Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life

A new FAO study released shows how plants and fruits from Amazonian forests can be used to improve people's diets and livelihoods. The book — which is written in easy-to-grasp, accessible language — seeks to take science out of the ivory tower and put it to work on the ground, in the hands of people.

Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life was co-produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and People and Plants International. It was unveiled today during a ceremony at FAO marking the close of the International Year of Forests.

"During the International Year of Forests we have managed to highlight close ties between people and forests, as well as the numerous benefits that forests provide if they are managed by local communities in a sustainable way," said Eduardo Rojas-Briales, FAO's Assistant Director-General for Forestry.

"Some 80 percent of people living in the developing world rely on non-wood forest products such as fruits and medicinal plants for their nutritional and health needs. This new book provides comprehensive information on Amazon fruits and plants, and is a perfect example of how to make our knowledge accessible for poor people to help them maximize the benefits from forest products and services and improve their livelihoods. While the International Year of Forests is almost over, our efforts on promoting sustainable forest management and the importance of involving forest communities in development initiatives will continue," added Rojas-Briales.

Unique approach

The layout of FAO's new book aims at allowing readers lacking in formal education to extract knowledge using pictures and numbers. Twenty five percent of people in developing countries are functionally illiterate — in rural areas this figure can reach close to 40 percent.

"Some 90 Brazilian and international researchers who were willing to present their research to rural villagers in alternative formats — including jokes, recipes and pictures — collaborated in the production of this book," said Tina Etherington, who managed the publication project for FAO's Forestry Department. "And a number of farmers, midwives, hunters and musicians contributed valuable insights and experience as well. The book is of interest to a worldwide audience because of its truly innovative way of presenting science and how those techniques can be transferred to other areas in the world."

Patricia Shanley, Senior Research Associate at CIFOR and lead editor of the publication, said: "This is an unusual book. Written by and for semi-literate rural villagers, it weaves together a tapestry of voices about the myriad values forests contain."

"The book enables nutritional data and ecology to coexist alongside music and folklore making the forest and its inhabitants come alive," she added. Marina Silva, former Minister of the Environment of Brazil, who wrote the preface to the book, noted: "This book is an extraordinary poem to Amazonia".

Forests and food at risk

The Amazon is the largest contiguous tropical forest remaining in the world, with 25 million people living in the Brazilian Amazon alone. However, deforestation, fire and climate change could destabilize the region and result in the forest shrinking to one third of its size in 65 years, according to today's publication.

In addition to the environmental services they provide, forests like the Amazon are also a rich nutritional storehouse. Fruits provide essential nutrients, minerals and anti-oxidants that keep the body strong and resistant to disease. Buriti palm fruit, for example, contains the highest known levels of vitamin A of any plant in the world. And açaí fruit is being hailed as a "superfood" for its high antioxidant and omega fatty acid content. Brazil nuts are rich in a complete protein similar to the protein content of cow's milk, which is why they are known as the "meat" of the plant kingdom, said the publication.

Fruit Trees and Useful Plants in Amazonian Life

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World Livestock 2011.Livestock in food security

14 December 2011,Rome.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Rome. By 2050 an expanded world population will be consuming two thirds more animal protein than it does today, bringing new strains to bear on the planet's natural resources, according to a new FAO report published today. Populations and income growth are fueling an ongoing trend towards greater per capita consumption of animal protein in developing countries, says the report, World Livestock 2011. Meat consumption is projected to rise nearly 73 percent by 2050; dairy consumption will grow 58 percent over current levels.

Much of the future demand for livestock production — in particular in the world's burgeoning cities, where most population growth is occurring — will be met by large-scale, intensive animal-rearing operations.

"As it stands, there are no technically or economically viable alternatives to intensive production for providing the bulk of the livestock food supply for growing cities," FAO's report says.

But such systems are a source of concern due to environmental impacts such as groundwater pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as their potential to act as incubators of diseases, warns the report, cautioning: "an urgent challenge is to make intensive production more environmentally benign."

Based on existing knowledge and technology, there are three ways to do this, according to FAO: reduce the level of pollution generated from waste and greenhouse gases; reduce the input of water and grain needed for each output of livestock protein; and recycle agro-industrial by-products  through livestock populations.

