By Martha Moss - 6th December 2010
A "paradigm shift" is needed to cope with the food security challenges presented by a growing global population, participants in a European development days discussion have heard.
A debate organised by the Brussels-based think-tank Friends of Europe on Monday looked at how technology could be used to secure food supplies in the developing world.
Hans Herren, the president of NGO, the Millennium Institute, said that there was clearly something wrong with the existing system, with about one billion people hungry in the world. "This is an issue of food security and food sovereignty," he said.
Herren is calling for more agricultural investment in the developing world "in harmony with the environment" to cope with demographic changes and dwindling natural resources.
"Organic can actually feed the world," he argued, adding that organic farming practices "in sync with the environment" could increase productivity by up to four times.
Herren said he wanted to see a move away from farming which is which is "technology orientated" and energy intensive towards a more "green agriculture".
However, Daniel Rahier, who works on biotechnology policy for the DuPont chemical company, said farmers must be able to decide for themselves whether to use new technologies.
"Farmers must have choice," he said. "Farmers in the developing world must be able to look at the best innovation and technology."
Rahier spoke of a "different attitude" to biotechnology from farmers in developing countries, who "often see us as an additional tool".
However, he acknowledged that biotechnology was "not a silver bullet" when it came to food security.
Aftab Alan Khan, of ActionAid International, said his organisation supported the "rational use of pesticides and fertilisers".
"There are examples where challenges relating to the cost of production are being met through these actions," he said.
Khan highlighted the key challenges in relation to food security which, he said, included issues such as "land entitlement, the eroding quality of soil and unpredictable weather".
For Khan, it is important for donor and government funding to help the small farmer "meet most production needs in-house".
Sylvia Matthews Burwell, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said technology - which ranged from irrigation systems to the use of mobile phones - was "a tool in a series of tools" to address food security.
Burwell also spoke of the important gender dimension in supporting farmers in the developing world.
"Whether it's seeds or healthy soil or getting market access it is important to work across the entire value chain," she said.
Sujiro Seam, head of the food security and economic development department at the French ministry of foreign and European affairs, said his country's approach to boosting food security "is based on setting up partnerships".
"The key word when it comes to use of technology is partnership," he said. "We have to ensure as much of a broad based partnership as possible between researchers, the private world and main stakeholders - the producers."
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