Agriculture at a Tipping Point...Partial ecologization wouldn’t take any effect on the character of the situation as a whole at this point. Instead, it is necessary to understand

©InstitutfürWelternährung–WorldFoodInstitutee.V.,Berlin

AgricultureataTippingPoint

OnlyEcologicalFarmingCanFeedTenBillionPeople

WORLDFOODINSTITUTE–INSTITUTFÜRWELTERNÄHRUNGe.V.,BerlinLychenerStraße8,D-10437Berlin

Office:SebastianSchölerWeg11,D-51588Nümbrecht-Heddinghausen

AgricultureataTippingPoint-OnlyEcologicalFarmingCanFeedTenBillionPeople

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Contents1. InitialRemarks 3

1.1 WhyArgue? 31.2 WhatIsattheCenteroftheDebate 42. WhyIntensiveIndustrialAgricultureinitsCurrentFormwillFailattheTaskof

FeedingtheWorld 6

2.1 ItDestroysitsownFoundations 62.1.1ItHeatsuptheWorldClimate 62.1.2ItDestroysSoilFertility 72.1.3ItDepletesWaterSupplies 72.1.4ItAcceleratesSpeciesLoss 82.1.5ItExhaustsNutrientReserves 92.1.6ItFacilitatesAntibioticResistance 9

2.2 ItTransgressesPlanetaryBoundaries 9

2.3 ItPosesaThreattoFoodSecurity 102.3.1ItBenefitsMonopoliesandPromotesManipulationandSpeculation 112.3.2ItExacerbatesGlobalClimateRisks 11

2.4 ItFailsasaStrategytoFeedtheGlobalSouth 12

2.5 ItIntensifiesCausesofFlight 123. WhyEcologicalFarmingCanSucceed 14

3.1 AgroecologyasaHolisticConcept 14

3.2…andasaDiversifiedPractice 14

3.3 ButArethereEnoughYields? 15

3.4 TheRangeofEcologicalFarming 164. SupposedCertainties–AllegationsRegardingEcologicalAgriculture 18

4.1 LowYieldsFailtoFeedtheWorldPopulation 18

4.2 OrganicFoodsAretooExpensiveforPoorPeople 18

4.3 MeatMustRemainAffordableforPeoplewithLowIncomes 19

4.4 OrganicFoodsArenotHealthier 19

4.5 EcologicalFarming isUnnecessaryBecausePrecisionFarmingandComputer-BasedMachinesWillBeAbletoFixCurrentSystemDamages 19

4.6 HungerisBestEndedThroughTechnologicalProgress 20

4.7 Agricultural Exports from Developing Countries Are the Key to Development andFightingPoverty 21

4.8 WeNeedLargeFarmstoFeedtheWorld 21

4.9 IncreasesinProductivityRemainKeyinFightingHungerandMalnutrition 21


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5. HowOrganicAgricultureHastoChangetoFulfillitsGlobalTasks 23

5.1BecomeAwareofitsRange 235.1.1"SystemofRiceIntensification" 235.1.2"PushandPull" 235.1.3"Agroforestry"and"Permaculture" 24

5.2 Be Applicable also in Large-Scale Settings, Especially to Ensure the Sustenance ofMetropolises 24

5.2.1Argentina's"ProgramadeAgriculturaUrbana" 245.2.2Brazil's"ZeroHungerProgram" 255.2.3UrbanAgricultureinCuba 255.2.4NewDistributionChannelsforMegacities 25

5.3 CreateRegionallyFocusedEducationandAdvisorySystems 265.3.1ExtensiveEducation 26

5.4 IntensifyResearch:inPrinciple,Regionally,andMulti-Culturally 265.4.1MassivelyExtendFundingforResearch 265.4.2PrioritizeEcology 266. ImpedimentstoChange–IllustratedbytheExampleofGermany 28

6.1 TheIndustrialModel 28

6.2 TheAgro-IndustrialCoalition 28

6.3 MonopolizationoftheAgriculturalIndustry 28

6.4TheAgro-IndustrialLobby 29

6.5 TheGermanBundestagCommitteeonFoodandAgriculture 29

6.6 MisinvestmentsbyFarmers 29

6.7 DisappearingFarmStructures 30

6.8 TheCorporations'ClaimofEntitlement 307. WhatNeedstoBeDone 31

7.1 CivilSocietyTakestheFirstStep 31

7.2 PublicFundingOnlyforEcologicalBenefits 31

7.3 SixProposalsComplementtheTurnaround 317.3.1WithdrawfromRisks–DivestmentfromAgriculturalIndustryStocks 317.3.2CreateModels–EcologicallyConsolidateLeaseAgreements 327.3.3InitiateaFederalProgram–Regional,Organic,Fair 327.3.4RadicallyFightMulti-ResistantOrganisms–BanAntibioticsinAnimalHusbandry327.3.5SaveInsects–OutlawPesticides 327.3.6ReimburseFarmersforMisinvestments 32


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Initial Remarks

1.1 WhyArgue?

“Business as Usual is Not an Option,” was the central message summarizing thefindings of theWorld Agriculture Reportback in 2008, which as a consequencecalled for a change of direction in the agricultural and food policies of theindustrialized countries. 1 So far, this call has remained unheard by politicaldecisionmakers.Thetrend,identifiedasthreateningbymorethan400scientists,hasthuscontinuedunrelentingly.

The world’s population is growing and with it are food and nutrition-relatedproblems. 815 million people are currently suffering from hunger, 1.5 billionpeople from malnutrition. Another 2 billion are grappling with health issuescaused by a diet that leads to overeating but doesn’t provide them with thenutrientstheyneedandresultsinobesityinstead.Atthesametime,morethanhalfof the grain crops worldwide disappears in the livestock and dairy industries’feedingtroughsorisusedasagrofuelorrawmaterialinindustrializedcountries.The ecological costs of the industrialized countries’ food system have come tooutweigh itsbenefitssubstantially.Theextinctionofentirespecies,decliningsoilfertility, and the depletion of water resources as well as intensive agriculture’sincreasingimpactontheclimatearethreateningfuturegenerations’foodsecurity.

Insectsaredisappearingfromtheopenfields.Inthesummerof2017welearnedofthe decline of 75 percent of the total flying insect biomass in parts of Germany,whichhasbeenofficiallyrecordedsince,andisclosetoasystemcollapse.InMay2018,theGermanNationalAcademyofSciences“Leopoldina”criticizedtheuseofpesticides on German fields, raising the question whether the occurrence of a“silentspring”couldstillbeaverted.2Moreandmorechildrenareaffectedbyfoodallergies.TheFoodandAgricultureOrganizationoftheUnitedNationshaswarnedthat theuseofantibiotics inanimalhusbandry increases threatsposedbymulti-drugresistantorganisms.Theindustrialfoodsystemisaffectingthehealthoftheworld’s population to a growing degree. At the same time, global food supplysecurity is decreasing. Due to the just-in-time logistics currently in place, theworld’smajorcitiesholdsuppliessufficientfornomorethanthreedays.

The industrialagriculturaland foodsystem is incapableof reliablyproviding thecurrentworldpopulationof7billionpeoplewithhealthy food, andwill be evenless able to do so with future generations because it undermines the veryfoundationsitbuildson.Asystemchangethusisimperative,achangeindirectionin politics overdue. The future can only belong to a system that sustains ecosystems,enablesclimatechangeadaptation,preservesandincreasesresiliencetoextreme weather events, droughts, and floods, maintains and improves soilfertility, and is thus capable of effectively fighting hunger, undernutrition, andmalnutrition.Thereisnoalternativetothecomprehensiveecologizationofworldagriculture. This includes ensuring that women and family run farms havesufficient incomesat theirdisposal,aswellasgainingaccess to land,knowledge,


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financialmeans,andmarkets.Theworld’sruralregionsmustbestrengthenedasliving environments with the help of education, infrastructure, markets, andcommunication.ThisrequiresasystemasoutlinedbytheUnitedNationsAgenda2030,3theimplementationofwhichboththeFederalRepublicofGermanyandtheEuropean Union advocated in 2015. 4 However, neither developmental noragriculturalandfoodpoliciesinGermanypresentlycommittotheAgenda2030’sobligations.

The issue isno longertocuresomeof theagro-industrialsystem’ssymptoms,asproposedbysomeof thesystem’srepresentatives.Partialecologizationwouldn’ttakeanyeffectonthecharacterofthesituationasawholeatthispoint.Instead,itisnecessarytounderstandthattheagro-industrialsystemofintensivefarmingisbasedon theexploitationofnatural resourcesand ishenceno longercapableofmeetingthechallengesofthe21stcentury.Theprioritynowisanewagriculturaland food system, an innovative systembased on biological cycles and ecologicalnetworks that builds on social relationships and economic compensation and isthusabletoprovidefoodsecurityforgenerationstocome,withouttransgressingtheecologicalboundariesofourplanet.Thisholistic innovationproject isamongthemosturgentandpressingof the21stcentury.Wecall forapublicdebateonthisconcern.

Thisdebateismandatorybecausewearerunningoutoftime.Increasingcollateraldamages caused by the agro-industrial system indicate its impending collapse.Furthermore, the debatemust be heldwith the decision-makers of our politicalsystem who are displaying a lack of discernment. The debate is also necessarybecause politics are conceding to an agro-industry which obfuscates its marketpowerandhidesitsprofitmotivebehindtheclaimtoservethepublicinterestwithitsactions.Inthisinevitabledebate,thisdocumentaimsattakingsides,whilealsoprovidingabaseofcurrentknowledge.Itintendstoequipthosereadytotakeonthe debatewith the understanding that there is an alternative to the prevailingindustrialsystemandthatitisworthfightingfor.

