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OurPlanetThe magazine of the United Nations Environment ProgrammeSpecial Edition

agriculture andeconomic development

l BSeeds of Hope

ls cs gs pPillars of Wisdom

m c-csMore Crop Per Drop

m J. WsFish Boom

Fs rfshDoubly Green Revolution

rb Ws, Hs H J Wh

Understanding the Future

Ssh gNo Silver Bullets


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www.unep.org

3 Editoria AchimSteiner,Under-Secretary-

GeneralandExecutiveDirector,

UNEP

4 SeedsofHope LennartBge,President, InternationalFundfor

AgriculturalDevelopment(IFAD)

6 PiarsofWisdom

LusCarlos

OurPanet, the magazine of the

United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP)

PO Box 30552 Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: (254 20)7621 234

Fax: (254 20)7623 927

e-mail: [email protected]

www.unep.org

ISSN 101-7394

Director of Publication: Eric Falt

Editor: Geoffrey Lean

Coordinators: Naomi Poulton, Elisabeth Waechter

Special Contributor: Nick Nuttall

Circulation Manager: Manyahleshal Kebede

Design: Sharon Bowen

Production: UNEP/DCPI

Printed by: Progress Press, Malta

Front cover: PHONE Thiriet Claudius / Still Pictures

10DoubyGreenRevoution FranciscoReifschneider,Director,

ConsultativeGroupon

InternationalAgriculturalResearch

12TheGrowingBusiness MandivambaRukuni,Regional DirectorforAfricaProgrammes

W.K.KelloggFoundation,

Pretoria,SouthAfrica

14FishBoom

MerylJ.Williams,Chair, FAOAdvisoryCommitteeon

FisheriesResearch

16UnderstandingtheFuture RobertT.Watson,ChiefScientist

oftheWorldBankandChair,

IAASTD,HansHerren,

President,MillenniumInstituteand

co-Chair,IAASTD,andJudi

Wakhungu,ExecutiveDirector,

AfricanCentreforTechnology

Studies(ACTS)andco-Chair

IAASTD

18StarProe:WiieNeson

19BooksandProducts

20AMatterofBreeding RaviPrakashSingh,Distinguished ScientistandLeaderofBread

WheatImprovementforIntensive

Agro-ecosystems,International

MaizeandWheatImprovement

Centre(CIMMYT),Mexico

Asoavaiabeontheinternetat

www.unep.org

The contents of this magazine do not necessarily reect the views or policies of UNEP or the editors, nor

are they an ofcial record. The designations employed and the presentation do not imply the expressions,

opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP concerning the legal status of any country, territory or city or its

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UNEP promotes environmentally friendly practices globally and in its ownactivities.This magazine is printed on 100% recycled, chlorine free paper.

Ourp

* All dollar ($) amounts refer to US dollars.

MarkEdwards/StillPictures


2006byUNEPandtheInternationalBankofReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBank

22Peope

23NoSiverBuets SushmaGanguly,acting

DirectorforAgricultureandRural

Development,WorldBank

26MattersofDebate CalestousJuma,Professor

ofthePracticeofInternational

DevelopmentandDirectorof

Science,Technologyand

Globalization,KennedySchool

ofGovernment,Harvard

University

28OrganicGrowth

AngelaB.Caudle,Executive Director,InternationalFederation

ofOrganicAgricultureMovements

(IFOAM)

30ShiftingtheBaance UshaBarwaleZehr,JointDirector ofResearch,MaharashtraHybrid

SeedsCompanyLtd

32UNEPSasakawa2007


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CharlotteThege/StillPictures

Three quarters of the worlds 1.1 billion extremely

poor people live in rural areas and depend on

agriculture for their survival. Thats more than 800

million children, women and men held back by lack of

access to information, knowledge, land, water, nancial

services, and other assets essential to overcomingpoverty.

Yet investments in agricultural research by and for

poor rural farmers can increase income and food security

and do so sustainably. Spectacular returns can be

achieved, as United Nations agencies discovered when

they introduced Farmer Field Schools to Africa, helping

to unleash a powerful movement that is enabling poor

rural people to increase their income and food security.

These schools are small groups of farmers who conduct

agricultural research to improve their productivity.

Facilitated by researchers, extension workers or thefarmers themselves, they build on their participants

traditional knowledge through hands-on, experiential

research and learning in the eld. Sixty per cent of

participants are women.

First established in central Java in 1989 by the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to

ght a rice crop-destroying insect, the schools are now a

huge success in East Africa, as well as in Asia.

Seedsof

Hlennart Bge describes how grassrootsagricultural research is increasing knowledge,innovation and productivity

The annual incomes of a

sample of poor Kenyan farmers

participating in the schools rose by at

least 150 per cent. Average crop yields climbed

by at least 20 per cent, and some farmers more than

doubled them. The families of participating farmers inUganda increased their food security.

These results are impressive, but even they do not

show the most important effect: participants in Farmer

Field Schools can become more independent and

condent decision-makers and leaders of their own

development.

Five years after the schools were introduced to Africa

in programmes jointly funded by FAO and IFAD 95

per cent of the original groups are still working together.

Moreover, people who have graduated from them are

participating in setting up Farmer Field School Networks independent associations owned by farmers, governed

by elected boards and nanced by contributions from

members.

Technicaadvances

The networks now support about 2,000 Farmer Field

Schools in East Africa: nearly 50,000 people benet

directly. They organize research that focuses on their

highest priorities and needs commercial access to

fertilizer, seeds and other inputs and build protablemarket chains for their products. Farmers are also using

them to increase the ow of relevant information among

the groups and speeding the transfer of innovations,

indigenous knowledge and technical advances.


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IFAD is testing ways to increase the networks

sustainability and marketing power. For example,

the Linking Local Learners communication system,

launched in 2004, uses the internet to bring the best

of the face-to-face learning and knowledge generatedin local groups to others far distant. The initiative has

already demonstrated that improving the communication

skills of farmers and their organizations helps them to

overcome two major barriers to success: distrust among

possible partners along the market chain and access to

reliable market information. It is being scaled up and

replicated in other African countries, and as far away

as Peru.

Economicgrowth

The Farmer Field School movement thus shows that it

is possible to generate very high returns on investment

in agricultural research and rural development in Africa.

This helps full the agreement of global leaders at

the 2005 United Nations World Summit that greater

investment in agricultural and rural development is

crucial for achieving the Millennium Development

Goals. The leaders committed to increasing support for

agricultural development and trade capacity-building in

the agricultural sector in developing countries.

Agricultural development makes a critical

contribution to overall economic growth in manydeveloping countries. As farmers incomes rise, so does

their demand both for farm inputs and services, and for

non-farm goods. Increased agricultural production also

leads to increased demand for processing facilities.

Figures from the International Food Policy Research

Institute show the multiplier effect of agricultural growth

in Africa. Estimates range from an additional $0.60 in

non-agricultural income in Niger for every $1 increase

in farm income, to a near doubling effect in Burkina

Faso of $1.88 in additional income outside the sector

for every $1 increase in agricultural income. Agriculture

in sub-Saharan Africa, indeed, generates at least 30 percent of GDP, 40 per cent of exports and over 70 per cent

of employment.

Rapidgrowth

Agricultural growth and development require investment

and technology. With them huge productivity gains are

possible. Over the past 20 years, increases in government

spending on agriculture in East and South Asia have

been clearly linked to rapid growth in agriculture

and to progress towards achieving the Millennium

Development Goals. In sub-Saharan Africa, however,

public investment in agriculture is still far below what is

needed, despite commitments by African governments

to allocate 10 per cent of their public spending to it

Increased spending on agricultural research is vital,

but it is equally important to ensure that the research

carried out benets the smallest farmers. In developing

countries, it has all too often bypassed the most needy

farmers, offering solutions that are beyond their reach or

simply inappropriate to their livelihoods. The challenge

is to develop technology in a way that is relevant to small

farmers and to create the conditions they need to transformtheir small plots into viable small businesses that make

a vital contribution to local and national economies. The

Farmer Field Schools in East Africa show that when this

is done, the results can be very impressive indeed n

LennartBgeisPresidentoftheInternationalFundfor

AgriculturalDevelopment(IFAD).

FAO


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Brazil is investing moreand more in sustainableagriculture harmonizing

the exploitation of naturalresources with preserving theenvironment to make the bestuse of its huge agriculturalpotential. Around 28 percent of its GDP derives fromagribusiness, so it is crucial todirect this to competitivenessand sustainability.