Efficiency gains only way to meet demand

The surge in livestock production that took place over the last 40 years resulted largely from an increase in the overall number of animals being raised. But "it is hard to envisage meeting projected demand by keeping twice as many poultry, 80 percent more small ruminants, 50 percent more cattle and 40 percent more pigs, using the same level of natural resources as currently," says World Livestock 2011.

Rather, increases in production will need to come from improvements in the efficiency of livestock systems in converting natural resources into food and reducing waste.

This will require capital investment and a supporting policy and regulatory environment.

Animal health is key

A number of additional challenges must be confronted as well, including drought, water shortages and other climate-related impacts — not to mention the threat of animal diseases, some which may directly threaten human health, which will have to be carefully managed as livestock production is ramped up.

Intensive systems, and those that encroach upon forest environments or peri-urban areas without proper hygiene, are a fertile ground for new diseases — and many of them are managed in ways that are detrimental to animal health and welfare, according to the report.

"It is not enough to pour funding into coping with the urgent disease threats of today — disease intelligence and epidemiological research must be financed to anticipate future diseases in the countries that produce the bulk of livestock source food," it says.

Livestock and food security

Since 1967, global production of poultry meat increased by around 700 percent. Other products saw surges in production as well, including eggs, which registered a 350 percent increase, pig meat (290%), sheep and goat meat (200%), beef and buffalo meat (180%) and milk (180%).

Livestock products today supply 12.9 percent of calories consumed worldwide — 20.3 percent in developed countries. Their contribution to protein consumption is estimated at 27.9 percent worldwide and 47.8 percent in developed countries.

However global trends have not played out evenly on the ground. In many places, production increases haven't occurred and poor and vulnerable communities have not seen their consumption of animal protein rise, FAO warns. Production has expanded rapidly in East and Southeast Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean but growth in sub-Saharan Africa has been slow "Average consumption of livestock protein in Africa is less than a quarter of that in the Americas, Europe and Oceania, and represents just 17 percent of the recommended consumption level for all proteins," says FAO's report. "By contrast, the consumption of livestock protein in the Americas, Europe and Oceania in 2005 was between 78 and 98 percent of the total protein requirement, suggesting that livestock products are being over-consumed."

But in the developing world, livestock and livestock products can make a crucial contribution to household economic and food security — as well as nutrition.

Even small amounts of animal source foods can improve the nutritional status of low-income households. Meat, milk and eggs provide proteins with a wide range of amino acids as well as micro-nutrients such as iron, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and calcium, in which many malnourished people are deficient.

For livestock-dependent pastoral societies like those in Eastern Africa, the report says, priorities should be boosting the sector's contribution to food security by restoring degraded pastures and managing them better, strengthening animal health services, and doing more to help livestock keepers get their animals and goods to market.

Although much has been said about livestock’s role in achieving food security, in reality, the subject has been only partially addressed and no current document fully covers the topic. Recognizing that food security is central to international development – and to the mandate of FAO - this report tells the story of livestock and food security from three perspectives.

It begins by presenting a global overview, examining the role that livestock play in human nutrition, the world food supply and access to food particularly for poor families. Next it moves from the global level to a human perspective, examining the way in which livestock contributes to the food security of three different human populations –livestock-dependent societies, small-scale mixed farmers and urban dwellers.

The final part of the report looks to the future. It discusses the expected demand for livestock source food and the way that increased demand can be met with ever more limited resources. It reviews the drivers that led to the livestock revolution, how these have changed and what the implications will be for livestock contributing to resilient food systems of the future.

World Livestock 2011.Livestock in food security

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Corruption in the Land Sector

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Transparency International. Unprecedented pressures on land have been created as new areas are cultivated, taken over by expanding urban centres or are abandoned due to degradation, climate change and conflict. These developments have strained the rules, processes and institutions that determine which land resources are used, by whom, for how long and under what conditions.

As evident around the globe, where land governance is deficient, high levels of corruption often flourish. Weak land governance tends to be characterised by low levels of transparency, accountability and the rule of law. Under such a system, land distribution is unequal, tenure is insecure, and natural resources are poorly managed. As a consequence, social stability, investment, broad-based economic growth and sustainable development are undermined.

Land governance is fundamentally about understanding power and the political economy of land. It involves the ‘rules, processes and structures through which
decisions are made about the use of and control over land, the manner in which the decisions are implemented and enforced, and the way that competing interests in land are managed’.1 Land governance encompasses different decision-makers, processes and structures, including statutory, customary and
religious institutions. When taken together as a system, land governance is ultimately centred on how people use and interact with land.