1.2. WhatIsattheCenteroftheDebate

This polemic paper concentrates on one question: which kind of agriculturalsystem can provide sufficient and healthy food for the ever-growing worldpopulation?Theconflict focusesontwoopposingkeyconcepts.Weusethetermindustrial intensive farming for currently prevailing agricultural practicesaiming at the extensive cultivation of a limited amount of products orientedtowards maximum yields in technology-driven monocultures with the help ofnitrogen fertilizers,herbicides,andpesticides.Ecological agriculture isusedbyus to denote a formof agriculture that centers on soil fertility, does not includenitrogenfertilizersorpesticidesinitspractice,integratesregionalknowledgeandisthusparticularlysuccessfulinsmall-scalefarmingsettings,thoughundercertaincircumstances it canalso takeon industrial characteristicswhileadhering to theaforementionedprinciples.


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To preventmisinterpretations, it is important to clarify from the onset that thevarietyoforganicsystemsinworldagricultureismuchlargerthantheamountoffarmlands certified and cultivated according to the criteria of organic farmingassociations. In total, certifiedorganic farmlandsamount toonly1percentof allagriculturallandworldwide.5However,thereisasubstantiallylargernumberof—uncertified—ecological systems around theworld also refraining from syntheticfertilizersandpesticides,employingcroprotationandthusfurtheringbiodiversityand soil fertility.6Hence, themodel for sustainable agriculture on a global scaleshould not be oriented towards the codified regulations of organic agriculturepracticed in Europe, but towards food systems in different cultures and regionswhichelementarilyapplytheprinciplesofecologicalagriculture.

Consequently,ourgoalisnotahomogeneousglobalsystem.Instead,westriveforthe ecologization of agriculture according to the individual characteristics andconditionsineachrespectiveregion.OurmodelisneitherEurocentricnorgearedtowards industrial manufacturing, with a small number of stakeholdersdeterminingfarmingandmarketingconditions.

At this point, the magnitude of the task of transforming intensive industrialagriculture intoecologicallysustainablesystems isbarely imaginable.Theextentofdecisionparalysis,lackofdiscernment,collidinginterestsandovertresistanceitwill likelyfacecanbededucedfromasimilarlyenormoustask:theParisClimateAgreement. Despite overwhelming signs of climate change and despite thesignatories’understandingthatdecisiveactionisoftheessence,adoptedmeasuresare coming into operation at a tedious pace. Meanwhile it has already becomeobvious that thedecisions thatwillhave tobemade in theyearsanddecades tocomeareofagravitashardlyconceivabletoday.Thisalsoservesasanindicatorofhow vast the challenges of transforming the current agricultural system into asustainablesystemare.

The issues this polemic paper advocatesmust be addressed by this generation,evenifsustainableresultswillmostprobablybeachievedonly inthesucceedinggeneration.Wedonot knowhow theprocess of this transformationwill unfold.However, we do know its goal and we know where to start. This is ourresponsibilityoutofwhichallfurtherstepswillarise.

1 Reports of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for

Development (IAASTD): https://www.globalagriculture.org/whats-new/news/news/de/19849.html 2 https://www.leopoldina.org/en/press/press-releases/press-release/press/2539/ 3 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg2 4 http://ecdpm.org/wp-content/uploads/DP197-Implementation-2030-Agenda-EU-Gregersen-

Mackie-Torres-July-2016.pdf 5 Willer , Lermoud, The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends, FiBL – IFOAM

2015. 6 http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/UniformityToDiversity_FullReport.pdf, p. 13.


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2. Why Intensive Industrial Agriculture in its Current Form Will Fail at the Task of Feeding the World

2.1 ItDestroysitsownFoundations

In a few decades, agriculture as it prevails today will have destroyed itsfoundations. The agro-industrial system, which has become the model foragriculturaldevelopmentinindustrializedcountriesoverthepast60years, facesirresolvableconflicts.Itsobjectiveistoyieldhighestpossiblereturnsforinvestedcapital.Incontrasttopeasantfarminginformertimes,whichaimedatpreservingsoil fertility, securing water supplies, and ensuring household food securitythrough diversity, the industrial system today is focused mainly on increasingshort-termprofits throughmaximumyieldson the fieldsand in thestables.Thisincludestheuseofhigh-performancetechnologiesbothinmachinesandseeds.Inorder to achieve this performance, the system requires synthetic nitrogen andfertilizercomponentssuchasphosphateandpotassiumwhicharecombinedwithsynthetic pesticides and—in many parts of the world—irrigation. Similarconditionscanbefoundinlivestockfarming.Animalsareselectedaccordingtothequantitiesofmeatandmilktheycanyieldintheshortestpossibletime.Theresultofthisselectionprocessisasmallnumberofhigh-performinglineswhichcanonlyreachtheirmaximumproductioncapacitieswiththehelpofmostlyimportedhigh-energy animal feed and chemical performance enhancers. The high levels ofproductivityachievedbythisagriculturalsystemcanonlybemaintainedthroughthemassive use of fossil fuels. This strategy ofmaximumyields results in gravedamagesthatdestroytheveryfoundationsofworldfood.

2.1.1ItHeatsuptheWorldClimate

ThesystemofindustrializedagriculturedominatingtheGlobalNorthtodayhasasevere impact on the world climate. On a global scale, its contribution to thegreenhouse effect amounts to more than 20 percent.7Global emissions fromagriculture, forestry, and fisheries have nearly doubled in the past 50 years.8AccordingtotheFoodandAgricultureOrganization,atmosphericpollutioncausedbyagricultureandthefoodindustrywillincreasebyanother30percentifdecisivemeasures fail to be taken.9This impact on the atmosphere is mainly caused byintensive meat and dairy production and its animal feed imports from SouthAmericaaswellastheresultingcontinuedclear-fellingofprimevalforeststhere.10

Syntheticnitrogenfertilizersareanothersourceofpollutionwhichhasremainedwidely ignored to date. Large amounts of fossil fuels are required for theirproduction, leading to the releaseofgreenhousegasses.However, the fertilizers’impactontheclimateisevenlargerwhenusedonthefields,wheretheyproducenitrous oxide, known as the most potent greenhouse gas (around 290 timesstronger than CO2). According to estimates by the Food and AgricultureOrganization, emissions generated during the application of synthetic fertilizersaccountedfor13percentofagriculturalemissionsin2011.Theyareregardedthe


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fastest growing emissions source in agriculture..11Animal fattening in livestockfarmingfurthermoreresultsintheadditionalreleaseofmethaneandammonia.

2.1.2ItDestroysSoilFertility

The agricultural practices described above have resulted in soil degradation inarablelandaroundtheworld.AccordingtotheGlobalLandOutlook,onequarterofall arable landworldwide today contains substantially less humus andnutrientsthan25yearsagoandhasinsomecasesbeenrenderedunusableforfarming.12,13IntheUnitedNationsUniversity’sreport“TheValueofLand,” thedegradationoffertileagriculturallandisevenestimatedat52percent.14Extensivemonoculturesare the worst enemy of soil fertility. Crop rotation of only a small number ofsimilar crops, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides damagebiodiversity on the fields and thus the soil’s natural stability.15Furthermore, thelack of soil cover before sowing and after harvesting facilitates erosion throughrainandwind. In thisway,10millionhectares in fertile landare lostworldwideevery year. These losses occur ten times faster than nature can generate newsoil.16,17

2.1.3ItDepletesWaterSupplies

In many parts of the world what is grown on the fields and howmuch can beyieldedessentiallydependsonhowmuchitrains.This,however,isnotthecaseinregionswhereintensivefarmingispracticed.Here,irrigationisoftenthedecisivefactorforprofitability.Top-performingplantsrequireespeciallylargeamountsofwater,around1500litersper1kilogramofgrain.Ascattle,swine,andpoultryarefedwithgrains,animalhusbandryisalsopartoftheissue.15,000litersofdrinkingwaterareneededtoproduce1kilogramofbeef.Around80percentoftheworld’swater supplies are used by agriculture. Groundwater reservoirs are the world’slargestfreshwaterresources,however,theyareincreasinglyexploitedbyintensiveagriculture.Asaconsequence,thewaterlevelsintheseundergroundaquifersaresinkingatafasterratethantheycanberechargedthroughprecipitation.

A2015studybyNASAstatedthat13oftheworld’s37largestaquiferswillsoonbedepleted. Eight more are barely recharging. Five more are endangered becausemorewaterisextractedthancanberecharged.18IndiaandNorthAfricaaremoststrongly affected, but also the United States’ Midwest, i.e. the industrializedcountries’breadbasket.19

Extremeweather, heatwaves, and droughts aggravate thewater crisis, asmoreandmorefarmlandsrequireirrigationtomaintainproductivitylevels.Atthesametime, climate change is affecting large-scale precipitation patterns with shiftingclimate zones and disruptions to the monsoon, the world’s most important“weather machine.” In many parts of the world it has become increasinglyapparent that industrial agriculture’s high-performance concept is reaching itslimitswith regard towater. This is also the case forwater quality. According to2017findingsbytheGermanFederalEnvironmentAgency,Germangroundwater


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suppliesexceed the limitvaluesof50mg/l fornitrateby27percent.20Themainperpetratorisintensivelivestockfarming,particularlymeatproduction.