Modern, efcient andcompetitive, agriculture inBrazil is a prosperous, safe andprotable activity. With a diverseclimate, constant rain, abundantsolar energy and natural

resources, almost 13 per centof the worlds freshwater and atotal area of more than 8,500,000square kilometres, the countrycultivates around 50 millionhectares with annual crops and 20million hectares with permanentones and planted forests.

It also has about 220 millionhectares of grazing ground.Converting this pasture offersgreat potential for increasingits farming, without prejudicing

areas that need to be preserved.Brazil does not need to andits agriculture policy does notintend to extend agriculturalproduction over new areas ofnative vegetation. Indeed, therehas been a growing effort topreserve biological diversity:61 million hectares of federalprotected areas have beenestablished.

An agricultural system canonly be considered sustainablewhen it both satises producersneeds and preserves the naturalresources for this generation andthose that follow. Its developmentshould rest on three pillars:economic feasibility, social

fairness and environmentalsustainability.

Brazilian agribusiness hassubstantially evolved in recentyears. Total grain production hasrisen from about 58 million tonsin the 1990/91 harvest to around120 million tons in 2005/06,mainly through productivity gains.Over this period, the cultivatedarea grew by just 26 per cent,while production increased 107per cent. (see gure).

The Cerrado is the countryssecond largest biome, occupyingabout 204 million hectares,24 per cent of the country. Itboasts about 5 per cent of the

planets biodiversity, with at least6,500 species of wood ora and11 natural landscapes. Landsuitable for agriculture coverssome 139 million hectares of it:

61 million hectares are occupiedby cultivated pastures, 14 milliongrow grain, and 3.5 million havepermanent crops.

It is an important producer offood, both for home consumptionand for exports contributingabout 81 per cent of the countryssorghum, about 60 per cent ofits soya, about 59 per cent of itscoffee, about 55 per cent of itsmeat, about 45 per cent of itsbeans, about 44 per cent of itscorn, and about 10 per cent of itssugar cane.

The Government, ofcial re-search institutions, producers,and non-governmental organiza-

tions have joined in a continuouscollective effort to ensure thatsustainable production modelsare adopted in the Cerrado andother productive areas of thecountry, searching for systemsthat combine high productivitywith environmental preservationand social and economic devel-opment.

The Direct Plantation System one important sustainableproduction model adopted

constitutes a highly signicantchange in Brazilian farming andlivestock. Planting takes placeon minimally tilled soil, coveredwith straw from the previous

Pillars

f WsluS carloS guedeS pinto describes how agriculturemust be based on the three pillars of economic feasibility,social fairness and environmental sustainability

Source: Conab / MAPA


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harvest. This avoids erosionand saves inputs, like watering.It also spares equipment andmachines, protects the soil,cuts expenditure on fuel andpromotes carbon sequestration.Almost half the countrys plantedland now uses it.

Another model adopted

in Brazil called Farming-Livestock-Forestry setsnew technological standardsfor agriculture and livestockand allows damaged pastoraland cultivated areas withsustainability problems torecover. It involves grains, ber,meat, milk, energy, and othercrops in simultaneous, sequentialand rotational cropping and aimsat maximum exploitation of thebiological cycles of plants and

animals, of the residual effects ofnutrients and of synergy amongdifferent activities.

Organic production is also be-ing widely expanded throughoutthe country, attempting to copyand reproduce natural process-es and to manage land and othernatural resources in a balancedway. It achieves long term con-servation and maintains harmo-ny both among the elements ofnature and with human beings.More than 6.5 million hectaresof Brazil are farmed organicallyor subject to sustainable extrac-tion; they reach high levels bothof productivity and of quality ingrains, fruits, green vegetable,

coffee, sugar, sh, meat, milk,honey, and other products. Thereare some 20,000 organic produc-ers, more than 80 per cent ofthem small ones. Thus organicagriculture promotes sustain-able rural development.

Brazil is also a world leader inproducing clean energy. Around

43.9 per cent of its total energy hasits origins in renewable sources,a remarkable proportion for anindustrialized economy. Sugarcane alone provides 13.9 per centof the total energy consumed inthe country. In 2005, the nationalethanol programme generatedapproximately 180,000 barrelsof gasoline per day, saving 24million tons of carbon dioxideemissions in the year.

Two years earlier Brazil

started to produce exifuelautomobiles, which withoutmodication can burn anyproportion of ethanol or gasoline.In 2005 it produced 906,366exifuel or alcohol vehicles, 35.8per cent of total car output, andthe proportion is rising. BetweenJanuary to June 2006, they madeup a majority (50.2 per cent) ofthe cars produced, amounting to653,183 vehicles.

In December 2004, theBrazilian Government launchedthe National Programme ofProduction and Consumptionof Biofuels, to reduce vehiclesemissions of global warminggases, decrease oil decits,

create jobs, and increase theincome of smaller producers.Growing the raw material andproducing industrial biofuels has

great potential for generating jobs and thus promoting socialinclusion, especially consideringthe high productive potential offamily agriculture. Governmentinvestment in the research anddevelopment of biofuels mayamount to 355 million Reaisbetween 2006 and 2008

In October 2005, the NationalAgroenergy Plan drawn upby Ministry of Agriculture andSupply with the support of theBrazilian Company of Farmingand Livestock came into force.It will create the basis for theAgroenergy Brazilian Consortium,which will bring togetheragencies from the Governmentand private companies, andbe an investment fund. It willconcentrate on production andresearch on ethanol agroenergy,biofuel, biogas, energy forests,and the use of waste.

Trade policy presents anotherhuge challenge to Brazil. The

Government is aware of the needto work intensively to overcomethe protectionism of certaincountries that raise difculties forthe access of Brazilian productsto their markets. Products witha higher aggregated value thangrains such as vegetableoils, meats and dairy products are discouraged with hightariffs (sometimes over 100 percent), safeguards, subsidies,and other non-tariff barriers.

These hinder the diversicationof Brazilian exports, andthus of production. Withoutthem, we would have greaterpossibilities for developing morediversied and environmentallyfriendly agribusiness. So if theplanets well-being dependson environmental quality which is unquestionable theresponsibilities of each countryin promoting sustainabledevelopment must be discussedand dened, considering all theimplicationsn

LusCarlosGuedes Pinto is StateMinisterofAgricultureandSupply,Brazil.

JorgenSchytte/StillPictures

Source: IBGE e IBAMA.


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T

here is enough water for all our purposes if it ismanaged properly. Most people in the world ofwater accept the truth of this statement. But it

offers scant comfort to the woman walking to the distantwell, to the farmer at the end of the irrigation canal, orto the urban slum dweller having to pay several timesas much as a richer citizen for an insufcient drinkingwater supply. For them and for the 28 per cent offreshwater sh in danger of extinction, for elds parchedby recurring drought and for lakes diminishing year byyear water scarcity is a fact.

Such scarcity is likely to increase. We, the worldspeople, are probably already drawing down morethan half of the one per cent of global water that isactually accessible to us fresh, liquid and near tohuman habitation. We are experiencing the highest

temperatures of the last two centuries, affecting rainfallpatterns and the glaciers and snow that feed rivers. Andwe will add another 2.5 billion people increasing ournumbers by a third before global population levelsoff. The combination of population growth, pollution,temperature variation, and increasing per capita use,ensures that close to half a billion people in 29 countriesalready face water shortages. By 2025, fully a third ofthe expected world population will be in regions facingsevere water scarcity.

Intensecompetition

We are not really running out of drinking water. Globallywe use just seven to nine per cent of water for drinking,and can divert more to this purpose. But, again, this isscarcely comforting to those who live where investmentshave not been made in water infrastructure, or wherethe existing infrastructure, delivery systems or socialorganization ignores the poor.

Competition is becoming intense, however, for waterfor economic purposes: growing food, ber and nowenergy crops; industry; energy production; tourism. Poorpeoples needs for drinking water compete with theseeconomic uses in developing countries and when watercompetition gets heavy, the environment almost always

suffers. Investment decisions increasingly depend onwater availability, and the quality and dependability ofthe delivery of water services. So how will economicdevelopment take place within this particular viciouscircle?

margaret catley-carlSonexaminesthe absurdities of waste in a world of scarcityand explains that, as water cannot be created,it must be managed properly

m cPerDrop

Part of the answer lies in improving the use and efciency

of the 65-90 per cent of water used in agriculture. Weneed both more crop per drop; and more job per drop.Improved irrigation is important, as is new science andtechnology. But it is difcult to imagine major changewithout alterations in the incentive systems that governthe use of water on the farm. Saving agricultural wateris also about choice of crop, choice of seed, and choiceof farming methods. Billions of dollars are spent insubsidies to farmers without much consideration to theavailability of water.

