging the nutritional gap of the undernourished andmarkets may also see farmers in developing countries ANTHONY LEDDINover nourished populations through government strat- having their stores flooded with subsidized produce Inspired afteregies, such as school feeding programs and vouchersfrom the western world but they in turn cannot sell their reading Thefor food. A plan such as this would only need a 3%produce into western supermarkets due to tariff laws.Coming Famine,increase in agricultural production internationally. It is aWhat about the cost of the social implications of this Australianway to more evenly distribute the calories around thefarming? If farmers were to give up their trade and plant breeder setworld where obesity in the western world is a problemmove to the cities to look for alternative work, how out to make ato the third world where malnutrition is the problem. would the populations of the cities be fed? There are difference. PlantThis paper also shows that if equity of food distri- many books that suggest that the worlds growing Breeders Withoutbution is accompanied by a reduction in over con- populations in cities can be fed through urban farming, Borders encouragessumption and food waste, as well as improvements inbut on a large scale this would not be achievable.plant breeders andagricultural production technologies, this could lead toThe world has forgotten the importance of the students to volunteeran eradication of undernutrition as well as a reductionfarmer. Civilization as we know it today started with their time for inter- in agricultural production. This would lead to improvedthe development of agriculture. So, the question must national breedingenvironmental sustainability. be asked: Are we paying the real value for the food we projects. So, to end world hunger without having negativeeat? With the arrival of the first fleet in Australia, wheat effects on the environment, policies would need towas valued at approximately $700 per ton. Today it is address hunger, food waste and over consumption, asworth around $330 per ton. This decrease is partly due well as research to increase crop yields. to improvements in agricultural production practices, but there may be other factors involved. There is a link-Asking Questions age disequilibrium between consumers and farmers. One question that this paper brought to mind: AreWe have all read stories about farm life to our children. farmers getting paid the real value of what the foodThrough school, there is a loss of this link to farming to a really costs? Currently, we tend to put a value on apoint that some high school children believe that food is product that is purely calculated in economic terms.created in the supermarket and not on the farm. What are the inputs and what are the outputs? But doSo, what is the solution? I believe it is to bring back we put a value on everything along the chain? Letsthe education of food into our schools. Show children take into account the environment. Is there a value putwhere it comes from, take them out to the farms so they onto a product if there is an environmental cost thathave more value for the food that they consume. This occurs in its production? If the farmer uses practiceswill create a better understanding of the important role that are improving the health of their soil, are theythat farmers perform in our worldwide community. SWrewarded for this in the price they are paid for their 52/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2020'