2.1.4ItAcceleratesSpeciesLoss

Two aspects are of significance here: the wild flora and fauna, as well asagricultural crops and livestock. Both have suffered major losses due toagriculture. A 2017 survey of insect populations in parts of Germany concludedthat insect biomass declined by 75 percent over the past three decades.21ThenumberofbirdsintheEUdeclinedby300millionbetween1980and2010—morethanhalf of the overall populations.22With the exceptionof scattered remnants,thebrownharehasdisappearedcompletely fromintensively farmedagriculturallandscapes.23

Species used in agriculture are affected by erosionmost notably. More than 90percentofcropvarietieswhichservedasfoodsourcesinthebeginningofthe20thcenturyhavedisappearedfromthefields.Geneticallymodifiedcropsadditionallyfurther the decline of biodiversity, particularly in the United States and SouthAmericawheretheyprevail.Thesamecanbesaidforlivestockfarming.24Specieslossisparticularlyextremeinthecaseofpoultry,mainlyduetotheintroductionofso-called hybrid breeding which achieved explosive rises in productivity bycrossing“pureinbredlines.”

Patents for crops essentially accelerate the depletion of species. Patenting hasbecomeawidespreadpracticeonlysincetheturnofthecentury.Seedswerealsoselectedbefore,however,inthepasttheyusedtoremainapartoffarmingculture,preserved and further developed not to serve economical purposes but for thecommon good, with no individual being in the position of asserting propertyclaims.Theintroductionoflawsregardingtheseedregulationofcultivatedplantsin1953,andtheiropen-sourcecharacter,helpedsecurethefinancialresourcesofsmall and medium-sized breeders. The situation changed profoundly with theintroductionofpatentprotectionforcropsandlivestock.Patentsmakeitpossibleto claim intellectual property rights for production processes and any biologicalmaterialsgeneratedthere-in.Thisiswhatseedcorporationscapitalizeon.

Seed corporations thus further the loss of species. Following the most recentmergers, three agrochemical seed corporations (Bayer/Monsanto, DuPont/Dowand ChemChina/Syngenta) now command two thirds of the global market forseedsandpesticides.25Thesituationisaggravatedbythecorporations’strategytogeartheirselectionprocessestowardsplantsresistanttotherespectivecompany’sapplied active ingredients, as exemplified by Monsanto’s “Roundup” herbicide(withitsactiveingredientglyphosate).


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2.1.5ItExhaustsNutrientReserves

Phosphorus is the most important nutrient in agriculture. No plant can growwithoutphosphorus.It isessentialforgainingyields.Inthepast,nutrientcyclingon farms ensured that the fieldswere enrichedwith it via animalmanure. Thispracticeprovesinsufficientinthecaseofhigh-performingplants,resultingintheuseoflargeamountsofmineralfertilizers.Phosphorusisderivedfromphosphaterockmining,however,thesesupplieswillnotlastinfinitely.Extractionisexpectedto peak by themiddle of the century, hence the end of phosphorus supplies inintensivefarmingisimminent,asistheendoftheirproductivity.

2.1.6ItFacilitatesAntibioticResistance

Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria originating in agriculture has reachedalarminglevelsinlargepartsoftheworld,theFAOnotedin2016.26Antimicrobialresistanceislifethreatening.27TheWorldHealthOrganizationhasidentifieditasagrowingriskforworldhealthandfoodsecurity.AccordingtotheFAO’sanalysis,themaincauseforantimicrobialresistancestemsfromtheinappropriateuseandoveruseofantibioticsinindustriallivestockfarmingsystems.Reserveantibiotics,which are intended as drugs of last resort in human medicine but which haveincreasingly come to be used in animal husbandry, pose the greatest threat.28,29Theproblemofantimicrobial resistance is exported todevelopingandadvanceddeveloping countries through the introduction of intensive animal farming.AccordingtotheFAO,thiswillposeanincreasingriskinthecomingdecadesbothforveterinaryandforhumanmedicine.30

2.2 ItTransgressesPlanetaryBoundaries

Theindustrialagriculturalsystemdisregardstheplanet’sboundaries.Theconceptof theplanetaryboundarieswasproposedbyagroupof28 renownedscientistsand defines nine quantitative boundaries and thresholds which should—in theinterestofhumankind—neverbetransgressed.31The concept’s lead author Johan Rockström, then the Director of the StockholmResilience Centre, and Director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate ImpactResearch as of October 2018, summarized its main concerns as follows: “Tocontinuetoliveandoperatesafely,humanityhastostayawayfromcritical‘hard-wired’ thresholds in the Earth’s environment, and respect the nature of theplanet’sclimatic,geophysical,atmosphericandecologicalprocesses.”32

However,whentheconceptwasintroducedin2009,threethresholdshadalreadybeencrossed,namelyfor“climatechange,”“rateofbiodiversityloss,”and“changestotheglobalnitrogencycle.” 33 Inthe2015update, theteamofresearchers foundthat the boundary regarding “land system changes” had also been transgressed;according to the scientists, climate change and biosphere integrity are “coreboundaries”andparticularlysensitive.‘Significantlyalteringeitherofthesewoulddrive the Earth System into a new state, endangering the safe lives of futuregenerations.’ 34


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Source:www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries/planetary-boundaries/about-the-research/the-nine-planetary-boundaries.html

Intensive farming and the food industry are chiefly responsible for thetransgressionsoftheseboundaries.Theyarethemainperpetratorswithrespecttobiosphere integrity, biochemical flows/nitrogen, and land-system change. Theirpartinthetransgressionoftheboundaryforclimatechangeamountstomorethan20 percent. Taken seriously, the warning by the scientists surrounding JohanRockströmmeans that the renunciationof industrialagriculturalproductionandradicalecologizationaremandatoryforagriculture.

2.3 ItPosesaThreattoFoodSecurity

Theindustrialagriculturalandfoodsystembuildsonglobalization.Itpurportstocreate foodsecurity.However, thisclaimfails topasstherealitycheck,giventhemonopolization in trade on the one hand, and the limitation of production to asmallnumberofexportingcountriesontheother.


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2.3.1ItBenefitsMonopoliesandPromotesManipulationandSpeculation

Onlyfourcorporationsdominateworldfoodtrade:ArcherDanielsMidland,Bunge,Cargill, andDreyfus. In2017 theycontrolled threequartersofglobalgrain tradeandthustheworldmarket’ssupplysituation,quantities,andpricing.35

The global food price crisis of 2007/’08 illustrated how easily the food supplychaincanbreakdown.Withinafewweeksitresultedinpriceexplosionsforbasicfood stuffs and food riots in over 20 countries. A politically condoned lack ofsuppliesandspeculationwereidentifiedasthecrisis’directcausesatthetime.

This is aggravated by political tensions and the threat of a trade war with theUnited States, the world’s largest agricultural exporter. The United States’assurances to feed the world with its produce surplus are dissolving under thecurrent administration. This further weakens the global supply chain’sdependabilityandisparticularlyhardonthosecountriesthathavechosentorelyon world trade, including the wealthy Gulf States which do not have sufficientwaterreservesattheirdisposal,aswellasSouthKoreaandJapan,wherefoodself-sufficiencyhasdeclinedsignificantlyoverthepast40years,inJapanfrom80to40percent.36

ChinaandIndiaalsofaceanincreasingrisk,duetochangedeatinghabits,amongstotherreasons:moremeat,morefastfood,lesstraditionaldiets.Furthermore,over50 “Low-Income and Food-Deficit Countries,“37which according to the FAO relyheavilyon imports for survivalunder thecurrent foodsystem,areaffected.Thisconcerns16percentoftheworld’spopulation.38

2.3.2ItExacerbatesGlobalClimateRisks

Climate change is one of the largest elements of uncertaintywith respect to theglobalized food supply chain. Its effects reach far beyond immediately affectedregions. The IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts thatextremeweathereventsand theshiftingmonsooncirculationespecially in India,the Middle East, and Central America as well as Africa will cause massive cropfailures,39failures which even the large agricultural exporters Brazil and theUnitedStateswillnotbeable tocompensate,no leastsince theirownyieldswilllikelyalsobecomelessreliableduetoextremeweather.40SoyproductioninBrazil,thelargestexporterofanimalfeed,willnotbeabletowithstandfutureheatwavesand periods of drought.41The grain fieldsof the American Midwest are also atrisk,42asaretheyieldsfromthericepaddiesinCaliforniaandThailand,thelargestexporterofrice,duetoagrowingthreatofdroughtsandfloods.


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2.4 ItFailsasaStrategytoFeedtheGlobalSouth

TheconceptofindustrialagricultureandfoodproductionisnotsuitedtofeedtheGlobal South’s masses; it is bound to fail, notably in the megacities. In a fewdecades, ourplanetwill have to sustain10 to12billionpeople, about one thirdmore than in 2018.Most of themwill be living in theGlobal South’smegacities.Especially in regionswith fertile soils, these cities are growing. Theywill coverextensivelymore space than the present urban landscapes. This consumption oflandwillcomeattheexpenseoflocalfoodresources.Riversandlakeswillalsobeincludedintheseurbancentersandthusmostlikelybecomepolluted,endangeringfish populations. This means the loss of yet another food resource for themegacities. The growth in population combined with waning regional foodresourceswillmakethesenewcitiesasdependentonlarge-scalefoodimportsandtransportsasunderthecurrentsystem.

2.5 ItIntensifiesCausesofFlight

Small-scale farming forms the economic backbone of the southern countries,ensuring income and employment, accounting for 80 percent of all jobs. Small-scale farming provides women with livelihoods and ensures food for theirchildren. Restructuring these countries according to the industrialmodelwouldonlybepossibleattheexpenseofsmall-scalefarmerswhowouldbeousted,withtheir livelihoodsdestroyed,and their families forced tomove to thecitieswheretheywould add to the urban proletariat. Given the lack of jobs in the industrialsector, famine andhardship are likely to increasewith these additional landlessmasses,causingmorepeopletoseekrefugeintheEU.ThisdevelopmentalmodelisnotfitfortheGlobalSouth.