The road to truly sound and sustainable solutionsprobably passes via the needed long term overhaulsof how agriculture is subsidized, the way water for

industry or agricultural input is priced, and the extent towhich local authorities are given the responsibility andcapability to provide water to their people. Technologyhelps, but cannot solve the problem. And whether in theeld or in the city, water scarcity is as much about theadequacy of nancial resources, as of water resources.

Aternativemethod

Absurdities need to be xed: major conurbations losingover forty per cent of their water to leaking pipes andfaulty systems; whole cities where only a few get waterbills, and less pay them, so there are no funds to afford

repairs and extensions to pipes and systems let alone tosubsidize the water needs of the poor. There are countrieswith burgeoning populations and almost no water storagecapacity. Some irrigation systems waste as much as 70per cent of their water. Extensive, expensive, disruptive



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infrastructure investments are made, with no attempt

to conserve water or nd alternative methods. Fossilwater is used for cereal crops. India and China alonepump about two Niles-worth of water from undergroundsources, far more than rainfall can replenish: often boththe water, and the electricity that powers the pumps, arefree.

These may be absurdities but the remedies are notsimple, not at all. Moving to a conscious, transparent,publicly announced allocation of available water is afraught process, almost guaranteed to generate moreenemies than friends. Moving towards charging for waterservices offers opposition politicians an instant electionissue. There are taboos against the re-use of wastewater.

Cleaning out corrupt or inept water administrations raiseshuge political problems. Inviting the private sector tohelp can provoke demonstrations and church-basementfundraising to prevent the commodication of water.It is not easy to manage across boundaries, and to agreeto share the benets of water between neighbours withcenturies-old traditions of mistrust.

Pubicopinion

It is too easy to call for political will that scarce andmuch invoked commodity. Instead it must be created.This must be the top priority for all of us. But what are

we doing? Experts redene the problems. Aid donornations spend little on water, and work independently. Wesponsor and attend expensive global meetings that repeatthe we shoulds over and over again, to the detriment ofserious decisions about new forms of concerted action.

Some countries make progress, many do not. Water islocal, quintessentially so unlike energy or food whichtravel through trade. If we do not begin to focus on thebarriers and constraints to progress within countries, andon what it will take to overcome them, the situation will

only worsen.If I gave you all the money you need to x the

drying Colorado River what would you do?, I asked twofriends one Mexican, one West Coast United States last month. There was a long silence, a very long silence.Then both spoke at once. It really isnt about money.We need to change the way people think about the water.We dont have the public climate of thought to make theright decisions. If we work mostly on hydrology and onreiterating the we shoulds, who will do the real work tochange public opinion?

Decisionmaking

The Global Water Partnership (GWP), which I chair,this year celebrates its tenth anniversary. We provideknowledge about how water should be managed, andadvice through publications, our ToolBox, and events

on how to bring better practice. We are also a globalsupport network for those working within countries andregions to change water resource use, and promote bettermanagement. We try within GWP, and within countries,to bring together cross sections of the concernedparties from academia, associations, national and localgovernment, civil society, and water users and deliverers.We talk together about the issues that need to addressed,applying a cross sectoral, integrated approach that valuesand conserves water. We organize public consultationsand help with the process by which some countries arethinking about solving problems and drawing up strategiesfor integrated water resource management. We do a little

but not enough about creating public awarenessand political will. Ten years brings satisfaction with thechanges we have provoked, but also serious doubt as towhether the pace of change is sufcient to meet the oneat which problems grow.

There is debate on whether there is in fact enoughwater to go around but none on the fact that the greatestpotential improvement in its availability would comethrough managing it better. Water cannot be created: itcan only be managed. If by common consent, there isenough water just enough in many areas, but probablyenough we have to set ourselves the task of improvingmanagement. This means getting into difcult, thornyareas of national and municipal decision making. Thereare answers that require patient cumulative change, butno silver bullets. There are difcult times on the horizon.But water is life and life itself is at staken

MargaretCatley-CarlsonisChairoftheGlobalWaterPartnership, Stockholm, Sweden (www.gwpforum.org)

andImmediatePastChairof theInternationalCentreonAgricultureinDryAreas(ICARDA)Aleppo.SheisamemberoftheInternationalWaterManagementInstitute(IWMI)Board,andoftheSecretary-GeneralsAdvisoryBoardonWaterandSanitation.

JulioEtchart/StillPictures


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Despite the doomsday predictions of the 1960s, global

agriculture has largely succeeded in satisfying worlddemand for more food over the last several decades.

Yet advances in productivity have clearly come at the cost of

substantial damage to the natural resources on which agriculture

and human livelihoods depend. This is particularly worrying,

since global food demand is expected at least to double in the

next 50 years, requiring agriculture to perform remarkable new

feats of research-based growth in productivity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural

Research (CGIAR) is conscious of the need to achieve

environmentally sustainable development, and has taken

decisive steps toward it. During the early 1990s, the mainly

crop-oriented centres it supports signicantly broadened

their research agendas, placing stronger emphasis on natural

resource management and it created a series of programmes

aimed at coordinating this work across them. It also began

supporting four additional centres focussing exclusively on

natural resource management. Thus, it assembled the main

elements of a programme encompassing biodiversity, soils,

water, sheries, and forests. It is proving to be a powerful

instrument for fostering what agricultural scientist Gordon

Conway has called a doubly green revolution.

Naturaresources

Research on natural resource management accounts for

about a fth of the CGIARs total budget, which has steadily

increased since the early 1990s. Though the share spent on crop

improvement has declined, it has continued to generate massive

economic benets through higher agricultural productivity, as

documented in hundreds of studies.

Has research on natural resource management turned out to

be an equally good use of scarce resources? A report completed

recently by the CGIARs Science Council answers positively.

Its centerpiece is a diverse set of peer-reviewed case studieson research projects carried out by seven centres and on one

integrated initiative working across them. Five of the centre

studies examine micro-level research whose products new

technologies, knowledge or methods have helped improve

agricultural productivity in specic environments, while

enhancing natural resources. The other two deal with macro-

level interventions such as advice, information and tools

which shape the formulation of policies and standards for

natural resource management. The impact of this research has

an international reach, affecting many people who derive their

livelihoods from natural resources.

The impact of the micro studies was evaluated using a

neoclassical economics framework, much like that employedin many studies on the impact of crop improvement research.

The following are brief summaries of selected cases:

n In response to a notable slowdown of productivity growth in

the vital rice-wheat systems of South Asia, CGIAR scientists

joined forces with national partners, helping them design

on-farm experiments to rene and promote such resource-

conserving technologies as zero-till. Their widespread

adoption resulted in higher crop yields, lower production

costs and savings in water and energy. The gains accruing

to consumers and farmers were estimated at $94 million,

compared to research costs of just $3.5 million.

n Across West Asia and North Africa, CGIAR scientists and

their national collaborators have developed integrated crop-

livestock systems for dry areas, which farmers are gradually

DoublyGreen

rFranciSco reiFScHneiderdescribeshow agricultural research on natural resourcemanagement has furthered environmentallysustainable development



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adopting. Cactus alley cropping, for example, has spread at

a rate of 6 per cent a year in Morocco since 1999. It reduces

soil erosion and mitigates the effects of drought on livestock

production by improving and stabilizing feed supplies,

lowering farmers costs, on average, by 33 per cent.

n In Southern Africa, CGIAR scientists have worked with

partners since the early 1990s in to develop fertilizer tree

fallows, which rely on locally available resources to enhance

soil fertility. Within a decade, tens of thousands of farmers

lacking access to chemical fertilizers had adopted them and

found them to be protable. A key benet has been improved

food security, estimated at 57 to 114 extra person-days of maize

consumption per household.

Assessing the macro research required a different

approach. It involved identifying and describing the demand

for institutional or policy-related information, to which the

research responded. The results of interviews, surveys, andother techniques indicated the degree to which demand was

met. Though the case studies did not quantify the eventual

economic benets of information resulting from the research,

it did chart plausible impact pathways.

Futureprojections

CGIAR-supported research on forestry, for example, has

generated a rich collection of information and knowledge

that provides conservationists and others with better means

of monitoring forest management and of certifying whether

it is sustainable in particular cases. More than 80 per cent(some 37 million hectares) of the total forest area certied so

far has been certied by companies that acknowledge using

CGIAR products. It is reasonable to assume this has resulted

in better forest management, contributing to more sustainable

livelihoods for forest dwellers, but it is not easy to quantify the

benets and determine what share of them should be attributed

to the CGIAR.

