| 
        Inducting Sustainable Agriculture in the Battle Against Poverty and Hunger
 As the 
        Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approach their expiry date in 2015 
        and the world prepares for the post-2015 scenario by drawing up a set of 
        Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is prudent to reflect on the 
        lessons emerging from the MDG experience. These lessons will prove 
        important in framing the SDGs in such a manner that they are geared for 
        success with not just ambitious yet achievable targets, but also 
        requisite focus on the means of implementation and avenues for 
        international cooperation.   One of the major 
        criticisms of the MDGs has been their near exclusive focus on social 
        outcomes and neglect of issues regarding environmental sustainability, 
        the production sector and economic development, even though these form 
        the foundation and enabling systems for the sustainable realisation of 
        the social outcomes. For example, the world is set to miss the MDG on 
        poverty and hunger reduction by a wide margin and one of the reasons 
        being proffered for the same is that the goal did not adequately focus 
        on agricultural development as central to the achievement of the goal. 
        It is important that the ongoing global dialogue on SDGs focuses as much 
        on the means of implementation and enabling systems as on the goals and 
        targets.   The list of 
        issues that the Rio+20 declaration has suggested to be addressed in the 
        SDGs already point to a positive approach of looking at goal areas 
        holistically along with their possible means of implementation. For 
        example, one goal area that can be considered a successor to the MDG on 
        eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is ‘food security, 
        nutrition and sustainable agriculture’ – underscoring the critical 
        role of sustainable agriculture in delivering long term solutions for 
        food and nutrition security and poverty alleviation. Research by the 
        World Bank indicates that growth in the agriculture sector generates 
        over double the gains in poverty reduction as compared to other sectors. 
        When this analysis is juxtaposed against the fact that majority of the 
        world’s poor are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, it 
        becomes clear why investing in agricultural development is critical for 
        meeting poverty reduction targets.   The word ‘sustainable’ in 
        this goal area is critical. Agriculture will have to shift to becoming 
        more sustainable i.e. more resource efficient and less polluting forms 
        that in the long run do not endanger the very production systems. In 
        particular, the availability of water is expected to become a major 
        limiting factor in efforts to increase agricultural productivity and 
        thus achieving improved water productivity will be crucial to the growth 
        of the sector. Promotion of production systems that draw more 
        effectively on production ecology principles and are based on ecosystem 
        approaches that conserve, manage and enhance natural resources is the 
        need of the hour. It is estimated that 
        agricultural output will have to increase by 60% to be able to feed the 
        world population in 2050. As the scope for increasing land area under 
        cultivation is limited, most of this additional food will have to come 
        from increase in yields and cropping intensities. Considering that 85% 
        of farmers worldwide are smallholders with less than 2 hectares of land, 
        there will need to be a strong emphasis on increasing the productivity 
        of smallholder agriculture. The Zero Hunger Challenge launched by the UN 
        Secretary General corroborates this by stating as one of its objectives, 
        the promotion of growth in the productivity and income of smallholder 
        farmers.   A diversity of solutions 
        for increasing agricultural productivity through sustainable 
        intensification already exists. The challenge for the post 2015 agenda 
        will be to promote the scaling of these solutions through support in the 
        form of improved market infrastructure, public and private investment 
        and cooperation for technology and knowledge transfer. Most importantly, 
        farmers have to be made central to the efforts and adequate investment 
        has to be made on their capacity building and for securing access to 
        know how, inputs, services and finances.  
        q References:• The Post-2015 Development Agenda 
        and the Sustainable Development Goal Position (Farming First Coalition)
 • Post 2015 and MDGs – Nourishing People, Nurturing the Planet (FAO)
 • Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture in the Post-2015 
        Development Agenda - Priority Targets and Indicators (FAO, IFAD and WFP)
 Mayukh Hajramhajra@devalt.org
 
        
        Back to Contents |