7 IPCC, Working Group III: Mitigation, 3.6 Agriculture and Energy Cropping 3.6.1 Introduction,

source: http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg3/index.php?idp=1158 http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/216137/icode/9 http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/216137/icode/10 The drainage of peatlands to cultivate oil palm in Southeast Asia, the ploughing of grassland, and the

conversion of natural landscapes into production space also result in a massive release of greenhouse gasses.

11 FAO, ibid.12 United Nations, Convention to Combat Desertification. 2017, The Global Land Outlook, first edition.

Bonn, Germany13 https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/press/pressinformation/ten-million-hectares-of-arable-land-

worldwide-are14 UN-Report "The Value of Land", 2015: http://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-Value-of-

Land-ELD-Initiative-2015.pdf 15 https://germanwatch.org/de/1426616 David Pimentel * and Michael Burgess, Soil Erosion Threatens Food Production, College of Agriculture

and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, source: https://www.bmbf.de/files/agriculture-03-00443.pdf

17 http://www.fewresources.org/soil-science-and-society-were-running-out-of-dirt.html18 NASA, Global Groundwater Basins in Distress, 2015 Link:

https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=86263 19 http://www.wri.org/resources/charts-graphs/water-stress-country


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20 https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/press/pressinformation/too-much-fertiliser-drinking-water-could-

become (June 9, 2017)21 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.018580922 https://www.zeit.de/wissen/umwelt/2017-05/voegel-bestand-landwirtschaft-gifte-kiebitz-braunkehlchen-

uferschnepfe-feldlerche23 https://www.mdr.de/wissen/feldhase-104.html24 FAO, What Is Happening To Agrobiodiversity?

http://www.fao.org/docrep/007/y5609e/y5609e02.htm

25 https://www.boell.de/de/konzernatlas26 Ibid. min. 129.27 FAO, Drivers, Dynamics and Epidemiology of Antimicrobial Resistance in Animal Production, 201628 Ibid , p. 2.29 https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/064368-000-A/armes-schwein-fettes-geschaeft/(from min. 105 on).30 FAO, Drivers, Dynamics and Epidemiology of Antimicrobial Resistance in Animal Production, 2016, p.

1.31 http://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html 32 Further boundaries identified by the scientists include stratospheric ozone depletion, land-system

change, freshwater use, ocean acidification, phosphorus flow from freshwater systems into the ocean and from fertilizers to erodible soils, atmospheric aerosol loading, and pollution through chemicals.

33 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/ 34 https://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/four-of-nine-planetary-boundaries-now-

crossed?set_language=en35 Australian Wheat Board (2004), Financial Times (September 18, 2013 & March 3, 2014).36 https://akehir.com/files/publications/Ochsenbein_Raphael_RiceInJapan.pdf37 http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/lifdc/en/38 http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5222e.pdf39 Up to 40 percent.40 https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg2/ar5_wgII_spm_en.pdf41 Bommert, Wilfried, Landzettel, Marianne, Verbrannte Mandeln, wie der Klimawandel unseren Teller

erreicht, Munich 2017, p. 194.42 Wolfram Schlenker und Michael J. Robers, Nonlinear Temperature Effects Indicate Severe Damages

to U.S. Crop Yields Under Climate Change, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States, 2009, Vol. 106.


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3. Why Ecological Farming Can Succeed

In 2008 theWorld Agriculture Report declared “the need for an agroecologicalevolutioninagriculture,foodproduction,andconsumption.”43Thiscallhasgainedurgency over the past ten years. Scientific surveys acknowledge that anagroecological evolution can lead the way out of the deadlock of industrialagriculture. TheWorld Agriculture Report uses a term denoting an agriculturalpractice as old as the origins of agriculture itself.44For thousands of years itfocusedonadaptingtochangingnaturalconditions.However,thisadaptabilitywaslosttoagricultureinthepast100years.Fossilenergysources,theintroductionofcomplex machinery, and modern agricultural chemistry have rendered thenecessity to adapt to natural conditions obsolete andhave led to a practice thatexploits natural habitats and unravels regional agricultural and food systems.Agroecologyopposesthisdisastrousdevelopmentwithanewmodel.

3.1 AgroecologyasaHolisticConcept

The concept of agroecology encompasseswhat is generally discussed as organicfarming but also reaches significantly further. Not only the ecological value offarming practices and their impact on the environment are subject to closescrutinyhere,butalsoagriculture’sinteractionswithnature,thepeople,andtheircultures. “Its strength lies in the connection of ecology, biology, and agriculturalsciences, as well as dietetics, medicine, and social sciences.”45Agroecologicalpractice is based on traditional and local knowledge. It works with what isavailable on location: the sun, water and soil, biodiversity, and the specificknowledgetherespectivepeopleandcommunitieshaveaccumulatedabouttheircoexistencewithnature.Nexttopracticaltechnologies,agroecologycountsontheknowledgeofeveryoneinvolved.46

3.2 …andasaDiversifiedPractice

Agroecologicalfarmingsystemsplacevalueondiversifiedcroprotationsthathelpfurther soil vitality and fertility. They support humus formation and thus theabsorption of greenhouse gasses in the soil.47By keeping the ground coveredconstantly, they furthermore prevent erosion and increase soil water storagecapacities. This helps reduce vulnerabilities to heat waves and droughts.Additionally,agroecological farmingsystems leadtobetterwaterandairquality,morebiodiversityinculturalandnaturallandscapes,andstablemicroclimates.Intotal, the agroecological system ensures higher resistance to extreme climateconditions48andhelpspromoteavarieddietrichinplant-basedfoodsforfarmersand consumers through its diversified cultivation, as well as preserve a vibrantdiversityofregionalcuisines.However,itisimportanttopointoutthatincontrastto “ecological agriculture” the term “agroecology” has not yet been formally


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defined and as a consequence is broadly misused to semantically ennoble‘ecological’practicesinindustrialagriculture,asisthecasee.g.inFrance.

3.3 ButArethereEnoughYields?

Whendiscussingtheadvantagesofecologicalproductionmethods,itisimportantto note that their yields per hectare are currently 10 to 25 percent lower thanthose of conventional farming. 49 Lower yields are considered a principledisadvantage of the ecological cultivation system. However, such a narrowcomparison, based only on one criterion, can hardly result in a fundamentalassessment of the over-all system’s productivity. For this reason, JohnReganoldandJonathanWachterapplytwelvecriteriaintheiranalysis“OrganicAgriculturein the Twenty-First Century”50which arrives at an entirely different conclusion.Regarding the criterion of yields, the conventional system remains in first placehere.However,theorganicsystemisonthesamelevelwithrespecttothequalityof nutrients, employment of workers, as well as total costs, and clearly provessuperior with regard to soil quality, energy use, biodiversity, water pollution,profitability,ecosystemservices,healthhazardsthroughexposuretopesticidesforworkers,andpesticideresiduesintheenvironment.

Illustrationfrom:Reganold,JohnP.,Wachter,JonathanM.,OrganicAgricultureintheTwenty-FirstCentury,NaturePlants,Vol.2,2/2016,p.4

The comparative diagram does not list either system’s impact on the climate,however, this is taken into consideration in the survey itself, according towhichthe ecological system uses up to 27 percent less fossil fuels, mainly due to itsrenunciation of synthetic nitrogen. This in return reduces the impact ofgreenhouse gasses by 14percent.51Furthermore, the active formation of humuscontributestothelong-termabsorptionofgreenhousegassesinthesoil,whicharethusprevented fromentering theatmosphere.52Thesurvey’s findingshavebeencorroboratedbymorerecentfieldstudiesinGermanybetween2008and2014.53


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In total, ecological agriculture also reaches virtually the same levels asconventionalagriculturewithrespecttoyieldsandpotentialyieldincreases,ifonelooksmorecloselyattheregionwherelargeryieldswillbeofcrucialimportanceinthefuture:theGlobalSouth.

Large yield increases can be achieved particularly in cases where small-scalefarmershavereceivedlittletrainingsofar,wherelow-yieldingplantvarietiesandhardlyanymachinesormeansforirrigationareused,andwherethereisalackofapplied research and consulting services. In 2016, the International Panel ofExperts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) stated that the conversion toorganic agriculture resulted in yield increases of up to 80 percent in the GlobalSouth.54Asearlyas2011, theUnitedNationsSpecialRapporteuron theRight toFood,OlivierDeSchutter,concludedinhisreportonthesuccessofagroecologicalprojectsin57countriesthatconsiderableyieldincreasesuptodoubletheoriginalamount were possible, particularly in African countries.55These results werebasedsolelyonimprovedcultivationtechniques,nottakingintoconsiderationthefurther potentials that could be unleashed with the help of research anddevelopment.

Moreover, there are significant global saving potentialswith regard to land use.Consideringthatonethirdofallfoodendsupongarbagedumps,thatthesuppliesforamorbiddietofovereatingaffecting2billionpeopleuseupapproximately100million hectares, 56 that the industrial countries’ meat consumption alreadyoccupies more than half of the world’s entire agricultural areas, and that theproductionofagrofuelscurrentlyrequires40millionhectares,itbecomesobviousthat even if yields were to be lower after a conversion to ecological farming,shortagesdonothavetobecomeareality.57

It is possible toproduce enough food agroecologically even for a growingworldpopulation. Recent model calculations by ETH Zurich and FiBL Switzerland58supportthisproposition,indicatingsufficientleewayforanecologicalconversionofworld food,especiallysincethepotentialsofagroecologicalsystemshaveonlybeenrudimentarilyresearchedsofar.