The two macro studies demonstrate that the CGIAR

is responding effectively to global demand for tools and

information that can guide critical decisions about natural

resource management. Perhaps more to the point, the micro

studies report respectable internal rates of return, ranging from

12 to 57 per cent, with benets signicantly exceeding costsand fully justifying the investment in research.

Although, as the Science Council report notes, these

rates do not fall at the high end of the range reported for crop

improvement research in many studies, they are still impressive.

The ve micro studies used conventional economic models

that combine documented results with future projections but

do not fully take into account the expected environmental

benets of the research. Yet, despite this limitation, all ve

projects proved to be sound investments, with results on a

par with those of many studies assessing the impact of crop

improvement research.

This outcome is all the more impressive considering that while delivery systems for improved crop varieties have

been in place for decades in developing countries channels

are only now being opened effectively to convey results from

research on natural resource management. These results tend to

be knowledge-intensive and are therefore difcult to share on

a large scale. Accomplishing this has required unprecedented

efforts to build effective partnerships with a wide array of

government, civil society and private organizations from the

local to global levels.

As researchers come to grips with the methodological

challenges of assessing the impact of research on natural

resource management, they will be able to cite more examplesand deliver better results that truly reect the unique character

of this work. The centres supported by the CGIAR are already

taking important steps towards that end, and an emerging

network of scientists in them is developing, applying and sharing

more effective impact assessment methods. A methodological

guide will be prepared to support their work.

In the meantime, the case studies reported here to be

published by CAB International in a book that will also include

a summary report by the Science Council mark an important

beginning toward comprehensive and ongoing assessment of

the impacts of CGIAR-supported research on natural resource

management. They also provide plenty of encouragement forthis research to continue n

FranciscoReifschneiderisDirectoroftheConsultativeGroup

onInternationalAgriculturalResearch(www.cgiar.org).

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The history of the world provides overwhelmingglobal evidence that general economicgrowth of any nation must be preceded, or at

least accompanied by, solid agricultural growth.

Agriculture has played this central role since theEnglish Agricultural Revolution which paved theway for the Industrial Revolution. This process stillapplies today, and poor countries in Africa, Asia andSouth America will be no exception. It is unlikelytherefore, that any nation will be able to jump thisvital stage of development.

As the economy of a nation develops, the role ofagriculture will evolve. It will, however, continue tobe important at every stage in a society; as it is forboth rich and poor nations. In developing ones it isalmost always the foundation and backbone of the

economy since most people rely on it for food andemployment. In the richer industrialized ones, thequality of life depends on the forms of agriculture inpractice, in terms of health and nutrition, clean airand water, and the protection of nature. When we

mandivamBa rukuni explains that healthyagriculture is vital for sustainable development

think of sustainable development, the agriculturalsector of any economy is viewed broadly toencompass the associated aspects of food, farmingand natural resources management.

Agriculture plays several traditional roles

essential in overall economic growth. Theyinclude: Providing adequate and affordable foodfor increasing populations. The process ofindustrialization and urbanization is more efcientwhen food is more affordable for the growingindustrial labour force. Supplying raw materials to growing anddiversifying domestic industrial sectors. Thisis more crucial at earlier stages of industrialdevelopment, but it is still important, if less visible,even for industrialized nations.

Releasing labour for the growing industrial sector.The ideal is to have as much rural employment aspossible at lower stages of industrialization. Asan economy industrializes, the countryside canefciently release more labour to urban-industrial



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complexes. Ideally these migrants are betterprepared for urban-industrial living if rst equippedwith some life and business skills. Enlarging the size of an effective market forthe products of the domestic industrial sector.Since it takes time for the urban-industrial sectorefciently to absorb the rural labour, agriculturehas to continue to thrive. The more disposableincome available to rural households, the greaterthe demand for manufactured goods and servicesfor the growing economy. Providing employment and livelihoods, andalleviating poverty, for a large percentage of the ruralpopulation. Evidence shows that it is as importantto create rural jobs as urban ones in poor nations.Rural jobs are vital to slow down premature urbanmigration, propelled by rural poverty and lack of

economic opportunity. Earning and saving foreign exchange. This is oneof agricultures most important roles in developingcountries. As demand for imported goods andservices rises, agriculture is often critical for thebalance of payments, both through its exports, andthrough innovations that allow nations protablyand efciently to grow substitutes for imports. Accumulating domestic savings for investmentand capital formation. The more prosperous theagricultural and rural sector, the more peoplecan save money, paving the way for a thriving

banking sector that can nance further industrialdevelopment without relying unnecessarily onforeign debt.

Majorissue

In his 1998 article, The Agricultural Transformation,C.P Timmer provides a conceptual frameworkfor agricultural and economic transformationwhich shows four stages towards sustainabledevelopment. In the rst stage, agriculture hasbeen adequately nurtured and starts growing andcreating new wealth at a rate that allows direct andindirect taxation, feeding into other major publicassets and infrastructure. In the second stage,agricultural growth becomes a direct contributorto overall economic growth through greater linkswith industry, improving efciency of product andfactor markets, and continued mobilization of ruralresources. In the third stage, agriculture is fullyintegrated into the market economy; prices of foodand its share in urban budgets continue to decline.In the fourth stage agriculture is part of an industrialeconomy: its productivity and efciency is a majorissue, and environmental and other concerns

assume greater signicance.As agriculture goes through these stages, itsshare in national accounts diminishes, and thepopulation becomes more urbanized. Some poordeveloping countries, however, have misinterpreted

this phenomenon, and prematurely diminishedinvestment in agriculture. In industrial economiesagriculture is politically alive even where farmersand rural people represent only two to threeper cent of the population, they still commandthe attention of governments. Yet in developingcountries, agriculture does not command as muchpolitical attention, even though more than half oftheir peoples live in rural areas.

Premature migration of large numbers of ruralpeople into urban areas is unfortunate. Most haveno jobs or housing to go to and most do not possessthe life and economic skills to be gainfully employedin urban areas. Urban poverty and decay increaseas over-stretched infrastructure breeds ill health,crime and breakdown of family structures. Moreover,it is largely young adults that migrate, draining

rural areas of the energetic and creative force thatis desperately needed to develop agriculture. Thusa premature shift in public investment prioritiesfrom rural to urban areas has not led to sustainabledevelopment.

Capitainvestments

Getting agriculture moving in developing countriesis therefore an important step towards sustainabledevelopment. But it takes more than ideology toachieve this. Five basic prime movers require

investment, development and coordination:1. New technology produced by public and privateinvestments in agricultural research, or importedfrom the global research system and adapted tolocal conditions.2. Human capital in the form of professional,managerial and technical skills produced byinvestments in schools, agricultural colleges,faculties or agriculture and on-the-job training andexperience.3. Sustained growth of biological capital suchas by genetic and husbandry improvements ofcrops, livestock and forests and physical capitalinvestments in dams, irrigation, roads, grainstorage, etc.4. Improvements in the performance of institutionssuch as in marketing, credit, research, extension,and settlement.5. Favourable economic policy environment andpolitical support for agriculture over the long haul.

Worldwide experience has shown that no singleprime mover, such as new technology or higherprices, can by itself increase agricultural productionand sustain it over time. The challenge is to mobilizepublic and private investments in all ve as a policy

package over a period of decades n

Mandivamba Rukuni is Regional Director for AfricaProgrammesattheW.K.KelloggFoundation,Pretoria,SouthAfrica.


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The word sh conjuresup a myriad of images even conicting opinions

around the world. Most expertsagree, however, that we will nothave enough sh to meet futuredemand unless we act now.Just when health authoritiesare recommending it as a goodsource of protein and the rightfats, all the signs suggest thatmany of the worlds naturalstocks have been over-exploited,some seriously so, and thatfew frontiers remain. The 2003groundbreaking report, Fish to2020 from the Consultative Group

on International AgriculturalResearch (CGIAR) concluded thatthe amount of sh the world canproduce will greatly depend onhow fast aquaculture develops.It also depends, of course, onwhether natural sh stocks holdup or collapse.

Fish is a more importantsource of animal protein in Asia,Africa, the Caribbean, and thePacic island countries wherethe majority of the worlds poorlive than in Europe and NorthAmerica. It used to be calledthe poor persons protein.Keeping sh available to thepoor means ensuring it remainsaffordable a challenge thatcan be met by farming the rightsh. Fortunately, low-cost shdo not mean low-quality food:indeed, the modern aquaculturerevolution in Asia is based onlow-priced and highly nutritious

freshwater carp and tilapia.About half of the continentstotal aquaculture production

comes from these species, andmost is consumed domestically.The boom in carp and tilapiaproduction has kept the price ofsh within reach of the poor in themain producing countries, suchas China, India, Bangladesh, thePhilippines, Indonesia, Vietnam,and Thailand.

