Climate change
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The UN calls for a global $ 540bn reform in agricultural resources to support climate change and promote better nutrition. Livestock and food production are some of the sources of carbon dioxide and are enjoyed by many countries, says a new report.
Financial support for farmers accounts for 15% of global agriculture, the figure is expected to more than triple to $ 1.8tn by 2030 if subsidies continue to grow, the UN warned.
Agriculture is a major contributor to climate change due to greenhouse gases released by forests, manure, agricultural chemicals, rice cultivation and burning crop residues. However, farmers are also at risk of severe climate change, whether high temperatures, rising water levels, droughts, floods or eagles.
“Governments now have the opportunity to transform agriculture into a major cause of human health, as well as a response to threats to climate change, environmental degradation and pollution,” said Inger Andersen, chief of the UN Environment Program.
Similarly, agricultural inputs – which include taxes, price support and inputs such as fertilizers – are produced in areas that were also part of carbon dioxide producers, the report said.
The situation is particularly tense in rich lands where dairy and meat production are concentrated. In less-developed countries, where wheat production is more important, farmers have little incentive to turn their produce into nutritious food.
The report comes next week’s UN Food Summit, which has been affected by famine and climate change, as well as the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow this year.
The controversy has recently erupted over how agriculture can affect the environment, especially 17% of all food production is lost or destroyed.
Converting land use for agriculture has resulted in a reduction of only 70% of biodiversity, and half of all trees, according to the report. Food production, which produces about a quarter of all greenhouse gases, also pollutes the air, fresh water and the sea.
The UN estimates that such hidden spending on health and the environment reached about $ 12tn a year. This included $ 6.6tn in health problems caused by obesity, malnutrition and pollution; $ 3.3tn from agricultural and climate resources; and $ 2.1tn for malnutrition and loss of fertilizer.
As a result, the real cost of food and its design “were not real”, the UN said, and there were better government-sponsored ways to support food production. Reporting point experiments such as in India in Andhra Pradesh, where the conversion to 100% uncultivated agriculture resulted in stable yields and reduced crop yields.
“Restoring agricultural support to move our agricultural food in a safe, sustainable way – combined with the rewards of good practices such as sustainable agriculture and climate change – can improve productivity and environmental impact,” said UN Development Program director Achim Steiner.
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