Effective and enforceable land governance provides a necessary framework for development and an important defence against many forms of corruption. It supports food security and ensures sustainable livelihoods that are essential for people and countries that rely on land as one of their main economic, social and cultural assets. For example, empirical findings from more than 63 countries show that where corruption in land is less prevalent, it correlates to better development indicators, higher levels of foreign direct investment and increased crop yields.

Corruption in land is often the culprit or an offspring of the breakdown of a country’s overall governance. Recent findings by TI show that there is a very strong correlation between levels of corruption in the land sector and overall public sector corruption in a country.3 This result suggests that countries confronting pervasive public sector corruption are also suffering from a corrupt land sector — a finding which has broad and important implications for ensuring the integrity and effectiveness of initiatives related to natural resource management, including climate mitigation projects and agricultural output initiatives.

Corruption in the Land Sector

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Trinidad and Tobago.National Forest Policy

Forest management has been practiced in Trinidad and Tobago since 1765 when the first Forest Reserve in the Western Hemisphere, the Main Ridge of Tobago, was designated. In 1942, while Trinidad and Tobago was still a British colony, the first official forest policy was formulated. In 1979, the Conservator of Forests commissioned a review and updating of the Policy, resulting in a draft Forest Resources Policy in 1981. However, this document was never formally

approved.

In 1998, another draft Forest Policy was prepared by the Conservator of Forests after a comprehensive forest policy review process. This document took into account the forestry sector‟s growing contribution to national development and the Forestry Division‟s role as a provider of goods and services, and as a facilitator to its stakeholders. This Revised Forest Policy of 1998 was presented to Cabinet in 1999 and Cabinet agreed, inter alia, that the draft Forest Policy would be published as a Green Paper for public comment. However, this process was not completed and the policy not formally adopted.

Because subsequent forest policy documents were not formally approved, the country‟s forest resources are still officially governed by the outdated 1942 Forest Policy. Considering the changes that have occurred in the policy environment, the national legal framework and in forest management strategies since 1998, the Cabinet of Ministers agreed that the Forest Policy be comprehensively reviewed and reformulated.

The formulation of this National Forest Policy was guided by a Cabinet-appointed Technical Advisory Committee comprising representatives from public sector agencies, non-governmental organisations, academia and the private sector, with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). All relevant documents were identified and analysed, and several national consultations were held during the drafting of the document, to ensure that the needs and aspirations of all stakeholders were taken into consideration. The present statement is the result of this rigorous process, and it is hoped that its adoption and implementation will contribute to sustainable development through the effective conservation and management of forests and forests resources in Trinidad and Tobago.

This National Forest Policy is not an isolated statement, and it builds on the existing policy framework for forest management and it supplements and enhances other public policies and plans, especially the National Environmental Policy (NEP), the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and the National Action Programme to Combat Land Degradation. It is also envisaged that this Policy will be enabled through existing and proposed policy instruments in the forestry sector, including legislation, strategic plans for key government agencies and other institutional actors, a National Forests Systems Plan, and management plans for specific areas and forest resources.

This National Forest Policy recognises that forests, forest resources and forest uses contribute significantly to national development, livelihoods and human wellbeing.

This National Forest Policy also recognizes that the quality and extent of the forest estate has changed dramatically since the 1940s, and the demands for goods and services from these forests have also greatly intensified. Given that the functions of forests are varied and the relationships between forests and other sectors are complex, this policy statement encompasses all the main dimensions of forest conservation, use and management. The key challenge of this policy is the maintenance of forest ecosystems in light of competing demands for land.

IDB. February 2011. Trinidad and Tobago.National Forest Policy.

Energy-Smart Food for People and Climate

29 November 2011, Durban, South Africa/Rome. The global food system needs to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels to succeed in feeding a growing world population, FAO said today.

"There is justifiable concern that the current dependence of the food sector on fossil fuels may limit the sector's ability to meet global food demands. The challenge is to decouple food prices from fluctuating and rising fossil fuel prices," according to an FAO paper published today during the UN Conference on Climate Change.

High and fluctuating prices of fossil fuels and doubts regarding their future availability mean that agri-food systems need to shift to an "energy-smart" model, according to the report Energy-Smart Food for People and Climate.