Fish researchers havecontributed to this boom inmany ways. One programmestands out in particular becauseit demonstrates the power ofa sound scientic approachand heeds lessons learnedby agricultural colleagues. It

involved breeding improvedstrains to make farming of carpand tilapia more efcient, andto keep down the price of sh.In a sustained effort dating backto the mid-1980s, the CGIAR-supported World Fish Centre andresearch partners in Africa, Asiaand Norway applied rigorousselective breeding to createthe GIFT (Genetically ImprovedFarmed Tilapia) sh.

Moreaffordabe

A major review of the GIFTwork, carried out by the AsianDevelopment Bank, found thatthe breed and its derivativesmake up 68 per cent of tilapiaseed in the Philippines and 46per cent in Thailand, and itsshare is increasing in these andother important tilapia-producingcountries. In the Philippines,

tilapia is now more affordablethan chicken and pork, and itsprice has fallen below that of thetypical marine sh eaten by thepoor: the galunggong or roundscad. CGIAR s work has alsospurred investment in tilapiaaquaculture and other research,leading to growth in tilapiaexports by countries such asVietnam, creating both food forpeople and value for Asian shfarmers.

Following Asian successes,tilapia farming in Africa has alsobegun to improve, thanks toCGIAR research, capacity buildingand a long-term commitment

MarkEdwar

ds/StillPictures

Fish

Bmeryl J. WilliamS

describes how aquacultureis boosting the worlds shharvest, growing food and

creating value, but cautionsthat natural sh stocks are

still critical for futuresh supply

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to using science to help morepeople become sh farmers.This support has focused bothon small-scale farms in sub-

Saharan Africa and largerscale ones feeding the peopleof the Nile Delta. Surprisingly,tilapia farming is also provingsuccessful in the remotehighlands of Papua New Guinea,where an Australian Centrefor International AgriculturalResearch partnership projecton hatchery and farm technologyis helping iron out technicalconstraints to its growth,improving food options for

highlanders.In 1995, another CGIAR report,

From Hunting to Farming Fish,suggested that within 15 years 40per cent of the sh we eat wouldcome from aquaculture. At thattime, it only accounted for 22per cent, so the projection wasconsidered somewhat optimistic.Yet, in September 2006, the Foodand Agriculture Organization(FAO) announced that 43 per centof sh eaten were farmed.

Does this mean that we nolonger need be so concernedabout natural sh stocks? No. TheFish to 2020 projections showedthat their collapse underminedeven good aquaculture growthand pushed prices upward.Unless production from them ismaintained, hundreds of millionsof poor people will not be able toafford sh.

Vauabeessons

Fisheries scientists around theworld have usually been therst to alert their countriesto the dire state of stocks andto the causes of decline. Butmost action to halt the decline mainly due to overshing hasbeen unsuccessful. Scientistsare leading efforts to improvesheries management, usingcomprehensive approaches that

integrate insights from economists,sociologists, biologists, andother specialists and workingwith stakeholders in real-worldsituations to understand and test

international fora to codifythese carefully documented andanalysed lessons in the FAOCode of Conduct for Responsible

Fishing and its associated plansof action. This was endorsed inthe 2002 Plan of Implementationof the World Summit forSustainable Development andused to develop such strategiesas the World Banks 2004Fisheries Sector Approach PaperSaving Fish and Fishers.

Like all human activity,including agriculture, bothsheries and aquaculture placeburdens on the environment

they rely on. Science hascontributed to identifying theseburdens such as coastal waterpollution and sh disease fromintense stocking and feeding and to creating the solutions,like better feeds and reliable,evidence-based estimates ofsustainable sh stocking density.Conservationists, scientistsand sh farmers have createdinnovative partnerships totackle these sorts of issues.Recently, the World Bank, WWF,the Network of AquacultureCentres in Asia, FAO, and theUnited Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP) releasedguidelines for environmentallysustainable shrimp farming.

Over the last decade, I haveobserved and experienced atransformation in sh research.We once worked mainly with shhunting and farming. But now,

thanks to a better understandingof the global situation achievedby researchers such as thosesupported by the CGIAR andACIAR we picture ourselves ashelping the poor to grow food andcreate value in their lives fromsh n

MerylJ.WilliamsisChairoftheFAOAdvisory Committee on FisheriesResearch, and of the Board ofManagement,AustralianCentrefor

InternationalAgriculturalResearch.She is also a member of the ScienticSteeringCommitteeoftheCensusofMarine Life. The article expressesherpersonalviews.

them. Scientists from North andSouth alike are in the vanguard,working with local shingfamilies, government ofcers

and nongovernment workersaround small bodies of water inBangladesh, on coral reefs inthe Philippines, in Sri Lankanreservoirs, and along the riversof Cameroon.

Recent research hasproduced many valuable lessonsand ndings. Scientists haveestablished, for example, thatthe little-publicized sheries ofthe developing world are just asdepleted by overshing as the

more famous Newfoundlandcod and North Sea ones. Inaddressing this problem, theconcept of ecosystem-basedsheries management hasemerged as a means of examiningall components of sheriesresources and their supportingaquatic environments.

Bareyvisibe

Other lessons concern thecomplexity and value ofpeoples rights to use and ownsh resources and show howcompliance with rules is affectedby their legitimacy and by the costsof non-compliance. Researchhas further demonstrated howpower relations rule the conductof business, so that powerfulshing enterprise ownerscan make good prots even indegraded sheries, while their

workers are held in povertyby low wages and high creditburdens. Another concern is thatshers and their families sufferhigh health risks (from HIV/AIDS,for example) which are not beingaddressed by mainstream healthservices. Research has alsohighlighted the importance oflooking at sheries developmentthrough a gender lens: womenand children, often barely visibleduring the catching of sh, may

play central roles in the servicesand postharvest sectors.

While confronting suchchallenges on the ground,researchers have worked in


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demand for agricultural products in many developingcountries.Better understanding of sustainable, economically viableand environmentally positive agricultural practices isneeded by those who make decisions on agricultural,environmental and macroeconomic policy, nationallyand internationally, in both developed and developing

countries. This could result in policies and institutionalarrangements that facilitate, rather than obstruct,implementing such practices and making advances inscience and technology that will help agriculture adapt torapidly changing environmental conditions and improveits overall performance.

Recognizing the key role of agriculture in theeconomies of developing countries and in achievingthe Millennium Development Goals, the World Bankheld meetings with leaders in the private sector andcivil society to discuss prominent issues in agriculturalknowledge, science and technology (AKST). Participantsshared views on how to advance its role in meeting thedemographic, environmental and economic challengesfacing agriculture. Some suggested that a comprehensive,multidisciplinary international assessment of issuescritical to formulating policy would have great value fordecision makers confronting conicting views on suchcontentious issues as the environmental and humanhealth impacts of transgenic crops, the consequencesof bio-energy development on the environment andon the long term availability and price of food, and theimplications of OECD agricultural subsidies for small-scale farmers in developing countries.

In August 2002, the Food and Agriculture Organisation

(FAO) and the World Bank initiated a global consultativeprocess on a proposed international assessmentof AKSTs role in reducing hunger, improving rurallivelihoods and stimulating environmentally and sociallysustainable economic growth. Over the next year eleven

environmentally positive agricultural practices.

Demand for food is projected to double within thenext 25-50 years as global population increases

to 8- 10 billion and food preferences in thedeveloping world change with rapid urbanization andincreased per capita income. This will exacerbate thealready serious problem of access to sufcient, safeand nutritious food, now affecting nearly 800 millionchronically undernourished people. The economiesof many developing countries, especially in Africa, arehighly dependent on agriculture, and most of the worldspeople rely on it, directly or indirectly, for their livelihoods.The global community confronts the enormous taskof ensuring nutritional security and enhancing rurallivelihoods while reversing environmental degradation,

redressing social and gender inequity, and ensuringhuman health and well-being.Critical environmental and social factors facing

the developing world may directly impede meeting theincreased demand. They include less water availablefor crops, due to growing use elsewhere; less arableland, due to urbanization and unsustainable agriculturalpractices; less labor, due to HIV/AIDS, malaria andother tropical diseases - and to migration from ruralto urban areas. ; increased levels of acid depositionand tropospheric ozone; and a changing climate withwarmer temperatures, and increases in variability ofprecipitation, frequency of extreme weather events(such as heat waves, oods and droughts) and loss ofland to rising seas.

