FOOD SECURITY - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 31

for more integrated scenario studies on the interactions between agriculture, environ-
mental factors and food supplies (see, IAASTD, www.agassessment.org; Verhagen
et al. 2007; Kuiper et al. 2007).
Challenges
Despite the great successes of the 'Green Revolution' (especially in Asia) that made
it possible for food production to outpace population growth over the last 40 years,
there is, thus, no reason for complacency, as there are serious concerns, especially
for the less developed countries, about water scarcity, soil nutrient depletion,
political and civil conflict, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, impacts of climate change and
lack of technology adoption and dissemination of agricultural knowledge, threatening
food security. It is undisputed that eventually the world population needs to reach a
stable situation, to avoid resource utilization at rates disastrous to mankind. However,
disagreement exists with respect to the extent to which human impact has already
triggered irreversible environmental changes (and associated risks for the stability of
agro-ecosystems). Concurrently, consumers in the developed and increasingly in the
developing world, become wealthier, and change their diets, away from staples such
as rice or wheat and tuber crops towards more meat, vegetables and dairy products.
Such dietary changes in some prospering regions already have implications for
cropping pattern and resource use in other regions (e.g., outsourcing of maize and
soybean production) - leading to shifts in the global food system, and in combination
with increasing competition for scarce natural resources, create new challenges to
agricultural production (Hossain 2007). Hence, further increases in food and feed
production per unit area will be required, while optimizing resource use to save land
and water for other use(r)s. Water and fertilizer use efficiencies in current crop pro-
duction systems are far below what would be attainable with appropriate technology
and available production ecological knowledge. In many developing countries,
water and nutrient use efficiency gains in the order of 30-50% would be possible
through adoption of knowledge-intensive farming practices (Smil 2000; Cassman
et al. 2002; Pathak et al. 2003; Dobermann et al. 2004). In terms of interventions,
wider diffusion and development of knowledge-intensive farming systems is one
means to achieve increased food security. However, what matters most in increasing
food security is to reduce income inequalities that prevent people from accessing the
food they require to lead healthy and productive lives. Moreover, education can help
to stimulate people to assume a (more Asian-Mediterranean type as opposed to the
Western type of) dietary pattern that reduces the need to increase animal feed
production and the inefficient use of food and energy.
While the international community has repeatedly demonstrated concerted
efforts in helping the victims of acute hunger, there is less support for reducing
chronic and hidden hunger - as these receive less public attention. Adequate
nutrition begins at the household scale. It is obvious, that any attempt to properly
deal with the complex problem of freeing people from hunger and food insecurity
must go much further than boosting yields and improving water and fertilizer use
efficiencies. To overcome food insecurity, policymakers and scientists are faced