The food sector both requires energy and can produce energy — an energy-smart approach to agriculture offers a way to take better advantage of this dual relationship between energy and food, it says.

The food sector (including input manufacturing, production, processing, transportation marketing and consumption) accounts for around 95 exa-Joules (1018 Joules), according to the report — approximately 30 percent of global energy consumption — and produces over 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

On-farm direct energy use amounts to around 6 exa-Joules per year, if human and animal power are excluded — just over half of that is in OECD countries.

On farms, energy is used for pumping water, housing livestock, cultivating and harvesting crops, heating protected crops, and drying and storage. After harvest, it is used in processing, packaging, storing, transportation and consumption.

New approach to farming

"The global food sector needs to learn how to use energy more wisely. At each stage of the food supply chain, current practices can be adapted to become less energy intensive," said FAO Assistant Director-General for Environment and Natural Resources, Alexander Mueller.

Such efficiency gains can often come from modifying at no or little cost existing farming and processing practices, he added.

Steps that can be taken at the farm level include the use of more fuel efficient engines, the use of compost and precision fertilizers, irrigation monitoring and targeted water delivery, adoption of no-till farming practices and the use of less-input-dependent crop varieties and animal breeds.

After food has been harvested, improved transportation and infrastructure, better insulation of food storage facilities, reductions in packaging and food waste, and more efficient cooking devices offer the possibility of additionally reducing energy use in the food sector.

Adding up both on-farm and post-harvest losses, around one-third of all food produced — and the energy that is embedded in it — is lost or wasted, FAO's report notes.

Making agriculture less fossil fuel dependent

FAO's report also highlights the tremendous potential for agriculture to produce more of the energy needed to feed the planet and help rural development.

"Using local renewable energy resources along the entire food chain can help improve energy access, diversify farm and food processing revenues, avoid disposal of waste products, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, and help achieve sustainable development goals," it says.

Where good solar, wind, hydro, geothermal or biomass energy resources exist, they can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels in farming and aquaculture operations. They can also be used in food storage and processing. For example, sugar mills frequently use their residue materials for combined heat and power generation. So-called "wet processing wastes" like tomato rejects and skins, or pulp from juice processing, can be used in anaerobic digester plants to produce biogas. Already, millions of small-scale domestic digesters are being used by subsistence farmers in the development world to produce biogas for home use.

Significant action is needed to reduce food losses, and this will also improve energy efficiency in the agri-food chain.

Finally it is essential to improve access to modern energy services to the millions of people who still use biomass in a nontraditional way as energy for cooking and heating.

A long row to hoe

Transitioning to an energy-smart agricultural sector will be a "huge undertaking" that will require long-term thinking, and needs to start now, FAO says.

During the climate talks in Durban, the UN agency is advocating "Energy-smart food for people and climate," an approach based on three pillars: (i) providing energy access for all with a focus on rural communities; (ii) improving energy efficiency at all stages of the food supply chain; and (iii) substituting fossil fuels with renewable energy systems in the food sector.

"The key question at hand is not, ‘If or when we should begin the transition to energy-smart food systems?' but rather ‘how can we get started and make gradual but steady progress?" said Mueller.

Energy-Smart Food for People and Climate

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Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2005

FAO. 30 November 2011, Rome.The world lost nearly ten hectares of forest per minute between 1990 and 2005.A new, satellite-based survey released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provides a more accurate picture of changes in the world's forests, showing forest land use declined between 1990 and 2005.

The findings of a global remote sensing survey show the world's total forest area in 2005 was 3.69 billion hectares, or 30 percent of the global land area.
 
The new findings suggest that the rate of world deforestation averaged 14.5 million hectares per year between 1990 and 2005, which is consistent with previous estimates. Deforestation largely occurred in the tropics, likely attributable to the conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land.

On the other hand, the survey shows that worldwide, the net loss in forest area between 1990 and 2005 was not as great as previously believed, since gains in forest areas are larger than previously estimated.

Net loss — in which losses of forest cover are partially offset by afforestation or natural expansion — totalled 72.9 million hectares, or 32 percent less than the previous figure of 107.4 million hectares, according to the survey. In other words, the planet lost an average of 4.9 million hectares of forest per year, or nearly 10 hectares of forest per minute over the 15-year period.