Agricultural intensication can substantially improveand increase productivity, but it can also have severeenvironmental consequences. Introducing high-yieldingvarieties can lead to the erosion of genetic diversity:changes in land cover and agronomic practices canresult in soil erosion, and thus loss of essential nutrientsand decreased water-holding capacity: pesticides maykill pollinating insects and natural enemies of pestsand diseases: applications of agricultural chemicalscan contaminate surface and ground water: and

intensication can result in increased greenhouse gasemissions, such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Moreover, climate change is likely to compound thenegative impact of unsustainable agricultural practicesand undermine meeting the projected increase in

ROBERT T. WATSON, HANS HERREN AND

JUDI WAKHUNGU describe an internationalassessment which will help decisionmakersadopt sustainable, economically viable and

Understanding

thefuture


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Asia and Pacic; Latin America and the Caribbean;Central and West Asia and North Africa; and NorthAmerica and Europe);

Analyze existing and new technologies, practices andpolicies and their impact on the development andsustainability goals;

Provide robust information for decision makers onhow to ensure that policies, practices and institutionalarrangements enable AKST to meet these goals;

Bring together the range of stakeholders(governments, NGOs, private sector, producers,consumers, indigenous peoples, the ConsultativeGroup on International Agricultural Research,the scientic community, multi-environmentalagreements, and international agencies) involvedin the agricultural sector and rural developmentto share experiences, views, and gain common

understanding and vision for the future; and Guide future public and private investments in AKST.

The IAASTD is assessing the efcacy of the generation,access, dissemination and use of public and privatesector AKST, integrating local (including indigenous)and formal knowledge, and emphasizing gender issues.Knowledge gained from a historical analysis (the past50 years) and the insights gained from an analysis ofpossible futures (up to 2050) is forming the basis forassessing options for action on technology, capacitydevelopment, policies and funding

.The assessment will provide information on suchcontentious, complex topics as transgenic crops andbio-energy, but will not set goals or advocate specicpolicies or practices. It will be policy relevant, but notpolicy prescriptive, assessing options for action. It isintegrating scientic information on a range of topicsthat are critically interlinked, but often addressedindependently - agriculture, poverty, hunger, naturalresources, and development. It will enable decisionmakers to bring a richer base of knowledge to bear onpolicy and management decisions over issues previouslyviewed in isolation.

About 400 experts from all stakeholder groupsare preparing the IAASTD, which will be completed inlate 2007. The global and sub-global assessments areundergoing two rounds of expert and peer-review toensure they are balanced and technically accurate. Asynthesis report will integrate their key ndings, andaddress nine cross-cutting "hot topics" - bio-energy,climate change, transgenics, human health, feminizationof agriculture, traditional knowledge innovation,availability and management of natural resources, andpublic and private investments in agricultural knowledge,science and technologyn

RobertT.WatsonistheChiefScientistoftheWorldBankandChair,IAASTD,HansHerren,President,MillenniumInstitute

and co-Chair, IAASTD and Judi Wakhungu, Executive

Dircetor,AfricanCentreforTechnologyStudiesandco-Chair

IAASTD.

consultations were held - overseen by a multi-stakeholder steering committee - involvingover 800 participants from all stakeholdergroups. Based on these consultations and on anintergovernmental meeting in Nairobi, the IAASTDwas endorsed as a multi-thematic, multi-spatial,multi-temporal intergovernmental process witha multi-stakeholder Bureau co-sponsored by theWorld Bank, FAO, UNEP, UNESCO, the UnitedNations Development Programme, the WorldHealth Organisation, and the Global EnvironmentFacility The intergovernmental meeting agreed onits objectives, goals, scope, key questions, design,preparation and peer-review processes, outputs,timetable, budget and governance structure. It isone of the most important assessments to date,dealing with one of the main human needs and

rights - for healthy and nutritious food.The IAASTDs governance structure is a

unique hybrid of the Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change and the non-governmentalMillennium Ecosystem Assessment. It is

intergovernmental with a multi-stakeholder Bureaucomprising 30 government representatives and 30representatives from civil society (six NGOs, six producergroups, four consumer groups, six private sector entitiesand eight international organizations) so as to ensureownership of the process and ndings by the full rangeof stakeholders.

Based on experiences from previous internationalassessments, the following characteristics are beingemployed: Involving the best experts from all stakeholder groups

in their individual capacity in design, preparation andpeer-review;

Conducted according to an open, transparent,representative and legitimate process;

Evidence-based, not based on value systems; Policy relevant, not policy prescriptive, presenting

options not recommendations; Encompassing risk assessment, management and

communication; Technically accurate; Assessing local, regional and global perspectives as

appropriate; Presenting different views, with quantication of

uncertainties, where possible; and Identifying the key scientic uncertainties and areas

on which research could be focused.

The goal is help develop - and improve access to- AKST that will promote and facilitate sustainableagricultural practices to improve nutritional security andenhance rural livelihoods, while reversing environmental

degradation, redressing social and gender inequity,and ensuring human health and well-being. Within thisgeneral aim, its specic objectives are to:* Undertake one global assessment and ve sub-

global ones (Sub-Saharan Africa; South and East


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BOOkS & PRODUCtS

Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s

company 02 won the

Grand Prix at the rst

Green Awards ceremony held

in Londons Guildhall on 29

November, for a campaign that

sends its cellphone to customers

by post, encouraging recycling

and avoiding polluting

deliveries by courier. It also won the award for the bestpackaging. The awards supported by UNEP, Media

Guardian, the City of London, Marketing Week, and CSR

Wire have been created to recognize excellent creative

work that illustrates and communicates the importance of

corporate social responsibility, sustainable development

and ethical best practice. Marks & Spencer, the leading

British chain of clothing stores, also starred on the night,

winning several prizes.

Before a product goes on sale it has already caused

several times its own weight in waste writes SachikoKuwabara-Yamamoto, Executive Secretary to the

Basel Convention, introducing Vital Waste Graphics

2. Collectively we must reduce waste output at every

stage of a products life, manage

waste more effectively, and

conserve natural resources.

The publication, produced

by UNEP/GRID-Arendal in

collaboration with the Secretariat

of the Convention, summarizes

key issues and highlights globaltrends in waste with accessible

graphics, maps and texts. It was

launched at the 8th Conference

of Parties of the Convention,

held in Nairobi from 27 November to 1 December.

Reforming Agricultural Trade for Developing

Countries is a two-volume World Bank

publication. The rst volume, KeyIssues for a

Pro-DevelopmentOutcomeoftheDohaRound, takes

up select issues of importance to developing countries,including the implications of the concept of the

multifunctionality of agriculture, the impact on market

access of sanitary and phytosanitary regulations, the

role of special and differential treatment for developing

countries in the negotiations, and what lessons can be

learned from previous trade reform experiences. The

second, QuantifyingtheImpactofMultilateralTrade

Reform,presents several different approaches to modelling

the effects of the outcome of the Doha negotiations, and

investigates why these (and other) modelling efforts

produce such divergent results. Another World Bank

publication, EnhancingAgriculturalInnovation:How

toGoBeyondtheStrengtheningofResearchSystems,

aims to focus on the largely unexplored operationalaspects of the innovation systems concept and to explore

its potential for agriculture.

Over 35 million volunteers from 122 countries

participated in this years Clean Up the World

Weekend on 15-17 September. Since it started

in 1993, the Clean Up the World Campaign held

in conjunction with UNEP has collected an estimated

3,574,991 tonnes of rubbish, enough to ll 5,710

Olympic size swimming pools. Clean Up the World

mobilizes people around a powerful idea: taking thechallenge of environment and sustainable development

to our front doors, our back yards, and everywhere else

around the globe says UNEPs Executive Director,

Achim Steiner. It comes with another idea that UNEP

strongly believes in: that what we consider waste and

rubbish today could become a resource for tomorrow.

The Creation; An Appeal

to Save Life on Earth,

by Prof. E.O. Wilson

of Harvard University (W.W.Norton) is an attempt by a

secular humanist to enlist the

religious faiths in averting a

mass extinction of species.

The eminent scientist who

has won two Pulitzer Prizes

for previous books says that

among people of religious faith

there is a potentially powerful

commitment to conservation saving the creation

once the connection is made and once the scientists arewilling to form an alliance. There are two world views in

conict religious and secular but yet they can meet

in friendship on one of the most important issues of the

century.

