Feeding theWorld – The Contribution of IFOAM Principles - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 84

(e.g., Connor 2008 , p. 5), or models developed on simplified assumptions (e.g.,
Zanoli et al. 2000 ; Znaor et al. 2007 ).
While many question whether organic farming could produce the quantity of
food that would be affordable for enough people “to feed the world”, others
do support this thesis. In short, both perspectives are based on overly simplified
assumptions. Those who criticize the capacity of organic ignore the contributions of
organic practices to production diversification, the avoidance of erosion, modified
food consumption patterns and several social and economic factors that are of
relevance to assess the potential of organic agriculture. Others ignore that in
addition to techno-ecological issues, moving to organic is a question of changing
power relations all along the food and farming chain. Furthermore, the idea of
feeding the world needs a more differentiated view of farm size from one based
on understanding the potential of smallholder farming because most farmers in the
developing world live on small farms and are the key for food security (World Bank
& Commission on Growth 2008 ).

5.2.3 Feeding the World Beyond a Technological Perspective

As is seen by the above discussion, debates continue to occur over whether organic
products are healthier, tastier or environmentally friendlier, or how they contribute to
resolving numerous social issues, whether it is affordable for the average consumer,
or if it can seriously contribute to feed the world. 4 Moreover, assessments of organic
production never question either the agronomic or political-economic and policy
assumptions on which they are based. Consequently, these scenarios cannot be used
to identify the potential of organic to feed the world. However, they are important
milestones to better understand the capability of the organic system to contribute to
food security.
In order to better understand organic's contribution to food security, it is not
a question of choosing one model over another. Nor is a question of accepting
some type of compromise, which is essentially the current situation. Furthermore, it
is not a question of accumulating only more data to show that one model could
be more successful in feeding the world. The ecological implications and the
political economy of each model are so fundamentally different that any comparison
would be like comparing apples to oranges. In addition, a wide and diverse
number of factors influence any efforts to achieve food security. This includes:
land tenure, credit availability, post-harvest food losses, labor, technical skills and
education, the contribution of off-farm employment, gender roles, malaria and other
health issues, the availability of mineral fertilizers, labor-saving technologies and,
production or marketing subsidies. 5

4 (see diverse discussions and assumptions on this issue, e.g., Lewin et al. 2004 ; Giovannucci 2005 ;
Mittal 2006 ; Zundel and Kilcher 2007 ; Connor 2008 ; LaSalle et al. 2008 ; Pretty et al. 2010 ;Seufert
et al. 2012 ).