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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>Thank you for posting this, Ted.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>This has local application. In the long run
if resources for adequate food production are to be available, then the lost of
agricultural land to residential development in Latah County should come to
an end. Once this land is lost, it is hard to reclaim.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>The same is true for water. The earth is
running out of potable water in part because of ground water contamination and
over use of existing ground water.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>The competition for food and water in the future
is likely to spawn a great deal of unrest/wars/etc unless we vigorously plan and
work to keep and to develop the resources necessary now.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Verdana>w.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com
CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com">Ted Moffett</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, November 17, 2011 10:13 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Nov. 16, 2011 CCAFS Report: Global Commission:
Achieving Food Security in Face of Climate Change</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><A
href="http://ccafs.cgiar.org/commission/reports">http://ccafs.cgiar.org/commission/reports</A><BR>-----------------------------<BR><A
href="http://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/commission-sustainable-agriculture-and-climate-change/global-commission-charts-pathway">http://ccafs.cgiar.org/news/commission-sustainable-agriculture-and-climate-change/global-commission-charts-pathway</A><BR><BR>Global
Commission Charts Pathway For Achieving Food Security in Face<BR>of Climate
Change<BR><BR>Scientific experts outline concrete steps toward a sustainable
global<BR>food system<BR><BR>COPENHAGEN (16 November 2011) — In the lead up to
UN global climate<BR>talks in Durban, South Africa later this month, an
independent global<BR>commission of eminent scientists today released a set of
concrete<BR>recommendations to policy makers on how to achieve food security
in<BR>the face of climate change. Based on a thorough review of
existing<BR>research, the commissioners urged immediate, coordinated action
toward<BR>transforming the food system to meet current and future threats
to<BR>food security and environmental sustainability.<BR><BR>The Commission on
Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change’s<BR>“Summary for Policy Makers”
outlines crucial policy responses to the<BR>global challenge of feeding a world
confronted by climate change,<BR>population growth, poverty, food price spikes
and degraded ecosystems.<BR>The seven high-level recommendations include
significantly raising the<BR>level of global investment in sustainable
agriculture and food systems<BR>in the next decade; sustainably intensifying
agricultural production<BR>on the existing land base while reducing greenhouse
gas emissions; and<BR>reducing losses and waste in the food system.<BR><BR>Prof.
Sir John Beddington, Chair of the Commission, summed up the<BR>challenge: “It’s
about reorienting the whole global food system – not<BR>just agricultural
production, and not just in developing countries. We<BR>need a socially
equitable, global approach to produce the funding,<BR>policy, management and
regional initiatives that will deliver<BR>nutrition, income and climate benefits
for all.”<BR><BR>In making their recommendations, the Commissioners cited
the<BR>interconnected relationship between agriculture and the
environment.<BR>As populations grow to upwards of 9 billion people, so will
demand for<BR>food, fuel and feed crops. This could put many agricultural
systems<BR>under immense stress and result in further depletion of
soil<BR>fertility, biodiversity and water resources and increase
greenhouse<BR>gas emissions to the atmosphere, according to the
Commission.<BR><BR>The release of the Commission’s “Summary for Policy Makers”
was timed<BR>to inform pivotal, upcoming meetings on climate change, including
the<BR>UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa from November 28
to<BR>December 9 and the Rio+20 Earth Summit next year. “Efforts to<BR>alleviate
the worst effects of climate change cannot succeed without<BR>simultaneously
addressing the crises in global agriculture and the<BR>food system,” said Dr
Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Research<BR>Program on Climate Change,
Agriculture and Food Security, which<BR>convened the independent commission in
February 2011. “The<BR>commission’s invaluable contribution is to provide
scientists and<BR>policy makers with the most authoritative, evidence-based
action steps<BR>to date to achieve global food security.” The Commission’s
detailed<BR>final report will be issued in 2012.<BR><BR>The Commission brings
together senior natural and social scientists<BR>working in agriculture,
climate, food and nutrition, economics and<BR>natural resources from Australia,
Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia,<BR>France, Kenya, India, Mexico, South
Africa, the United Kingdom, the<BR>United States and Vietnam.<BR><BR>Creating a
safe operating space for people on this planet<BR><BR>“There is a strong risk we
will live on a food-insecure planet in the<BR>future,” said Commissioner Dr
Marion Guillou, President of the French<BR>National Institute for Agricultural
Research (INRA), “and we need to<BR>reshape food access and consumption patterns
to ensure basic<BR>nutritional needs will be met.” Today, a billion people
are<BR>malnourished while millions suffer from chronic disease due
to<BR>over-consumption. World population will grow to an estimated 9
billion<BR>by 2050 and diets are shifting towards higher consumption of
calories,<BR>fats and animal products. Global demand is growing for food,
fodder<BR>and bioenergy crops, and food prices are rising.<BR><BR>“Climate
change is already causing more extreme weather events, such<BR>as high
temperatures, droughts and floods, and will particularly harm<BR>those people
who already live on the brink of hunger and<BR>malnutrition,” said Commissioner
Professor Tekalign Mamo, Advisor to<BR>the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture.
