In 2014, a study published in Lancet, the highly respected British medical journal, estimated that the number of overweight adults in the world was 2.1 billion in 2013, as compared with 857 million in 1980. Furthermore, it is established that 2% of the world population is currently “chronically malnourished” and that 5 million children die yearly from “causes related to lack of nutrition.” Also, today, 2 billion people are suffering from hidden hunger i.e. Most get enough calories from food but not enough vitamins and minerals. This is why there is the strong call for nutrition-sensitive diets. Again, the science is that without adequate vitamins and minerals, women risk death during childbirth, and children risk stunted development with low IQs.
Unfortunately, in the face of these challenges to the quality of the foods we eat, the world is facing a rapidly-increasing population. The world population is projected to top the 9 billion mark by mid-century. The population of Africa alone is expected to double to about 2 billion by 2050. Estimates are that world food production has to be increased by 70% over current levels to meet global food demands by mid-century. Faced with these daunting challenges, humanity should use agriculture and food systems to provide the nutritious diets needed for rounded development of the human body.
Agriculture is both a victim and a culprit when it comes to Climate Change. It is learnt that agriculture contributes about 14% of the greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change, and also that the deforestation and land degradation that are associated with uninformed agricultural and other practices, also cause an additional 17% of the increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. However, Agriculture is now under sustained threat from Climate Change and hence the call for Climate-Smart Agriculture.
Climate-Smart Agriculture is an efficient and effective intervention for achieving food productivity and security objectives and development goals at the same time, even as the world struggles to contain the effects of Climate Change. It is being advocated for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is to ensure that agricultural production and productivity are enhanced for food security and income-sustainability. Secondly, it is to boost resilience of livelihoods and ecosystems. And thirdly, it is to mitigate agriculture’s contribution to global warming.
In practicing Climate-Smart Agriculture, the agricultural sector stands to capture synergies that exist among activities to develop more productive food systems, and improve natural resource management.
However, it must be noted that achieving the four dimensions of food security which are: availability of; and access to food; utilization of food for adequate nutrition; and stability of food supply, must be the overall goal of food production and distribution systems.
If food is taken to ensure nourishment, and agriculture is perceived to provide the food that humanity needs, then, the fundamental purpose of agricultural systems is to ensure proper nutritional outcomes. Therefore the time has come for Agriculture not only to be climate-smart, but also to be nutrition-smart. A scientist of the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, D.C. is quoted to have written recently that: “Agriculture must become nutrition-smart.
Nutrition-sensitivity is not enough. Our basic food systems have to be optimized to provide the greatest amount of nutrients per square foot that can be produced sustainably, especially in the face of climate change.” He continues that; “We need to shift away from excessive reliance on mono-cropped calories by also investing in diverse food systems that integrate staple cereals and grains with other types of nourishing food.”
Thus, the agricultural sector and food systems face a massive double challenge today:
a) Feeding the world sustainably, and
b) Feeding it a healthy and nutrient-rich diet in the face of changing climatic conditions.
In Africa, where hunger and malnutrition levels are highest, recent research has shown that we can develop and deliver staple cereals and root crops that have both higher yields and higher levels of micronutrients. With the help of Science and Technology, work is underway to improve production and availability of nutrient-rich legumes, fruits, vegetables, fish and livestock.
Fortunately, under the auspices of institutions such as FAO, IFPRI, CAADP and other research outfits in various organizations such as AGRA and universities, research into plant breeding is being intensified to produce seeds and tubers rich in essential nutrients for farmers to plant. For instance, on the African continent now, enriched sweet potato is fast gaining prevalence.
Further, it is reported that since last year, the first high-yielding rice varieties in Bangladesh that are rich in zinc have been made available to farmers… and that in the case of zinc rice, there will soon be varieties that can provide up to 80 percent of an adult woman’s or child’s daily zinc needs – 35% more than ordinary rice varieties.
In pursuit of Nutrition-Smart Agriculture, policy should be directed to encourage plant-breeders to work with nutritionists to determine the nutrient levels that must be bred into new seed varieties to have a measurable impact on improving nutrition and public health.
In the face of Climate Change, Agriculture has to be many steps ahead of the curve. The conjunction of Climate-Smart and Nutrition-Smart Agriculture underpins sustainable food systems for improved quality of life of mankind. Realizing this synergy calls for purposeful investments which cannot be realized without sustained public policy that will empower the private sector to enhance agriculture at all levels, including plantation-level, commercial and smallholder agriculture.
This should include policies on extension advice, enriched soils, improved seedlings, efficient irrigation systems, mechanization, marketing information, credit availability, the use of ICT, and information on nutrition science on how to prepare food so as not to destroy the nutrients in food.
Given the urgency and importance of the realization of these two objectives - Climate-Smart Agriculture and Nutrition-Smart Agriculture - sustained communication to inform and educate the peoples of the world is crucial, especially in the developing parts.
By H.E. John Kufuor,
Former President of the Republic of Ghana.