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Diseases and pests have attacked food crops sincethey were rst domesticated and until just four orve decades ago, epidemics caused production

losses, food shortages, periodic famines, and malnutrition.Our ancestors selected plants for their genetic resistance their ability to better resist these attacks but knowledgeof its scientic basis is only about a century old. Todaydevastating disease pandemics are almost unknown,thanks to genetic resistance developed through modernplant breeding and the coming of chemical controls.

The Green Revolution introduced semi-dwarf wheatand rice during the 1960s and 1970s. It both helped feedthe world at a time of impending famine and triggeredan industrial revolution over the following years. The

new varieties increased production arose not just due totheir high yielding ability and higher input efciency, butalso from their genetic resistance to the rust diseases (inthe case of wheat) and to blast disease (for rice). Geneticresistance to stem rust disease, caused by the fungus

AMatter

fBravi prakaSH SingH describes howdeveloping crops that are resistant to diseasesand pests secures food supplies and protectshealth and the environment

Puccinia graminis, was rst incorporated into semi-dwarfwheat by Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and hassince been maintained through incorporating new genes.Rust resistance has saved billions of dollars annuallyby avoiding devastating epidemics that would have hadmajor effects on global food supply and prices. Resistantwheat was developed by a global network of scientistswho grew wheat germplasm and breeding materials andevaluated them against existing races of stem rust andother pathogens, freely sharing information to developbetter public goods.

Were it not for resistant crop varieties, resource-poorfarmers who cannot afford pesticides would still be at themercy of epidemics. Growing them is the best control

strategy for poor farmers in the developingworldand the most environmentallyfriendly and protable strategy for

commercial farmers everywhere. Protectingone hectare of wheat from a rust diseasein the highly productive Yaqui Valleyof northwestern Mexico, for example,would require one or two applications offungicides, at a cost of $ 50-100, equivalentto approximately 10-20 per cent of its wheat,which stands at about six tonnes per hectare.Cultivating resistant wheats has avoided theexcessive use of chemicals both here and inabout two-thirds of the 215 million hectaressown to the crop worldwide. Using resistant

varieties thus increases prot margins, helpskeep the prices of staple crops affordable,and has a benecial effect on human healthas fewer agrochemicals are applied to thecrop.

Genetic strategies

The germplasm of each crop speciespossesses signicant genetic variation forresistance genes. Scientists continually

collect natural variation in germplasm from areas wherecrop species have evolved, so as to conserve genetic

diversity for future plant breeding. This is becausepathogens display remarkable diversity and the ability toevolve and form new races that can overcome resistancegenes, often within just three to ve years. Recentbiotechnological advances show there is great similarity,in the genetic code, or DNA, of such resistance genes,irrespective of the plant species. These race-specicgenes have long been the backbone of resistance, butusing them inappropriately can lead to a boom-and-bust cycle: a period of high yields from a widely sownresistant variety, is followed by serious losses when it isattacked by a new race to which it is susceptible, and is

not quickly replaced.Stringent monitoring can identify the presence of

a new race long before it causes an epidemic, but mostfarmers especially poor ones do not change varietiesuntil after the devastation. Disease-causing spores of

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most pathogens, including those of wheat rusts, can becarried far by the wind to disperse a new race, oftenaided by the continuous span of major food crops overmillions of hectares. These factors have driven the searchfor alternative, longer term genetic strategies to combatmajor diseases such as wheat rusts and rice blast, andthis has led to using a different type of resistance genes:race-nonspecic or durable ones.

Signicant resources have recently been devotedto understanding the genetic mechanism behind race-nonspecic resistance. While race-specic resistance canbe imparted by a single major gene having a large effect,race-nonspecic resistance often involves multipleminor genes with small to intermediate, or partial,effects. Accumulating a number of such genes in a singleplant can lead to highly effective resistance that can beexpected to last over a long period. This has happened in

corn where the rapid accumulation of such minor geneshas been made possible by its ability to cross-pollinate.

Minorresistance

As wheat and rice are self-pollinating crops, accumulatingminor genes in a single plant (along with other importanttraits) has not advanced as quickly. Characterization andselection for durable resistance to leaf (or brown) rustdisease, caused by the fungus Puccinia triticina, wereinitiated at the International Maize and Wheat ImprovementCentre (CIMMYT) in the early 1970s and varieties with

moderate resistance were developed soon afterwards. Inthe late 1980s, research focused on unraveling the geneticbasis of resistance to leaf rust and stripe (or yellow) rust(caused by the fungus Puccinia striiformis) and applyingthis knowledge to wheat breeding. Combining four to veminor resistance genes was expected to produce plants thatremained clean even under high epidemic pressure, andsuch slow-rusting resistance was the basis for generatingnew wheat germplasm, highly effective against locallyprevalent races in many sites internationally.

Some of the highest yielding wheat varieties developedby CIMMYT are now protected by high levels of durableresistance to both leaf and stripe rust

diseases. They are at various stagesof testing by national programmes,in preparation for release: latestresults indicate their yield potentialis at least 10 per cent higherthan currently grown cultivars.Adopting them will signicantlyincrease production. Perhaps moreimportantly, their genetic resistancewill protect them from leaf andstripe rusts for extended periods,signicantly increasing overall

protability. CIMMYT-derivedwheat cultivars with two to threeminor genes conferring slow-rustingresistance to leaf rust now occupymore than 26 million hectares in

developing countries, contributing over $5 billion (1990US dollars) in yield savings in epidemic years.

The natural diversity in crop germplasm is oftenenough to provide resistance to various fungal, bacterial,

and viral diseases and to some specialized insect pests control of other important insects has been made possiblethrough the use of genetically modied crop varieties.Introducing cry genes also known as Bt genes, originallyisolated from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis intocotton and corn is the most notable example of thesetechnologies, which have provided a new dimension toinsect-pest management: they have signicantly reducedthe use of insecticides, often very harmful to human andanimal health and to benecial insects and predators.

Vastdestruction

Long-term success often leads to a false sense of security.This has happened with the wheat stem rust pathogen,where a new race commonly known as Ug99 (rstdetected in Uganda in 1999) has established itselfthroughout East Africa. It could wreak vast destruction onmost of the popular varieties grown in this region, as wellas in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, to which itis likely to migrate via the Arabian Peninsula. Other largeareas of the world, including in developed countries, arealso planted to cultivars susceptible to it. We must shakeoff our complacency and work quickly and diligentlyto replace such susceptible varieties with resistant ones

before epidemics disrupt the food security and livelihoodsof millions of households. Such challenges will continueto emerge for all major crops and will require concertedand integrated strategies to diffuse their effects withminimal intervention from agrochemicalsn

Ravi Prakash Singh is a Distinguished Scientist andLeader of Bread Wheat Improvement for IntensiveAgro-ecosystemsat theInternationalMaizeandWheatImprovementCentre(CIMMYT),Mexico.



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PEOPlE

Julia Marton-Lefvre has beenappointed Director-General ofthe World Conservation Union

(IUCN), the worlds leading conserva-tion authority, in succession to AchimSteiner, who became Executive Direc-tor of UNEP last summer.

Ms Marton-Lefvre, Rector of theUniversity of Peace in Costa Rica,

was born in Hungary, moved to theUnited States at the age of 11 with her parents whowere political refugees and has spent most of her adultlife in France. She has also served as Executive Directorof the International Council for Science (ICSU) and ofLEAD (Leadership for Environment and Development).

She says: Nature and conservation are part andparcel of the worlds struggle for development, peace andsecurity. I am dedicated to work with the Unions powerfulnetwork of 1,000 member organizations and 10,000experts to demonstrate the importance of conservationto a fairer and greener planet, as part of my lifelongdedication to the inter-related issues of conservation,environment, development, peace and security.

Valli Moosa, President of theWorld Conservation Union, added:We look forward to continuingand expanding upon the work ofour previous Director General, MrAchim Steiner, who put the Unionback on the world stage before takingup leadership of the United NationsEnvironment Programme.

Dr James Hansen, the director of NASAs GoddardInstitute for Space Studies in NewYork, has been awarded this yearsDuke of Edinburgh ConservationMedal, in recognition of hisgroundbreaking research on mansimpact on the Earths climate and hiscourage in sounding the alarm.

Dr Hansen brought globalwarming sharply up the international

agenda in 1988 by announcing the greenhouse effect ishere and is affecting our climate now. His testimony tothe US Congress on that occasion is featured in former

US Vice-President Al Gores lm An InconvenientTruth. He was presented with the medal, which isawarded annually by WWF, by HRH Prince Philip, theDuke of Edinburgh at a ceremony at St James Palace,London, on 21 November 2006.