3.4 TheRangeofEcologicalFarming

There is a large variety of ecological systems in world agriculture significantlyexceeding the amount of farmlands certified and cultivated according to thecriteriaoforganic farmingassociations.Strictlyregulatedorganic farmlandsonlyamount to1percentofall agricultural landworldwide.59However, ifuncertifiedfarmlands that are cultivatedwithout synthetic fertilizers andpesticidesbutusecroprotationsystems,thussupportingbiodiversityandsoilfertility,areincluded,the over-all amount of ecologically cultivated farmlands is substantially larger.Today,thesesystems,whichalsocharacterizedtheGermancountrysideuptothe1950s, areappliedmainlyby farmers in thecountriesof theGlobalSouth, albeitwith considerable yield deficits for the time being. Nonetheless, they open up a


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muchlargerspectrumofecologicalcultivationmethodsthanwhatisrepresentedbythecriteriaoforganicfarmingassociationsintheindustrialcountries.60

What isalreadybeing tested in theGlobalSouth’s countriescanbeconnected totransitional and interim ecological practices in the industrialized countries,applied here under names such as “agroforestry” or “permaculture,” amongstothers.61Onagloballevel,ecologicalfoodchangecanthusbuildon—andextend—awiderangeofecologicallyorientedcultivationmethodsandoperatingmodes.

43 https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/agroecology.html 44 https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/tropentag/proceedings/2001/full%20papers/1-production%20system/

1_8_Mallinkrodt.pdf45 Ibid.46 Ibid.47 Ibid.48 http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/UniformityToDiversity_FullReport.pdf, p. 31.49 Ibid., p. 8.50 Reganold, John P. , Wachter, Jonathan M. , Organic Agriculture in the Twenty-First Century, Nature

Plants, Vol. 2, 2/2016.51 Ibid., p. 6.52 Ibid., p. 3. 53 https://www.thuenen.de/de/ol/projekte/systeme-der-rinderhaltung/klimawirkungen-und-nachhaltigkeit-

in-der-milcherzeugung/54 http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/UniformityToDiversity_FullReport.pdf, p. 31.55 http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/press_releases/20110308_agroecology-report-pr_en.pdf56 Bommert, Wilfried, Bodenrausch, die globale Jagd nach den Äckern der Welt, Cologne 2012, p. 309.57 J.Popp et al, The Effect of Bioenergy Expansion: Food, Energy, and Environment, Renewable and

Sustainable Energy Reviews Volume 32, April 2014, pp. 559–578.58 Adrian Muller et al.,Strategies for Feeding the World more Sustainably with Organic Agriculture, Nature

Communications 2017.59 Willer , Lermoud, The World of Organic Agriculture Statistics and Emerging Trends, FiBL – IFOAM

2015.60 Reganold, John P. , Wachter, Jonathan M. , Organic Agriculture in the Twenty-First Century,

Nature Plants , Vol. 2, 2/2016, p. 1.61 http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/UniformityToDiversity_FullReport.pdf, p. 14.


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4. Supposed Certainties – Allegations Regarding Ecological Agriculture

4.1 LowYieldsFailtoFeedtheWorldPopulation

Response:Themainreasonforworldhungerisnotalackoffoodbutthefactthatsomanypeoplearepoor,aswellasthecircumstancesofunequalaccesstofood,soil and water, credit, and education. Earth’s soils are perfectly capable ofproducingfoodfor itspopulation—evenfor10billionpeopleandmore.Thiscanbe achieved if land is cultivated considerately and allowed to regenerate, if itsyieldsaredistributedmorefairlythantoday,iftheconsumptionofmeatdecreasesconsiderably to avoid that up to 50 percent of the current corn, grain, and soycropsarefedtoanimals,andifsignificantlylessfoodgoestowasteorisdestroyedonitswayfromthefieldtothetable.

Itishenceinaccuratetostatethattheworld’sgrowingpopulationcanonlybefedby intensifying large-scale agriculture with high-performing plants andchemicals.62In fact, as chapter 2 points out, this approach is doomed to fail.Furthermore, thiskindof intensificationwould increaseworldhungerbecause itwouldleadtotheoustingofmillionsofsmall-scalefarmersfromtheirlandintheGlobalSouth,drivingthemintourbanslumsinstead. If,however, theyremainontheir land, they will be able to significantly increase their yields on the sameacreage with the help of ecological agriculture.63Yields can also be improvedthroughtheuseofadaptedspeciesandbiodiversity.64

4.2 OrganicFoodsAretooExpensiveforPoorPeople

Response: Here, a distinction needs to bemade between the situations of earlyindustrializedcountriesandcountriesintheGlobalSouth.

Food supplies sold in European healthfood stores are indeed often unaffordablefor poorer parts of the population, notablymeat, dairy products, and chocolate.One of themain reasons keeping lesswealthy people from switching to organicfoods is their high meat consumption. Organic foods at discount stores, on theother hand, are often priced at almost the same level, particularly vegetables,grains,andfruit.

People living in financially constrained circumstances usually purchase cheaperproducts.However,conventionallyproducedfoodisn’treallycheaper;itispricedsignificantlylowerthanitsactualcosts.Theonlydifferencetoorganicfoodisthatthesecostsarenottiedimmediatelytotheproduce—instead,theproducerspassthem on to society as a whole. This “cost externalizing,” as it is called inprofessional terms, entails climate pollution caused by synthetic fertilizers,groundwaterpollutionbymanureandnitrate,healthhazardsposedbypesticides,antibiotics, and other harmful substances, an existential threat to bees and thus


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fertility,andmuchmore.Consumershavetopayforthesecostsindirectly,withanincreasingrisk for theirhealthandwithgrowing fees, taxes,andchargesto fightthe damages described above. While discount supermarkets do sell cheaperorganicproducts, it is important tonote that this formofmarketingachieves itscompetitive price advantages at the expense of the producers, particularly byfocusingon ‘FastMovingConsumerGoods’ (FMCG) in theorganicproduct rangeandmixingorganicandconventionalproduceintheircalculations.Inotherwords:there is no such thing as cheap food, whether it is produced conventionally ororganically.

TheGlobalSouth’spoorruralpopulationsare inacompletelydifferentsituation.Tothem,organicfarmingdoesnotmeanamoreexpensivebutaneasierwayoflifeineveryrespect.Chapters3and5detailthismoreclosely.

4.3 MeatMustRemainAffordableforPeoplewithLowIncomes

Response: The problem is: the fact that meat consumption is high especially inprecarioushouseholdsmakesthepricegapappearparticularlylarge.Inthecaseofahealthydiethighinvegetablesandlowinmeat,however,thedifferencesarefarless striking. Meat produced by intensive livestock farming only appears to becheap—see above. Because its follow-up costs don’t show on the bill, they areoftenoverlooked.Eatinglessmeatleadstoahealthierandnotaworselife.

4.4 OrganicFoodsAreNotHealthier

Response: In terms of nutrients, organically and conventionally produced foodsmay reach similarly high levels, and differencesmay also appear small when itcomes to the flavor of fruit and vegetables; nonetheless, organic food has threeadvantagesdetailedinchapter3:

• Ecological farming systems do not pollute the environment with syntheticnitrogen, they support biodiversity in the ecosystem, and preserve andregeneratebasicfoodresources,especiallytheclimate,soil,andwater.

• Residues from pesticides and antibiotics and the health risks they pose aresubstantially lowerandoften totally absent fromorganic foods.On theotherhandtheyarericherinvaluableplantcompoundssuchasantioxidants.65,66

• Organicmeatanddairyproductsinmostcaseshaveamorecharacteristicandrichflavorthanconventionalproducts.

4.5 Ecological Farming Is Unnecessary Because Precision Farming andComputer-BasedMachinesWillBeAbletoFixCurrentSystemDamages

Response: Where applicable, “precision farming” can help reduce some of theecological damages caused by conventional agriculture. Large organic farms in


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Europe and the United States also apply precision farming. Nonetheless,conventionalagriculture’smodernsystemsperpetuatepreviousprinciplemistakesand insomecaseseven intensify them.Hence, theywillnot resolveagriculture’sfundamentalcrisis.

1. Itfurthersclimatedamage,mainlythroughtheapplicationofsyntheticnitrogen.Eventhoughsyntheticnitrogenisusedmoreefficientlyinprecisionfarming,itremainsthewrongchoiceforfertilizers,asfossilfuelsarerequiredforitsproduction and as it emits nitrous oxidewhenused on the fields,which issignificantlymorepotent.

2. Itperpetuates thedestructionof soil fertility.Windandrain-drivenerosion isfurthered by extensive monocultures—made possible through digitaltechnologyandenforcedforreasonsofprofitability—,aswellasbyextensivetillage, particularly plowing. Insecticides and herbicides damage theirreplaceablefunctionsoflivingsoils.

3. Theworld’swaterresourcescontinuetodwindle.High-performingplants—andthe irrigation they require in many regions—, as well as animal farming,exhaustwater supplies, even if consumption canbe reduced throughmorerationaluse.

4. Biodiversitylossisincreasing.Continuedextensiveagriculturefurthersthelossof numerous species. Agrochemical and seed corporations with theirbreedinglinesgearedtowardsshort-termprofits,andnotleastthepatentingofcrops,furtherreducetherangeofcropspecies.

