Feeding the Hungry with Organic Farming
Organic Agriculture can Produce Enough Food for the World Population
Nov 27, 2008
Sustainable agricultural systems can be shown to be superior in productivity, water conservation, carbon sequestration, and rural poverty reduction, as well as producing more nitrogen through cover crops than is presently added to soils by artificial means.
Organic Farms have Higher Yields
A University of Michigan study looking at 293 cases documented from around the world found that, although industrialized country examples showed slight reductions in yield when converting from chemical-input to organic farming systems, examples taken from developing countries showed increases in yield, sometimes dramatic ones, when traditional and subsistence farmers were given training in the use of sustainable methods such as application of compost, cover cropping, soil conservation, etc. Overall, the study showed that, without increase in the land currently used for agriculture, a global uptake of organic and sustainable methods of food production can feed the current, and potentially future, larger world population.
Organic methods are understood to refer to natural nutrient-cycle processes instead of chemical fertilizers, and to biological pest control methods rather than pesticides. In the study, the issue of organic certification was not addressed, since it is not relevant to the question of yields. In addition to increased yields, organic farming is considered to be important for developing country farmers because it encourages greater diversification of crops and livestock, which reduces dependency on a single crop or animal. In addition to increased food security, crop diversification can give the farm family a higher standard of living – healthier diet and access to meat, milk and egg consumption if desired. Furthermore, tropical soils are more vulnerable to erosion and depletion as a result of conventional methods due to higher temperatures and more volatile weather patterns, making organic methods valuable for their importance in soil fertility conservation.
Equity is a Major Factor
Agriculture is not, of course, the only factor in world hunger. Since smaller farms normally produce much more food per hectare than larger ones, land tenure security and land redistribution policies are very important for small farmers. Organic farming is also knowledge-intensive, and educational and extension programs are critical to its success. Government policies focusing on equity, food security and alleviating rural poverty rather than high-value export crops are also needed before the full potential of organic farming to feed the world can be realized. Nonetheless, it is clear that debate should focus not on whether organic farming can feed the world, but rather on how its potential to do so can be fully exploited.
For more information, the website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has lots of interesting material.