The new data also show that the net loss of forests increased  from 4.1 million hectares per year between 1990 and 2000 to 6.4 million hectares between 2000 and 2005.

The figures are based on the most comprehensive use yet of high-resolution satellite data to provide a sample of forests worldwide. They differ from previous FAO findings in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010), which were based on a compilation of country reports that used a wide variety of sources.

"Deforestation is depriving millions of people of forest goods and services that are crucial to rural livelihoods, economic well-being and environmental health," said Eduardo Rojas-Briales, FAO Assistant Director-General for Forestry.

"The new, satellite-based figures give us a more consistent, global picture, over time, of the world's forests. Together with the broad range of information supplied by the country reports, they offer decision-makers at every level more accurate information, and underscore the need for countries and organizations to urgently address and halt the loss of valuable forest ecosystems," Rojas-Briales added.

The remote sensing survey was based on a single source of data for all three points in time — 1990, 2000 and 2005 — and used the same input data and methodology for all countries.

"In terms of change in forest area, the new results update our knowledge for Africa, where previous data for some countries was old or of low quality. Here the remote sensing survey shows a much smaller rate of forest loss than previously estimated based on national reports," Adam Gerrand, an FAO Forestry Officer, said.

Regional losses and gains

There were notable regional differences in forest losses and gains.

Between 1990 and 2005 the loss of forests was highest in the tropics, where just under half of the world's forests are located. Net losses in this region averaged 6.9 million ha/yr between 1990 and 2005. The highest rate of conversion of forest land use to other, unspecified, land uses for both periods was in South America, followed by Africa.

Asia was the only region to show net gains in forest land-use area in both periods.

Deforestation occurred in all regions, including Asia, but the extensive planting that has been reported by several countries in Asia (mainly China) exceeded the forest areas that were lost.

Slight net increases in forest area were registered in subtropical, temperate and boreal zones over the full 15 year period.

Further remote sensing studies are expected to reveal changes occurring since 2005, including any progress which may have been made in the protection of existing forests and the establishment of new forests since 2005.

Global view

The new results provide important input into national and international reporting processes which require information on forest area and land-use change statistics. This includes the Convention for Biodiversity and the emerging initiative for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+), under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), currently being discussed at the 17th Conference of the Parties being held in Durban, South Africa (28 November-9 December 2011).

To develop the survey, FAO worked over four years with technical partners in the European Commission Joint Research Centre and more than 200 researchers from 102 countries to analyze satellite imagery from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Funding for the study was provided by the European Commission, the Heinz Center, the governments of Australia, Finland and France and FAO

Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2005

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Harvest in DPR Korea improves but serious nutrition concerns persist

FAO Global.25 November 2011.Special Report. A United Nations assessment published today finds that the main annual harvest in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has improved compared to last year but serious nutrition concerns persist, especially among young children.The joint report by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that while harvests are expected to increase by about 8.5 per cent over 2010, the country will still have a cereal import requirement of 739,000 tons (UN.News.Press Room.25 November 2011)

Mission Highlights

1. In DPRK, a total of just under 5.5 million tonnes of staple food production from cooperative farms, individual plots on sloping land and household gardens for 2011/12 is expected, including estimates for the 2011 main season harvest and forecast for the 2012 early season crops. This is about 8.5 percent higher than the revised near normal production in 2010/11 reflecting higher plantings and yields. When paddy is converted to milled rice and soybeans to cereal equivalent, the above total production comes to 4.66 million tonnes.

2. The increase in production was mainly due to the increased availability of fertiliser (up about 50 percent compared to last year), diesel and electricity in spite of the adverse weather. The July-August floods affected paddy crop and the subsequent typhoons particularly impacted the maize crop mainly in North and South Hwanghae, two of the important grain producing provinces.

3. Soybean production this year increased to 254 000 tonnes (294 000 tonnes in cereal equivalent) or about 60 percent higher than the low level of last year. However, given the overall inadequacy of pulses, efforts should continue to increase the protein content of the diet.

4. This year’s poor harvest of early crops has resulted in the shortage of wheat, barley and potato seed for the 2012 winter and spring crops.