5. Itdestroyssmall-scaleagriculturalinfrastructures.Theapplicationofprecisionfarming practiced in extensive agriculture requires high capital investmentandprofessionalmanagementandishenceonlyfeasibleinlargefarms.Whenthismethodissuperimposedonsmall-scalefarmingstructuresintheGlobalSouth, ituprootsmillionsofsmall-scale farmers, intensifiesrural flight,andaddstotheoverpopulationofthecities,ordrivespeopletomigration—andontheirwaytoEurope.

6. Precisionfarmingdoesn’tchangemeatproductiononanindustrialscale,whichisagriculture’smaincontributortogreenhousegasemissionsandfacilitatesantimicrobialresistanceduetoitsrampantuseofantibiotics.Antimicrobial-resistant germs, which are spreading as a consequence, are considered agloballygrowinghealthriskfortheworldpopulation,accordingtotheFAO.Thesituationisparticularlyalarmingindevelopingcountries.

4.6 HungerIsBestEndedThroughTechnologicalProgress

Response: Famines require immediate aid. On a long-term basis, hunger can beovercome ifpeopleaffectedareempowered to feed themselvesandhaveearnedincomes or, alternatively, access to land,water and organic cultivationmethods,


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microcredits, and education. Industrial progress, as it is sought by intensiveagriculture,dependsoncapitalwhichisavailableinwealthycountriesbutmissingsorelyinthecasesofthosestarving.

4.7 Agricultural Exports from Developing Countries Are the Key toDevelopmentandFightingPoverty

Response: Agricultural products are exported mostly by large farms. In themajorityofcasestheybelongtointernationalcorporationsandcontributelittletonothingtothelocalpopulation’sself-sufficiencyanddevelopment.

4.8 WeNeedLargeFarmstoFeedtheWorld

Response:EspeciallyinAsiaandAfricamanypeoplecontinuetoliveandworkinthecountrysideandsubsistontheyieldsofsmall-scalefarms.Worldhungerwilldecrease if they in particular are introduced to the advantages of organicagriculture. Wherever large farms in the aforementioned regions of the worldproliferate,small-scale farmersareousted fromtheir landanddriven intourbanslumsortomigration—predominantlytoEurope.

4.9 IncreasesinProductivityRemainKeyinFightingHungerandMalnutrition

Response: It depends on who benefits from an increase in productivity. Anincrease of yields for farms and farmers due to biological research and appliedexperiencewouldbehighlywelcome. If, however, increasedproductivitymainlyservesintensiveagriculture’sprofits,peoplesufferingfromhungerbenefitlittleornot at all. Their lot will improve if subsistence and small-scale farms areempowered togeneratehigheryieldswith thehelpoforganicagriculture,whichalsoimprovestheirpositioninthemarket.

62 Although this understanding was challenged by a survey recently conducted by the University of

Göttingen (Meemken, E.-M / Qaim, M. (2018), Organic Agriculture, Food Security and the Environ-ment. Annual Review of Resource Economics Vol. 10) it does remain the state of knowledge. The survey’s conclusion that ecological production is not capable of feeding the world population because it requires substantially more acreage than conventional agriculture, which would come at the expense of forests and other natural habitats, is based on two contestable premises. Firstly, the need for ‘substantially more’ land is quantified according to the current eating habits in industrialized countries, which are dominated by meat consumption, where one third of all food does not make it to the table but ends up on garbage dumps instead, and where a rampant habit of overeating consumes an increasing amount of foods. ‘Substantially more’ is thus tied to patterns of consumption which cannot be continued in a sustainable food system. If diets become measured and healthy again, sufficient amounts of farmlands and meadows are in fact available. Secondly, the survey considers industrial agriculture superior due to its yield levels which, however, are only achieved in northern states and in moderate climate. Industrial agriculture’s yields decline under extreme weather conditions as they prevail e.g. in Africa or Australia, as does its competitiveness with ecological agricultural systems.


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Organic farming on average achieves better and more stable yields especially under difficult weather conditions. This particularly applies for climate change. Organically farmed lands display higher resilience which will have positive effects for ecological agriculture in extreme weather events.

63 Fanzo, Jessica (2017), From Big to Small: the Significance of Smallholder Farms in the Global Food System. In: The Lancet 1/2017, #15 f.; Herrero, Mario (u.a.) (2017, Farming and the Geography of Nutrient Production for Human Use: a Transdisciplinary Analysis. In: The Lancet 1/2017, p. 33–42.

64 Reganold, John P./Wachter, J.M. (2016), Organic Agriculture in the Twenty-First Century. Nature Plants 2016, 2, 15221; Niggli, Urs (2015), Sustainability of Organic Food Production: Challenges and Innovations. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 2015, pp. 74, 83–88.

65 https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/green/studie-zeigt-biolebensmittel-sind-gesuender/13549684.html 66 Smith-Spangler et al. (2012), Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?

In: Ann Intern Med.157:348–366; Holzman, David C. (2012), Organic Food Conclusions Don’t Tell the Whole Story. In: Environmental Health Perspectives 4/2012; Stiftung Warentest (2015), Die Bio-Bilanz. test 12/2015.


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5. How Organic Agriculture Has to Change to Fulfill its Global Tasks

5.1 BecomeAwareofitsRange

There is agreatdiversityoforganic farming systems inglobal agriculture,muchlarger than the amount of farmlands certified and cultivated according to thecriteria of organic farming associations. Models can be found throughout theworld,wewouldliketointroducefourexamples.

5.1.1“TheSystemofRiceIntensification”

One of the most significant systems is known as the “System of RiceIntensification.” It was developed in rice cultivation and meets almost all thecriteria of ecological agriculture. It dispenses with synthetic nitrogen andpesticides,improvessoilquality,onlyuseshalftheamountofwaterconventionallyrequiredandcontributestorelievingtheclimatebylargelyskippingthetraditionalpractice of flooding which produces methane. Its success is based on widelyspacingtheplantsforbetterrootdevelopmentandmoregrowthoftillers.Inthisway,yieldsperhectareincreaseby2to8tonsonaverage.Becausetheyplantlessseedlings,thefarmersalsoonlyrequireonetenthoftheusualamountofseeds.67

The System of Rice Intensification was developed in Madagascar and has beenadoptedbyaround50million farmers inmore than50 countries inAsia,Africa,andLatinAmerica.InChinaandIndiaitisofficiallypromotedbytheauthorities.68Thesystemhasalsosuccessfullybeenappliedtoothercerealcropssuchaswheat,corn, and millet and is known here under the term “System of CropIntensification.”69

5.1.2“PushandPull”

Anotheragroecologicalsystem,“PushandPull,”ispracticedsuccessfullyinAfricawhere it helps protect maize crops from their natural enemies.70Desmodium,whichabsorbsnitrogenfromtheair,isplantedasanintercropbetweenthemaizeor millet. Its smell repels the stemborer moths (Push) while the plant alsoimproves the ability of the soil to absorb and retain moisture. Additionally,nitrogen is fixedand soil fertility is thus improved.Napier grassorbrachiaria isplantedasabordercrop,drawinginsectpests(moths)awayfromthefield(Pull).Themothlarvaethenperishonthestickymilkproducedbytheleaves.Thesystemhas additional benefits: napier grass, brachiaria, and desmodium are healthyfodderforthefarmers’animals.Thepush-pullmethodwasdevelopedatICIPE,theInternationalCentreforInsectPhysiologyandEcologyinNairobi,andispracticedbyover130,000farmersinEastAfrica.71


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5.1.3“Agroforestry”and“Permaculture”

Agroforestry and permaculture are two further precursors of agroecologicalsystems with long histories of practical experience, especially in India. 72Agroforestry,whichcombinescropsandtrees, represents the traditional formoforganic farming in the Indian uplands. The system revolves around a tree, anacacia species, which fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere in its roots and thusprovidesotherplantswithnutrients.Apondhelpscollectrainwaterandservesasa habitat for ducks and fish, while also ensuring sufficient water suppliesthroughout the year. The system has proven highly productive. According tocalculationsby Indianresearchers, ithasan internalrateofreturnof33percentduringaten-yearperiod.73Ahistorical formofpermacultureevolvedaroundtheFrenchcityofRennes. Itwas in factaproperagriculturalsystemwitharegionalbreedofchicken,theCoucoudeRennes,at itscenter.Thechickenswerekeptonthemeadowsand fedonseedsandworms,withcowsgrazingnearby.Oldappletrees gave shade. This permaculture provided the city with butter, eggs, cider,chickenmeat,andbeef.Thelonghedgesliningthemeadowsweretrimmedeverynine years and provided fuel. According to a survey on “Local Food Systems inEurope,”thistraditioncontinuestothriveandremainsanofficialelementofurbandevelopmentinRennes.74

These examples show that civil societies around theworld already have awiderangeofsuccessfulecologicalsystemsattheirdisposal.Theyformthecriticalmasswhichcanhelpmodelanecologicallydiversesystemchange.

5.2 Be Applicable also in Large-Scale Settings, Especially to Ensure theSustenanceofMetropolises

Ensuring sufficient and healthy food for cities with more than one millioninhabitantsposesachallengetoanyfoodsystem.Thisholdsespeciallytrueinthecase of metropolises as they are currently forming in Africa, Asia, and LatinAmerica.Anditparticularlyappliesfororganicfarmingwhichischieflyorganizedinsmall-scalestructures innamedregions.Howcan thequantitiesnecessary forthesemassesofpeoplebeproducedandbroughttothevariousmarkets?Tomeetthese challenges, a number of different and intertwining production anddistribution methods are taken into consideration as foundations of foodprovision.