James Leape, WWF InternationalsDirector General said: For morethan two decades he has madehuge contributions to scienticunderstanding of climate changeand to raising awareness amongdecision-makers and the public.

Accepting the award, DrHansen said: We must move our energy systems in a

fundamentally different direction in about a decade,or we will have pushed the planet past a tipping pointbeyond which it will be impossible to avoid far-reachingundesirable consequences.

Katherine Sierra has been appointedto head a much-expanded vice-presidency of environmentally andsocially sustainable development atthe World Bank. Already the BanksVice-President for Infrastructuresince October 2004, she has nowcombined the two departments inher new role as Vice President forSustainable Development. A USnational who has worked for the Bank for 28 years,she also chairs the Consultative Group on InternationalAgricultural Research (CGIAR).

The new vice-presidency integrates such key areas asenergy, water, transport, oil, and mining with environment,social development and agriculture, so as to bringsustainability to the forefront of the Banks developmentagenda at a time when infrastructure investments are onthe rise.

World Bank Group President,Paul Wolfowitz, says: The newvice-presidency gives us a uniqueopportunity to expand our work onsustainable development and moveit to a higher level. And Ms Sierraadds: Much of the infrastructurebuilt in the next 20 years will stillbe with us in 2050. We have a greatopportunity to take actions today that will enhancedevelopment options for future generations.

Kristalina Georgieva a Bulgarian, who has been the

Banks Country Director for Russia has been appointedDirector for Strategy and Network Operations within thevice-presidency.

UNEP

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Reuters


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BsSuSHma ganguly says that agriculturefaces complex global and local issues,requiring solutions within the context ofsustainable rural development, and outlineshow the World Bank is approaching them

Agriculture is closely associated in the publicmind with the Green Revolution which emergedto avoid mass famine and starvation. It largely

succeeded by increasing crop yields mainly through

improved technology and investments in infrastructureand agriculture services. But a few adverse environmentalimpacts are also emerging, while the growth in yields itbrought has begun to taper off.

Meanwhile increased agricultural productivity inindustrial countries, Latin America, and Asia createdsurpluses, breeding complacency among consumersand policymakers. Support to agriculture, including thatprovided by the World Bank, waned alarmingly. Landdegradation, water scarcity, forest destruction, and over-exploited sheries increased, damaging the lives of ruralpeople.

Many people think that the world remains awash infood, but this is not longer the case. Now, burgeoningdemand for food and feed in fast-growing developingcountriesespecially in Asiacombined with increasedcompetition for agricultural resources and climatic eventsin signicant parts of the world signal a tightening inworld food supplies that may be with us for some time.Global carry-over wheat stocks are at some of the lowestlevels ever recorded, equivalent to less than 10 weeks ofconsumption. Corn and wheat prices have risen by upto 60 per cent this year. In this context, a renewed focuson agricultural research and diffusing technology is morecritical than ever.

Higherprices

This is taking place while the recent UN Hunger TaskForce found that nearly 800 million people in developingcountries already suffer from hunger despite the GreenRevolution. The problem is primarily one of access tosufcient safe, nutritious, and affordable food for peoplewho, ironically, live in rural areas and make a living fromagriculture. Demand for food will double in the comingdecades, primarily in developing countries, as the globalpopulation reaches 8-10 billion. So matching production

to population growth will remain a challenge.Increased food supplies will need to come largelyfrom existing land, while using less water. Each yearthe world loses an area of tropical forests equal to theland surface of Greece, harming water supply and soilfertility. Approximately 40 per cent of the worlds cropand pasture land is already degraded or degrading, and anestimated 20 million hectares of cropland go completelyout of production each year. About 10 per cent of theworlds food is produced using mined groundwater,whichif this continuescould become exhausted oruneconomic to extract.

Higher incomes have shifted dietary preferences toanimal productswhich some have called the livestockrevolution. Meat and milk production in the developingworld has doubled in recent decades, and this trend isexpected to continue. However, this is intrinsically



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linked to crop production. Lower grain stocks and risinggrain prices mean fewer livestock and higher prices forlivestock products as well. Even more pressing, whiledemand increases for sh, approximately 75 percentof the worlds marine stocks are overexploited or fully

exploited.The issues are complex and so will be the solutions.Agriculture within rural development is not simply aboutproduction, but is linked to natural resources, inputs(fertilizer, seeds), nance, information, water, processingfacilities, markets, and ultimately to consumers, bothdomestic and international. There are also links tooverall economic policy, natural resource management,rural non-farm employment, infrastructure, roads, andenergy.

Foodsafety

The World Banks agricultural agenda is now intrinsicallylinked to sustainable natural resource management, to thepolicy environment, to rural livelihoods and institutions,to nance, and to markets and trade. The major issues itis addressing are:n Promoting trade in agriculture. Agricultural exportsfrom developing countries actually fell over the last twodecades, at least partly because agricultural protection(and subsidies) remains high. The World Bank hasinvested over $581 million in the past ve years towardagricultural trade policy reform and about $152 millionin helping countries cope with food safety standards that

hinder access to export markets.nSupporting the rural investment climate. The penetrationof formal commercial activity into rural areas usuallypales in comparison to services available to entrepreneursin the larger urban and peri-urban localities. This indicates

a need for strategic public investment to improve servicesand facilitate private sector development.nProviding rural nancial services. These underlie all theother interventions supported in rural areas. Investing inthemas the Bank has done in recent yearsis critical

to developing the rural economy and to helping the ruralpoor build assets that can decrease their vulnerability toshocks.n Preparing against emerging zoonoses. Animal-based diseases, such as avian u and mad cow keeplivestock management and animal health at the top ofthe development agenda. More than 25 countries areexpected to receive nancing under the World Banks$500 Million Global Programme for Avian Inuenza byDecember 2006. Effective compensation schemes areessential to induce early reporting and culling, so theWorld Bank has agreed to lead the process of developingguidelines for them.n Innovating agricultural research. Shifting demandpatterns, improved technology, integrating trade, climatechange, and the market are all shaping the evolutionof agriculture. The Bank is exploring the concept ofinnovation systems to handle better these forces. Thiscalls for integrated programmes that address science,private sector investment, the nancial system, thepolicy and regulatory environment, and stakeholderparticipation. The World Banks agriculture portfolio isalready reecting this more inclusive, demand-orientedapproach.n Re-engaging in water for agriculture. Agriculture

accounts for nearly 80 per cent of global water use, andthe World Bank is proactively re-engaging in this areawith investments to gain more crop per drop. The AfricaAction Plan identied managing water for agriculture asa priority investment area.



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MarkEdwards/StillP

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n Managing commodity risk. Price and weather riskmanagement insurance seeks to provide farmers andinstitutions in developing countries with tools to managetheir exposure to uctuations and potentially expand

access to credit. Pilot projects are underway in India,Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and Nicaragua andunder development in Kenya, Thailand and Cambodia.n Empowering rural communities. Putting the poor inthe drivers seat of development, creates systems thatrespond to demand and makes governments, NGOs, theprivate sector, and donors accountable to the poor. Over$1 billion were invested in this approach in agricultureand rural development in 92 countries in the 2005nancial year alone.n Securing access to land. The World Banks work onland administration addresses: the role of the state inestablishing secure property rights; well-functioning land

markets to provide access; the social and economic costsof highly unequal land distribution; and the appropriateregulatory environment for effectively dealing with land.Over the last ve years the Bank has invested just over$1 billion through 74 projects.n Investing in core public goods in rural areas. Thiscontributes to the overall well-being, productivecapacity, and economic potential of the rural population.Reecting its importance, and the multi-sector nature ofrural development, 30 per cent of lending in rural areasnanced infrastructure investments, 20 per cent nancedsocial sectors, and 19 per cent nanced law, justice and

public administration.n Water Resources Management. By 2025, some 48countriesmostly least developed ones and over1.4 billion people will be experiencing water stress orscarcity. The World Bank focuses on the managementand governance of water for responsible growth thatbenets the poor. It concentrates on broad-based river

basin management and smart water storage schemes,on restoring degraded water quality, and on improvingwater services. And it incorporates adaptation to climatechange and multi-objective water planning in the design

and implementation of its operations.n Natural Resources. World Bank investments innatural resources are beginning to focus more onintegrated ecosystems management, simultaneouslyaddressing forest, land, and water resources. They arealso concentrating more on community participation, oninstitutional development, and on capacity building foreconomic development, environmental conservation,and poverty reduction.

Sustainabebasis

Agriculture faces complex issues which do not respond

to the desire for a silver

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