“Food insecurity produces<BR>widespread human suffering, even in the world’s
wealthiest countries,<BR>as well as political and economic instability, so it is
clear the<BR>status quo is not an option.”<BR><BR>Investment, innovation and
empowerment<BR><BR>The Commission reviewed the scientific evidence base to
develop a<BR>package of solutions that address how food is produced,
distributed<BR>and consumed. Their recommendations support
climate-resilient<BR>agricultural production, efficient resource use, low-waste
supply<BR>chains, adequate nutrition and healthy eating choices that,
together,<BR>will constitute a sustainable food system.<BR><BR>The “Summary for
Policy Makers” presents concrete, urgent actions to<BR>be implemented
simultaneously by a constellation of governments,<BR>international institutions,
investors, agricultural producers,<BR>consumers, food companies and researchers.
Recommended tactics range<BR>from shifting economic incentives and making ‘fast
start’ funds<BR>available for agriculture to strengthening land rights and
building<BR>transparency in food markets.<BR><BR>“There is no one-size-fits-all
solution,” said Commission Vice-Chair<BR>Dr Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Research
Director at the Bangladesh Institute<BR>of Development Studies, “but we know
that success depends on a<BR>combination of investment, innovation and
deliberate effort to empower<BR>the world's most vulnerable populations.” The
Commissioners called for<BR>significantly raising the level of global investment
in sustainable<BR>agriculture and food systems in the next
decade.<BR><BR>Efficiency throughout food supply chains<BR><BR>“Our global
system wastes food, reducing efficiency in agricultural<BR>productivity,”
according to the Australian Commissioner Dr Megan<BR>Clark, Chief Executive
Officer of the Commonwealth Scientific and<BR>Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO). For example, roughly<BR>one-third of food produced for human
consumption is lost or wasted<BR>across the global food system. In addition,
land clearing and<BR>inefficient use of fertilizers and organic residues make
agriculture a<BR>significant contributor to greenhouse gas pollution on the
planet.<BR>“Investments to increase efficiencies in agriculture and supply
chains<BR>while also mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are critical
for<BR>economic and environmental health and will realise important
benefits<BR>to the global food system,” she said.<BR><BR>“An estimated 12
million hectares of agricultural land – and their<BR>potential for producing 20
million tonnes of grain – are lost each<BR>year to land degradation,” explained
Commissioner Professor Lin Erda,<BR>Director of the Research Centre of
Agriculture and Climate Change at<BR>the Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences. “At the same time, many<BR>regions have large gaps between potential
and actual crop yields.”<BR><BR>The Commission notes the importance of
sustainably intensifying<BR>agricultural production on existing land – including
improving<BR>supporting infrastructure and restoring degraded ecosystems –
while<BR>reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
“Sustainable<BR>intensification is essential,” said South African
Commissioner<BR>Professor Bob Scholes of the Council for Scientific and
Industrial<BR>Research (CSIR), “and will be most successful at reducing
greenhouse<BR>gas emissions if we improve land tenure and have strong
land-use<BR>planning in place to protect forests, wetlands and other
critical<BR>remaining natural ecosystems.”<BR><BR>Supporting the most
vulnerable<BR><BR>A large section of the human population is highly vulnerable
to<BR>extreme weather events and food price volatility. Severe
food<BR>insecurity can lead to humanitarian crises such as the
current<BR>situation in the Horn of Africa. Specific recommendations to
assist<BR>vulnerable populations include insurance against climate
shocks,<BR>strategies to moderate food price fluctuations and safety
net<BR>programs. Education, health and nutrition programs provide much
needed<BR>pathways out of food insecurity.<BR><BR>“Building resilience to
climate change must be deeply rooted in social<BR>systems beyond agriculture,”
said the Commissioner Dr Rita Sharma,<BR>Secretary of India’s National Advisory
Council. In India, for example,<BR>a program to guarantee rural employment is
being used as a strategy to<BR>boost income and therefore reduce
vulnerability.<BR><BR>“Global donors can help promote better climate change risk
management<BR>through a more coordinated, multi-benefit approach,” said
Mexican<BR>Commissioner Dr Adrian Fernández Bremauntz, Senior Consultant at
