Making Sustainable Food Security Happen...• Food Design & Innovation • Landscape Design •...

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Making Sustainable Food Security Happen

Lustrum Frederike Praasterink

UNESCO-IHE Conference 12 March 2015

o 10 BSc courses in Den Bosch and Venlo • Environmental Sciences • Horticulture / Agriculture (English) • Urban and rural development • Agribusiness & Management • Animal Sciences • Food Technology • Food Design & Innovation • Landscape Design • Applied Biology • International Food & Agribusiness (English) • Geo media & Design

o 2.800 students; 460 employees o Growth ~15% /yr over past 5 yrs o Entrepreneurial with strong connection

with private sector

HAS University of Applied Sciences Agriculture, Food, Living environment

What’s ‘on the menu’ in this talk?

• Short intro agri-food sector the Netherlands • Global developments in agri food sector related to food security • Innovations and examples • Take home message ;)

Photos: Hungry Planet

Welcome to the Netherlands

Welcome to the Netherlands

‘Green’ eductional system with vocational, applied and scientific level courses and research

Agri & Food sector vital to the Dutch economy

• Agri&Food is the largest economic sector of Netherlands (10%) • Total added value €48 billion: €29 directly by agricultural production,

processing industry and suppliers; €19 in distribution, retail and horeca • World top of food companies: 12 out of 40 largest companies have a

basis (HQ) or R&D activities in the Netherlands

Netherlands second exporter of agro and food products worldwide

Food security…... Too much (1,5 bln) and too little (~1 bln)

Food waste & losses

Scarce raw materials Not just land and water, also phosphate and > 17 earth metals become scarce. (e.g. scandium, neodymium, dysprosium, gadolinium, lanthanum)

Expected growth > 1000% for smartphones, electric cars, solar panels, … -> geopolitical tension & volatile prices -> need for alternatives and re-use existing -> commodity productivity becomes major issue

In the next 40 years we need to produce more food than the last 6,000 years combined

Source: NewForesight 2014

In a much more sustainable way…. Source: NewForesight 2014

How?

INPUTS

eg, agrichemicals, pharmaceuticals, equipment

PRIMARY PRODUCTION

farming, fishing, horticulture

PROCESSING & MANUFACTURE

DISTRIBUTION & LOGISTICS

eg, national/international, import/export

RETAIL

eg, supermarkets, shops

CATERING

restaurants, public sector

DOMESTIC FOOD PREPARATION

International Organizations Policy guidelines, advice, etc

Regional bodies Regulations, law,

subsidies, etc

National governments Laws, regulations,

subsidies, etc

Socio-cultural influences, eg

religion, gender, family

Consciousness industries, eg

advertising, media

Health, hygiene controls

Environmental ‘givens’ eg

climate, water, land, biodiversity

Civil society organisations

Social policies

Human labour, skills & education

Research, development, engineering &

technology

The food system, its external influences and outcomes (Source: Tim Lang)

Local governments Laws, regulations,

subsidies, etc

Social impact Waste & biological outflow eg pollutants

Energy & material outflow

Economic drivers eg

price, profits

Health / ill-health cultural impact

Finance capital

CONTEXT

SHAPING FORCES

INSTITUTIONS

OUTCOMES

Food Security

Two basic strategies for productivity

actual yield

increase potential

yield

decrease yield gap

potential yield

potential yield

actual yield

yiel

d ga

p gap

Increasing nutrient content and bioavailability

Food-based approaches

Pharmanutrient approach

Selection of foods with high effective nutrient supply (dietary diversification)

Fortification/ modification

Post-harvest fortification

(food fortification)

Biofortification by breeding and genetic

engineering

Biofortification by soil/foliage

fertilization

Increasing nutrient content

Increasing nutrient content and

bioavailability

Increasing nutrient content

Post-harvest modification (e.g. cooking)

Potential methods for increasing effective nutrient supply

Increasing bioavailability

Increasing food production

and availability

Increasing nutrient content and bioavailability

© CE West 2003

Food intervention strategy for micronutrient deficiency reduction (personalized food)

Flying Food project Kenya, Uganda

• Availability of nutritious food for at least 1,000,000 BoP people in Kenya and Uganda • Alleviation of hunger and improvement in health • Acceleration of local entrepreneurship • Employment and income generation for 4,000 farmers and co-workers of minimal 2

processing centres • Less environmental load compared to other protein/meat production, less waste,

energy, greenhouse gas and space

Value chains - working on more sustainable food production & CSR policy

Waste = Food (biobased / circular economy)

Clever use of existing horizontal surface

Or vertical surface….

Vertical farming

More crop per drop

Applied research and education

Capacity building is crucial Technical / capacity / institutional

Farmer Field School ->cooperation between farmers

And international cooperation

The right to food

Women central in development programmes! And food, water and energy!

For they are the key to food security…. ;) And the ‘North’ can learn a lot from system approaches, integral thinking and broader values of the ‘South’ (21st century skills!!)

Conclusions….

• Value farmers for they provide your food! • Sustainable development is not just about practical problems and technological,

economical or political solutions. It requires a deeper understanding of the interactions between people and with nature.

• Sustainability / CSR is a precursor for a transition of our production systems based on new principles (circular economy; health as a starting point; business based on shared value; ecosystem-based economy;…)

• We have seriously neglected our capability to think in an integral way; Western education does not help

As a (future) leader determine your position in global challenges such as food production and use your circle of influence to create an inspiring vision and collective action.

YOU can make a difference!

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