5.2.1Argentina’s“ProgramadeAgriculturaUrbana”

Tobeginwith,residentialareascanproducemorefood,bothproactivelyandwithmunicipal support for subsistence farms, as well as via commercially runenterprises.InthecityofRosario,Argentina,themunicipalitycreatedaprogramtosupport landless farmworkers,who had been ousted from the back country, aswellaspoorcitydwellers.Theideawasforthemtocultivatetheirownvegetableson unused plots of land in the city in order to be self-sufficient. The initiativebecameknownunderthename“ProgramadeAgriculturaUrbana”(PAU).Itledto


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aboominurbanfarming,resulting inthedevelopmentofnewlocalmarketsandprocessingfacilitieswhichtodaymakemoneybysellingorganicallycultivatedfruitandvegetablesaswellasprocessedproductstomorewealthyurbandwellers.75

5.2.2Brazil’s“ZeroHungerProgram”

The second key component is initiatives by associations and groups or bygovernments which have already taken important steps towards regional self-sufficiency in recent years. In Brazil, for example, the Lula government’s ZeroHunger Program focuses on small-scale farmers in urban centers. The goal is topromote organic and thus cost-efficient production methods and to supply thepoorerpartsof largecities’populationswith food indoingso.Today,4.3millionBraziliansmall-scale farmersapplyorganiccultivationprinciples inthecountry’smajorcitiesandtheirsurroundings.

5.2.3UrbanAgricultureinCuba

The example of Havana, Cuba, also demonstrates how a city can increase self-sufficiency.AfterthecollapseoftheSovietUnion,Cubawasforcedtoreorganizeitsfoodsupplysystem.Unusedplotsof landandgreenspaces throughout thecitieswere turned into gardens. Today, they are an element of food provision.Cultivationisbasedonorganicprinciplesandorganizedincooperatives.Produceissoldtoimmediateneighbors.30,000hectaresarefarmedinthiswayinHavana,coveringmorethan60percentofthedemandforfruitandvegetables.76

5.2.4NewDistributionChannelsforMegacities

Thethirdandpresumablyvitalpillarisyettobedeveloped.Itsconcernisdirectedattheintroductionoftradechainswhichbringtogethersmall-andmedium-scaledfarmsasproducersorcollectives,standardizetheirproductsasneeded,transportthem into the metropolitan areas via general distribution channels or throughtheir own channels, and either bring them tomarket themselves or deliver thegoodstovendorstodoso.Suchatradenetworkcan, if thedistributionchannelsallowforit,extenditssphereofactionandalsoincludemoreremoteproducers.Itprovidestheprospectofovercomingpovertyforthosecurrentlyaffected,aswellas helping them reach a modest degree of prosperity, and could prove a bothcommerciallyandsociallystabilizingforceinentireregions.

The measures introduced here provide insights and impulses for the ecologicalprovision of foods for megacities, however, they do not represent a failsafestrategy. Nonetheless, the resourcefulness and determination which can beobservedheregivereasontohopethatorganicfarmingwillprovidesufficientandhealthy foods for futuremegacities;especially, sinceconsiderableyield increasesaretobeexpectedforthisregioninthewakeofintensifiedecologicalresearchandpractice. This contrasts with industrial agriculture which will destroy what itintendstobuild.


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5.3 CreateRegionallyFocusedEducationandAdvisorySystems

Agricultural education in industrialized countries as well as in developingcountries is focused mainly on supporting the agro-industrial system. Germanyservesasanexampleforthislopsidedness.Onlyasmallnumberoftrainingcentersteachtheprinciplesofanagroecological future.Merely8outof117professionalschoolsforagricultureinthecountryoffertraininginorganicfarming.77

5.3.1ExtensiveEducation

The full implementation of ecological agriculture is only viable, however, if itsbasicprinciples inform the curriculaof all relevant educational institutions.ThisappliesforGermanyandforEurope,butespeciallyfortheGlobalSouthwherefoodsupplies for the megacities also depend on whether small-scale farmers canachieve considerably higher yields. Currently, they receive no support fromeducational or advisory systems, a circumstance the donor countries, includingGermany,havecontributedtobymassivelyreducingtheiraid.78

Toboostlocalagricultures’productivityoncemore,thereconstructionandfurtherdevelopmentofthesestructures,basedonagroecologicalprinciples,willbeoftheessence.Oneexampleofhowthiscanbedonearethegreeninnovationcentersfortheagricultureandfoodsector(GIAE)inAfricaandIndia,realizedbyTheFederalMinistry forEconomicCooperationandDevelopment (BMZ) in cooperationwithTheInternationalFederationofOrganicAgricultureMovementsIFOAM–OrganicsInternational, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), and theNaturlandAssociationforOrganicAgriculture.

5.4 IntensifyResearch:inPrinciple,RegionallyandMulti-Culturally

Organic agricultural research iswidely neglected in the industrialized countries’agricultural research funding programs. In Germany, for example, it is allocatedonly6percent79oftheover-allfederalagriculturalresearchbudget.80Onlyoneof14federalresearchinstitutesfocusesonecologicalagriculture.81

5.4.1MassivelyExtendFundingforResearch

Agroecology’slowstatusinthefieldsofresearchandteachingreflectsthelackofpolitical interest inorganic farming.Thiswillhave tochange fundamentally.Theallocation of public research funds must be increased dramatically in order toprovide the necessary foundation for the comprehensive implementation oforganicfarming.

5.4.2PrioritizeEcology

At the same time, there is a need for re-prioritization in research. In a 2017memorandumaddressedat theGermanfederalgovernment, leadingassociationsdemanded new focus areas in research funding,82calling for research directed


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towardsthebasicrequirements forsustainable,ecological,andstableagricultureas well as the consumer-oriented provision of diverse and healthy foods to beprioritized.Itsaimmustbeclimateneutralityby2050anditmustworktowardsstrengtheningsmall-scale farmingandthenecessaryagroecologicalprerequisiteson a global level, as well as preserving and improving its natural productionbasis:fertilesoil,wateravailability,biodiversity,andclimatestability.Inthesameway, research must promote urban and peri-urban organic farming as acontributiontofoodsecurityingrowingcitiesandfacilitatethereturnoftheglobalagriculturalandfoodsystemtolocalandregionalcycles.

Results achieved by research conducted in this mannermust be such that theyempowerproducersandconsumerstomakeindependentdecisions.Furthermore,researchhas tobring to light theprevailingpower structures in the agriculturalandfoodmarkets,includingupstreamindustries,andattempttofindstrategiesfortheir restriction and transformation. Stronger involvement of those directlyaffectedaswellasofrelevantorganizationsfromcivilsocietyintransdisciplinaryresearchisindispensable.

International research is united in the global agricultural research partnershipConsultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); this group’sfundinghasalsobeendrasticallycutbackandmustbeincreased,asdoesfundingon a national and European level, in order to meet the great challenge oftransformingthefoodsystem.83

67 Norman Uphoff, Systems Thinking on Intensification and Sustainability: Systems Boundaries,

Processes and Dimensions, 1877–3435/# 2014 Elsevier, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2014.10.010

68 https://www.globalagriculture.org/flagship-projects/system-of-rice-intensification.html 69 Ibid., Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 2014, 8:89–100. 70 https://www.biovision.ch/en/projects/sub-saharan-africa/push-pull-east-africa/ 71 https://www.globalagriculture.org/flagship-projects/push-pull-in-ethiopia.html 72 http://www.ipes-food.org/images/Reports/UniformityToDiversity_FullReport.pdf, p. 14. 73 http://www.kiran.nic.in/pdf/agri-info/jhum%20cultivation/Multifunctional.pdf 74 FAAN:, Local Food Systems in Europe., Graz 2010. 75 Wilfried Bommert, Brot und Backstein, wer ernährt die Städte der Zukunft, Munich 2014, p. 207. 76 Sinan Koont, Sustainable Agriculture in Cuba, Gainsville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2011 77 https://www.bildungsserveragrar.de/fortbildung/fachschulverzeichnis 78 From 20 percent to below 5 percent between 1985 and 2005. 79 Budget proposal 2017: https://m.proplanta.de/Agrar-Nachrichten/Agrarpolitik/

Agrarhaushalt-2017-betraegt-5-9-Milliarden-Euro_article1467798771.html 80 Approx. 278 Million Euros (2017). 81 http://www.forschung-oekolandbau.info/de/strukturen/deutschland/forschungseinrichtungen.html 82 IWE, Memorandum für eine Forschungsförderung zur Sicherung der Welternährung, Berlin 2016,

https://germanwatch.org/de/download/17259.pdf. 83 CGIAR: Financial Report 2006.


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6. Impediments to Change – Illustrated by the Example of Germany

Thetwoelementaryobjectivesinpreventativepolicyaretheprotectionoflifeandlimb and of food. While security policy enjoys high levels of attention and isdiscussedandnegotiated intensely, foodpolicyhas appeared tobeof secondaryimportancethusfar.Mostpeopleconsiderfoodsecurityagivenandtendtotakeitfor granted. For this reason it has held a subordinate position in the federalpoliticalagenda.Electionsaren’torarenotyetdecidedonthesubjectoffood.Andalthoughscandalsariseinthecontextof industrialpracticestimeandagain,theywillnotresultinaprinciplechangeofmindaslongaspoliticalmeasuressuchasanimalwelfarelabelingdampentheoutrageandpromiseimprovements.Forthisreason, the current model of food policies, which was shaped in the 1950s,continuestopredominate.