the<BR>ClimateWorks Foundation. The Commission calls for national
and<BR>international agricultural development policies to prioritise
boosting<BR>productive assets and infrastructure.<BR><BR>Better information for
integrated decision-making<BR><BR>“We are already in the business of managing
significant risk and<BR>navigating trade-offs,” said U.S. Commissioner Professor
Molly Jahn of<BR>the University of Madison-Wisconsin. “Agricultural
greenhouse<BR>emissions are undeniably a significant issue. We need to
innovate<BR>approaches to deal with this, but not at the expense of
food<BR>production by poor farmers today.” The Commission highlights
the<BR>importance of improved monitoring and modelling to support
integrated<BR>decision-making for economic growth, agricultural
productivity,<BR>poverty reduction and long-term environmental
sustainability.<BR><BR>“If we are armed with real-time, spatially explicit
information about<BR>land uses, markets and human populations, we can do a much
better job<BR>of meeting our needs and taking care of the planet,” said
Commissioner<BR>Dr Carlos Nobre of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology
and<BR>Innovation. “This means better capacity to forecast crises as well
as<BR>testing specific interventions and scaling up the ones that
work.”<BR><BR>Policy kick-start<BR><BR>At the same time, global and national
policies need to increase the<BR>focus on sustainable agriculture and continue
the momentum that has<BR>built on food security in order to kick-start a
transformation of the<BR>whole food system. “Agriculture and food security tend
to fall between<BR>the cracks of global policy making,” explained the Kenyan
Commissioner<BR>Professor Judi Wakhungu, Executive Director of the African
Center for<BR>Technology Studies (ACTS). The Commission points out the need
for<BR>higher importance of agriculture in discussions concerning the
United<BR>Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and at the Rio+20
Earth<BR>Summit to be held in Brazil in June 2012.<BR><BR>Commissioners stress
the need for multiyear commitments of financial<BR>and technical assistance to
help agricultural producers build<BR>resilience to climate variability and
improve their livelihoods, while<BR>contributing to climate change mitigation.
Commissioner Dr Nguyen Van<BR>Bo, President of the Vietnam Academy of
Agricultural Science said,<BR>“Policies and finance streams must engage and
empower poor rural<BR>farmers to improve yields and incomes on existing land
bases without<BR>new environmental impacts.”<BR><BR>The Commission’s final
report, upon which the recommendations are<BR>based, will be released early in
2012. The Commission will share its<BR>recommendations at the upcoming
Agriculture and Rural Development Day<BR>in Durban, South Africa and other
policy forums throughout 2012.<BR><BR>The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture
and Climate Change is<BR>identifying what policy changes and actions are needed
now to help the<BR>world achieve sustainable agriculture that contributes to
food<BR>security and poverty reduction, and helps respond to climate
change<BR>adaptation and mitigation goals. The Commission is an initiative
of<BR>the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and
Food<BR>Security (<A href="http://www.ccafs.cgiar.org">www.ccafs.cgiar.org</A>),
with additional support from the<BR>Global Donor Platform for Rural
Development.<BR><BR>The Commission’s Action points<BR><BR>(Full details
elaborated in “Summary for Policy Makers” document at<BR><A
href="http://www.ccafs.cgiar.org/commission">http://www.ccafs.cgiar.org/commission</A>)<BR><BR>Integrate
food security and sustainable agriculture into global and<BR>national
policies<BR><BR>Significantly raise the level of global investment in
sustainable<BR>agriculture and food systems in the next
decade<BR><BR>Sustainably intensify agricultural production while
reducing<BR>greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts
of<BR>agriculture<BR><BR>Target populations and sectors that are most vulnerable
to climate<BR>change and food insecurity<BR><BR>Reshape food access and
consumption patterns to ensure basic<BR>nutritional needs are met and to foster
healthy and sustainable eating<BR>habits worldwide<BR><BR>Reduce loss and waste
in food systems, particularly from<BR>infrastructure, farming practices,
processing, distribution and<BR>household habits<BR><BR>Create comprehensive,
shared, integrated information systems that<BR>encompass human and ecological
dimensions<BR>------------------------------------------<BR>Vision2020 Post: Ted
Moffett<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR> List
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