According to current food security projections, there will be nine billion people on the planet by 2050. And agricultural production will have to increase by at least 70 per cent, 100 per cent in developing countries, to feed the world’s burgeoning population.
How can such a gap between supply and demand be filled in a world that is undergoing a crisis in terms of natural resources?
This is just one of the questions posed by Carlos Pérez del Castillo, the CGIAR Consortium Board Chair, during a speech he gave at the headquarters of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa, Canada, recently.
Before answering the question, he painted a picture of a planet facing tremendous challenges in the near future. A planet where land is fully utilized in many countries, where water is scarce, with agriculture having to compete more and more with urban users, and where ground water in many places is approaching depletion point. Such challenges require immediate and decisive action.
“The challenge,” he said, “is to fill that gap in supply and demand, to increase productivity.”
Thus, under the current situation, productivity enhancement is the best way (maybe the only way) to produce sufficient food in the long term without posing serious threats to sustainability
He also talked about the challenges posed by climate change and how it could result in significant declines in agricultural production in many areas of the world, particularly in developing countries. “We have to face that challenge and see how, through adaptation and mitigation, we can deal with this problem,” he said.
He then went onto to talk about the price volatility crisis that is affecting agricultural production, the ongoing dietary changes in major developing countries, the energy crisis that sees a lot of the food staples being abandoned in favor of biofuels in many countries, and the financial crisis.
Regarding the latter, he highlighted that during a financial crisis, governments have to look carefully at how they will spend their aid money, so they will be looking for impact and value for money. This is something CGIAR has to take into account, if it wants to receive the continued support that it has been getting from the international community.
With respect to price volatility, Mr. Pérez del Castillo stressed that consumers and producers from both developed and developing countries face severe negative impacts with regard to future actions during periods of such unpredictability. However, high food prices represent a serious threat to the poorest countries. Nonetheless, the current extreme price volatility in world agricultural markets demands further research efforts to introduce technological innovations specially designed to deal with the situation. Such innovations would enable an increase in agricultural production worldwide and feed the expected global population of nine billion in 2050. The global social and economic benefits coming from investment in CGIAR would spread to producers and consumers in both developing and developed countries.
Addressing the challenges
The new CGIAR now has one strategy, which replaced the 15 individual Center strategies that were in place before the CGIAR reform process. It has a set of coherent Research Programs that tackle the crucial elements of food security and agriculture research for development, which have already led to some tangible outputs.
“We cannot continue with business as usual, as in the past; we cannot continue with fifteen Centers doing their individual jobs or research without looking into synergies among them,” said Mr. Pérez del Castillo. “The essence of the reform was basically to bring through collective action, through the expertise that the different Centers can provide on commodities, resource management, on gender, on institutions, on markets, to bring them all together and to change the center of our research, from the Center-focused research into a Program-centered research. We are now working with one single strategy. And the strategy is very simple. We need impact on the ground on four (system) level outcomes: poverty reduction, improvements in world food security, sustainability of natural resource management, and nutrition and health. All our projects will be measured in relation to these outcomes.”
He talked about the high importance of partnerships and the increased focus on gender issues. “A recent FAO study has shown that if women were given the same access to land, to credit, to technologies, to best practices, as men have had in the past,” he said, “this would increase production by up to 17 per cent in developing countries.”
He also highlighted some recent CGIAR research success stories that show how CGIAR is continuing to face today’s challenges. For example, CGIAR research helped to eradicate pests that were impacting cassava production in Africa, increased potato yields in the Andes with two new disease-resistant varieties of potato, and increased the incomes of farmers in southern Bangladesh through the introduction of scuba rice and best practices.
“There is a global recognition at present that international agricultural research is part of the solution to world food security problem,” said Mr. Pérez del Castillo, mostly referring to recent declarations to that effect from the G20 and various international organizations. “I’m not saying it’s the whole solution, but it’s certainly part of the solution. And if you look back at the record of CGIAR, you will find that it has delivered value for money. It is often cited that for every dollar that you invest in agricultural research in the CGIAR, you get nine dollars of productivity in the developing countries.”
Question/Answer Session
After delivering his speech, Mr. Pérez del Castillo participated in a discussion session with members of the audience. Issues covered included the perverse affects of the Green Revolution and what CGIAR is doing to avoid similar repercussions from its current research; land grabs in Africa; and what CGIAR is doing to ensure that scientific advances are given greater sustainability in the future, to name just a few.
“Canadian support (through IDRC and the Canadian International Development Agency [CIDA]) has been extremely important for us,” said Mr. Pérez del Castillo, after thanking Jean Lebel, IDRC’s Director of Agriculture and Environment, for hosting the event, “and we hope you will accompany us on the journey that is still ahead. Through your professionalism and your commitment, you have shown that positive results can be obtained.”
IDRC
The IDRC was a CGIAR founding father and continues to support CGIAR research by providing funding for CGIAR Research Programs in which Centers and national partners are applying science to strengthen food security, enhance the management of natural resources, mainstream gender analysis, and reduce poverty through research for development. IDRC’s most recent contribution is a three-year grant to support the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems.
CIDA
After the IDRC event, Mr. Pérez del Castillo participated in discussions at CIDA headquarters with CIDA’s President, Margaret Biggs, Vice President, Diane Jacovella, and senior management.
In addition to core financial support to CGIAR research, CIDA currently provides direct funding for two CGIAR Research Programs: Improved Nutrition via Harvest Plus (US$33 mil) and Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) – (US$5.5 mil). Both these Programs have received these funds under Canada’s L’Aquila Commitment.
Watch the speech by Carlos Pérez del Castillo at the IDRC in French via this webcast
Press coverage
● “Les grandes rencontres”: Radio Canada interviews Carlos Pérez del Castillo (French)
● Trade is key for food security (Ottawa Citizen)
● IDRC, MPs, talk agriculture innovation (The Hill Times)
● GM has role in meeting food needs (The Western Producer)