5. Based on the Mission’s estimate of total utilization needs of 5.40 million tonnes of cereal equivalent (rice in milled terms), the Mission estimates cereal import requirement of 739 000 tonnes for the 2011/12 marketing year (November/October), which is 347 000 tonnes lower than the 2010/11 estimate of 1.086 million tonnes by the Rapid Food Security Assessment (RFSA). According to the Ministry of Food Administration and Procurement, 325 000 tonnes of commercial imports are planned for the upcoming marketing year. Given this, the Mission estimates an uncovered food deficit of 414 000 tonnes for the 2011/12 marketing year.

6. From May through September 2011, much of the population of DPRK suffered prolonged food deprivation as the Public Distribution System (PDS) ration of cereals was reduced to 200 grams or less per person per day, providing only one-third the minimum daily energy requirement. The combination of commercial imports, bilateral assistance, and early crop harvest was not sufficient to cover the cereal requirement. In response, urban PDS dependent households sourced a large proportion of their food supply from relatives living in rural areas, by collecting wild foods, and/or by accessing informal market mechanisms.

7. Health officials interviewed reported a 50 to 100 percent increase in the admissions of malnourished children into paediatric wards compared to last year, a sharp rise in low-birth weight, and the mission team observed several cases of oedema. Inadequate food intake has clearly compounded the health and nutrition status of vulnerable groups.

8. The mission recommends provision of 120 000 tonnes, in cereal equivalent, of fortified blended food, fortified biscuits, and other high protein food commodities for distribution to 3 million vulnerable people, living in the five most food-insecure provinces of Ryanggang, Chagang, North Hamgyong, South Hamgyong, and Kangwon and in the food deficit counties of four other provinces of North Pyongan, South Pyongan, North Hwanghae, and South Hwanghae. Comprehensive monitoring and reporting remains critical to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of support provided.

9. The planned commercial imports and recommended food assistance do not fill the entire uncovered food deficit leaving an additional gap of 294 000 tonnes of cereals (i.e. 414 000 tonnes of uncovered national deficit minus 120 000 tonnes of recommended food aid). The Mission highlights the importance of meeting this gap to ensure adequate food is available through additional imports by the Government supported by the international agencies and bilateral donors.

10. The Mission is concerned that another year of prolonged food deprivation will have a serious impact on the health and nutrition situation of the population and recommends a package of food-based nutrition interventions to address the deficit of protein and fats in the diet of young children, pregnant/lactating women, and the elderly.

11. In order to improve food security in the short to medium term, the Mission also makes recommendations for national and international support for - (i) inputs, in particular plastic sheets and seeds for the early crops wheat, barley and potatoes, (ii) support for conservation agriculture (CA) and (iii) general assistance to private household garden production.

Special Report.FAO/WFP.Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)

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Innovative agriculture key to meeting future demand for water and energy

17 November 2011–FAO. Innovative agricultural approaches will be crucial to respond to increasing competition for water and energy resources, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), calling for more integrated planning and policies that protect small farmers and promote sustainable rural growth.

“Tackling the challenges of food security, economic development and energy security in a context of ongoing population growth will require a renewed and re-imagined focus on agricultural development,” said FAO Assistant Director-General for Natural Resources, Alexander Mueller.

“Agriculture can and should become the backbone of tomorrow’s green economy,” he said, speaking on the sidelines at the Bonn 2011 Nexus Conference, where development leaders are discussing new approaches to manage water, energy and food resources.

FAO estimates that to feed the world population, which is forecast to reach nine billion by 2050, global food production will need to be increased by 70 per cent. In addition, global energy demand will increase by 36 per cent by 2035, intensifying competition for water for farming and industrial purposes, as well as for consumption in cities.

“It’s time to stop treating food, water and energy as separate issues and tackle the challenge of intelligently balancing the needs of these three sectors, building on synergies, finding opportunities to reduce waste and identifying ways that water can be shared and reused, rather than competed for,” Mr. Mueller said.

Instead of the ‘business-as-usual’ approach to economic development and natural resource management, FAO is encouraging innovative agricultural approaches that make better use of resources, minimizing waste and reusing resources whenever possible.

“Climate-smart farming systems that make efficient use of resources like water, land, and energy must become the basis of tomorrow’s agricultural economy,” Mr. Mueller said.

Among the issues being discussed at the Bonn Nexus Conference is the intersection between bioenergy production, water supplies and food security. In a news release issued by the agency, FAO warned that while bioenergy offers a potential source of cleaner energy, biofuel crop production must be done in such a way that it promotes rural growth, provides small farmers and rural workers with employments, and minimizes negative environmental impacts.