The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has told the farming sector to "transform itself" to help battle worldwide issues.
The agricultural sector must transform itself not only to achieve food and nutrition security for all, but also to help address global challenges such as climate change and antimicrobial resistance, FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva said today at the biannual meeting of FAO's Committee on Agriculture.
The Director-General noted how "agriculture is at the very heart" of a recent series of ground-breaking international agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
"Sustainable agriculture is paramount to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, to sustain natural resources, to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change, to achieve healthier food systems and to build resilience against crises and natural disasters," Graziano da Silva said.
But he noted that while past developments in agriculture have led to major improvements in productivity, "progress has been uneven" and that "greater emphasis must be placed on the social and environmental dimensions of sustainability".
Joachim von Braun, Director of University of Bonn's Center for Development Research, underscored the need for scientific innovation in agriculture to go hand-in-hand with policy reform.
"Agriculture and food systems are transforming, and that must be supported by a sound cooperation between science and policy," von Braun said.
Action on antimicrobial resistance and climate change
Graziano da Silva, noting that the "role of agriculture goes beyond generating food and income," referred to FAO's recent commitment to curb antimicrobial resistance.
"We at FAO believe that antibiotics and other antimicrobials should be used in agriculture to cure diseases and to alleviate suffering.
"Only under strict circumstances they could be used to prevent an imminent threat of infection," the Director-General said.
Graziano da Silva also pointed to growing international recognition that agriculture can play a transformative role in addressing the impacts of climate change.
Countries are set to gather for the COP 22 summit in Morocco in November to put into motion their pledges on climate change, and FAO "stands ready to assist governments, especially of developing countries to have access to international resources that are available to finance these actions," he said.
