Planetary Resources Feeding the Planet. “It is in the agricultural sector that the battle for long-term economic development will be won or lost.” Gunnar.

Planetary ResourcesFeeding the Planet

“It is in the agricultural sector that the battle for long-term economic development will be won

or lost.”

Gunnar Myrdal

Food insecurity

High volatility in the prices and availability of food are of particular concern, given the large impact on poor people and poor countries. Following the 2008 global economic crisis, food price spikes and recession slowed the decline in the number of people worldwide suffering from hunger, which the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated at 842 million people in 2012. This serves as powerful commentary on the inadequacy of global efforts to eliminate hunger and reduce deprivations more broadly.

Source: World Development Report, 2014, UNDP

Key Question

Are the agricultural methods of industrialized countries compatible

with the nutritional needs and technologies of the South?

Introduction

• Major challenge of agriculture: feeding 6.4 billion people– Agricultural production risen considerably– 800 million people suffer from hunger– Unequal availability of necessary resources like

water: main resource used by agriculture– Goal: sustainable agricultural practices + food

security for all

Where the World is running out of Water

• Why do Third-World activists and farmers oppose the extension of GM crops in their countries?

Greenpeace: a NGO founded in 1971. It focuses on the most critical worldwide environmental issues such as climate change, nuclear threats or toxic chemicals. A global organization, it has offices in 41 countries and a consultative status with the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council. It has joined Indian farmers’ protests against GMOs. In India, GMO experiments are conducted on rice and cotton seeds by global biotechnology giants such as Monsanto and Bayer.

Thirty-five tons of corn put by Greenpace activists at Mexico City's Zocalo Square as a protest against the sowing of transgenic

corn, form a map of Mexico on February 26, 2009. (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)

Greenpeace activists demonstrate against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on November 24, 2008 in front of EU headquarters in Brussels.

Greenpeace called on the European Union to suspend the authorization of GMOs until the EU is capable of evaluating the risks they pose. (DOMINIQUE

FAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

A couple waves after a parody of union between German chemical giant BASF (L) and the European Food Safety Authority (R) - Autorite europeenne de securite des aliments- (EFSA) during the International Agricultural Fair on

March 6, 2010 in Paris. (BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP/Getty Images)

A man dressed up as a bee holds a placard during a demonstration organized by French Professional Beekeepers Federation (FFAP) to protest against the

use of pesticide on September 14, 2011 along the Saint-Bernard quay in Paris. (JACQUES DEMARTHON/AFP/Getty Images)

Is Branding Food With "GMO" the Kiss of Death?

• Huffington Post 2013 Californian Bill to label GMO foods

5’35

• Prop 37 in California proposes that genetically modified food be labeled "GMO". If you knew your food was genetically modified, would you still eat it?

Video: Global March against Monsanto

Which countries appear to be the most invested in Organic agricultural practices?