Climate change, agriculture and food security

A food-insecure (or hungry) world

Availability or access?

• Enough food to provide 2700 calories to 12 billion people –double of the current world population(FAO)

• 1 billion hungry and one billion obese

Climate change and food production

• Increase in 1-3 degrees will not affect world food production, but adverse impacts at the regional level

• Those who contributed the least to climate change, and are already the most food-insecure, will be the worst affected

• 600 million new hungry (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights). New famines.

• More than 3 degrees= total disruption of food production

Is green revolution that green?Is Green Revolution that “green”?

Higher yields, but at what cost?

• Contributes to climate change• No sustainable use and pollution of fresh

water resources• Soil degradation and depletion• Biodiversity loss• Land concentration• Diet-related problems and malnutrition

Are GMO´s the solution?

Ecological, economical and social implications

• Spreading genetically-engineered genes to indigenous plants

• Increasing toxicity• Disrupting nature´s system of pest

control• Creating new weeds or virus strains• Contribute to biodiversity loss• Dependency: 10 corporations control

30% of the world seed market and 80% of the pesticide market and 85% of the patents of seeds

• Market access for farmers

Food for cars, or food for people?

• Food vs. Energy• Decline in food supply• Increase in food prices• No net environmental gains• Land concentration• No real alternative to fossil

fuels• Deforestation and biodiversity

loss• Economic dependence

Bioenergies?

The way forward?

• Localized food systems: produce locally, consume locally• Local traditional knowledge for mitigation and adaptation

measures• Food sovereingty• Sustainable agriculture based on agro-ecological principles• Precautionary principle to GMO´s• Biofuels limited to crop residues (maize cobs, sugar cane

bagasse, rice husks and banana leaves)• No TRIP´s to main food crops• Satisfy world food demand?

Thank you