AGRICULTURAL NEWS - As the world moves towards large scale agriculture to meet the growing demands for food, the findings published in the first issue of The Lancet Planetary Health (4 April 2017) highlight the need for crop and livestock diversity, and investment in small and medium farm owners in low and middle income countries to sustain the quality and quantity of global food supplies.
70% Increase in food availability by 2050 necessary
Estimates suggest that by 2050, there will need to be a 70% increase in food availability to meet the demands of a growing population. But, the increase in volume alone will not guarantee human wellbeing. Food systems will need to produce food of high nutritional value and crops, livestock and fish must be diverse to ensure food security.
More diversity = more nutrients
For the first time, researchers mapped how much calcium, folate, iron, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and zinc is produced in farms of different sizes from 41 crops, 7 livestock products and 14 fish groups. Areas with small and medium farms had greater agricultural diversity than areas with large farms. And, independently of farm size, areas with more diversity of production also produce more nutrients.
Dr Mario Herrero, lead author from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia says: “Small and medium farms produce more than half of the food globally, and are particularly important in low income countries, where they produce the vast majority of food and nutrients. Large farms, in contrast, are less diverse but their sheer scale ensures tradable surpluses of nutrients available to parts of the world that need them most.
Focus on quality as well as quantity
“A sustainable food system that meets the needs of a growing population means we must focus on quality as well as quantity, and it is vital that we protect and support small and medium farms and more diverse agriculture so as to ensure sustainable and nutritional food production,” concludes Dr Herrero.