6.1 TheIndustrialModel

In Germany, the concept of industrial agriculture, based on the U.S. model,developedafterWorldWarII. Itwas intendedtotransfer industrialprinciplestoagriculture. Themission was to massively increase productivity with the aid oftechnology,chemicals,high-performancebreeding,andspecialization.Ontheonehand,thiswassupposedtofighthungerwhichprevailedinthepost-waryears,ontheother toset free labor forcewhich,no longerneeded inagriculture,couldbemovedtotheboomingindustries,and,finally,tolowerpricesforbread,milk,andmeatandtothusspurthepopulation’spurchasingpowerforfridges,TVs,andcars.

6.2 TheAgro-IndustrialCoalition

The success of this strategy, which evolved from close interactions betweenagricultural associations, upstream and downstream industries, politics, andadministrations, contributed to what has historically become known as theGerman“Wirtschaftswunder.”Thisagro-industrial coalition is still inplace todayand continues to pursue its objective of comprehensively industrializing theagricultural and food sectors—despite public resistance which is forming inmovementssuchas“Wirhabenessatt”(‘We’refedupwithit’).Thefoodindustrycoalition also campaigned against the ecologization of agricultural practices inGermanyandcontinuestocreateever-growingmonostructuresonthefieldsandinthestablesviaitsagriculturalpoliciesonaEuropeanlevel.

6.3 MonopolizationoftheAgriculturalIndustry

Itsinfluencecanbeascribedtocorporationsinparticular,whichhavegrownintoeconomic power complexes now extending to a global level. Bayer, for example,


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becameoneof theworld’s largestproducersof seedsandagricultural chemicalsafter taking over United States company Monsanto. Alongside agrochemicalcorporationBASF,circaonethirdoftheworldmarketforindustrialagricultureisnow covered from Germany. Four corporations command global trade withagriculturalcommodities.Inthefoodmanufacturingindustry,Nestlé,Unilever,andDanone control the market.84This rapid process of concentration is driven byinternational financial investors who capitalize on a globally oriented agro-industry.Noneofthemhavetheslightestinterestintransformingthefoodsystem.

6.4 TheAgro-IndustrialLobby

Thisconcentrationofeconomicpowerislinkedtotheincreasingpoliticalinfluenceof a diverse political lobby which secures and defends the concept of intensiveimplementation of agrochemicals, high-performing plants and animals, globaltrade, and industrial food processing on a EU level. The German Farmers’Association is one of the pillars supporting this system, with members on thesupervisoryboardsofagriculturalcorporations.Asboardmemberstheyadvocatethe corporations’ policies and are biased regarding any political change ofdirection.TheGermanFarmers’AssociationbelongstothelobbyofasystemthathassucceededinadvancingevenintotheparliamentarycommitteesoftheGermanBundestag.

6.5 TheGermanBundestagCommitteeonFoodandAgriculture

As a parliamentary expert committee, theCommitteeonFood andAgriculture attheGermanBundestaghasgreatinfluenceonlegislation.Evenmoreso,sincetheBundestagonlyhasaverysmallnumberofagriculturalexperts.In2017,outofthe17 CDU/CSU members of the Committeeon Food andAgriculture, 13 wererepresentatives of agrarian associations or had close ties to the industry.85ThesamesituationappliesonaEuropeanlevel.86

6.6 MisinvestmentsbyFarmers

Afurtherimpedimentforthedeparturefromthedominatingmodelcanbetracedback to the farmers themselves and their investments. Driven by associationpoliticsandtheirrepresentatives,wholikenedglobalizeddairyandcattlemarketsto promises of salvation, they invested in buildings and equipment. Theseinvestments amount tobillionsofEuros, the repaymentofwhich can takeyearsandthusobstructsorpreventsanydecisiontochooseanewpath.Thisparticularlyaffects dairy farmers who have lost all financial leeway due to the low-pricingpoliciesofrecentyears.


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6.7 DisappearingFarmStructures

Ongoingstructuralchangerepresentsafurtherstumblingblocktotransformation.The fact that an increasing number of farmers are giving up business leads to aredistribution of land, as well as lesser and larger farms. The digitization ofagriculturewillfurtheracceleratestructuralchange.RobertHabeck,thenewheadof theGermanGreenParty,estimatedthatthreequartersofGermanfarmscouldfall by the way-side in the wake of “Smart Farming”. 87 Released land isincreasinglytakenoverbycorporationsdedicatedtotheproductionofenergyontheonehand,andtheindustrialmodelofdairyandporkexportstoChina,amongstothers,ontheother,displayinglittlereadinessforecologicalchange.

6.8 TheCorporations’ClaimofEntitlement

The current debate about the future of global food, which is dominated by theagriculturalcorporations,isanotherfactorpreventingachangeofthinking.Theirassertionthatonlyfurtherintensificationofproductioncanfeedagrowingworldpopulation supports their own position of power. Because their claim of soleexpertise is actedupon in agricultural anddevelopment policies, precedents arecreated, as in the case of the “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition,”supportedbytheG7industrialcountriesandtheglobalagriculturalcorporations.In Tanzania, for example, it led to the designation of a special agricultural zonenamedSAGCOT(TheSouthernAgriculturalGrowthCorridorofTanzania)inwhichprojectsfortheindustrialdevelopmentofagricultureareenforcedattheexpenseofsmall-scalefarmers.88

Given this background of concentrated power and interests in an industrialagricultural system, is there even a chance for change and an ecologically andregionallyorientedfoodsupplyscenario?Chapter7isdedicatedtothisquestion.

84 https://www.boell.de/en/2017/10/26/agrifood-atlas-facts-and-figures-about-corporations-control-what-

we-eat 85 http://docplayer.org/36181937-Man-kennt-sich-man-schaetzt-sich-man-schuetzt-sich.html 86 https://www.lobbycontrol.de/produkt/lobby-planet-bruessel/ 87 http://www.robert-habeck.de/texte/blog/ei-ist-nicht-mehr-gleich-ei/ 88 https://www.agrarkoordination.de/uploads/media/Praesentation_Lanje.pdf


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7. What Needs to be Done

The fundamental ecologization of the agricultural and food system on thiscontinentisapan-Europeanproject.ThegroundworkmustbelaidinBrussels,theimpulses, however, have to come from the union’s member states and theircitizens.ThegreattransformationofthefoodsystembeginsinregionalEurope.

7.1 CivilSocietyTakestheFirstStep

Given politics’ lack of flexibility, civil society will have to induce the necessarysystem change. It can promote and emphasize the importance of the followingpropositions.Germany’senergypolicy turnaroundcan serveasan illustrationofwhat needs to be done: set examples, provide models, develop markets, forgepolitical coalitions, readjust public funding, and declare agroecology the goldstandardof agriculture, as recommendedby theGermanCouncil for SustainableDevelopmentin2011.

7.2 PublicFundingOnlyforEcologicalBenefits

Atthesametime,thecoursemustbesetnewinEuropeanagriculturalandtradepolicies. The goal: not to spend a single Euro before maintaining its ecologicalimpact; not to sign any new contract without taking into consideration itsconsequences for human food supplies first. Among the political measuresrequiredbytheEuropeanUniontoinitiatethetransformationofthefoodsystem,theredirectionofpaymentstofarmersneedstotaketoppriority.Theyshouldonlybepaidforecologicalservices.Whereverecologicaldamageiscaused,aswellasinthecasesofalreadyexistingobligationsregardingfertilizationandtheprotectionofwater,sanctionsmustbeappliedresolutely.Asthesechangesarealreadybeingdemanded,weprovidesixproposalscurrentlynotatthecenteroftheEUreformdebate,whichwe,however,considerhighlyeffectiveintheprocessofagriculturaltransformation.

7.3 SixProposalsComplementtheTurnaround

7.3.1WithdrawfromRisks–DivestmentfromAgriculturalIndustryStocks

Investing money in the agricultural and food industry means taking high riskswhichwillincreaseevenmoreinthefuture.Followingtheexampleofdivestmentfrom coal,weplead for phasing out agricultural corporations’ stocks. The targetgroupsherearelargepensionschemes,lifeinsurers,corporatepensionplans,andpensionfunds.


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7.3.2CreateModels–EcologicallyConsolidateLeaseAgreements

Aslargelandowners,churchesandmunicipalitiesmustleadthewaywithrespecttoagriculturaltransformation.Theirarablelandshouldonlybeleasedtotenantsworkingecologicallyandservinglocalmarkets.

7.3.3InitiateaFederalProgram–Regional,Organic,Fair

Regional foodconceptsaretobedevelopedforallGermancities.Thecreationofinstitutions such as food councils, concepts such as edible cities, community-supported agriculture, ecological model regions is to be expedited via a federalprogram.National/Europeancompetitionwillcontributetotheirproliferation.

Collaboration with individual states is also possible here. They are to installexemplary ecological model regions (Öko-Modellregionen) like those already inplacetodayinsouthernGermany,inallstates.

7.3.4Radically Fight Multi-Resistant Organisms – Ban Antibiotics in AnimalHusbandry

As means against life-threatening diseases, antibiotics are increasingly losingeffectiveness.Antibioticresistanceisontherise.Theriskofinfectionwithordeathby multi-resistant organisms is also growing. These organisms are created,amongst others, through the massive use of antibiotics in intensive livestockfarming, increasinglyalso reserveantibioticswhichmustbesetaside forhumanmedicine only. To protect the population, a general ban on antibiotics in animalfarmingisneeded.

7.3.5SaveInsects–OutlawPesticides

In2017welearnedthat75percentofallinsectsinGermanagriculturallandscapeshave died out. Their extinction shows how massively our ecosystem is alreadyimpaired. Pesticides are considered the main cause. Licenses should hence besubject togeneralrevisionand immediatelyrevoked inanycaseofdoubt.A firststepinthisdirectionistobanglyphosatefromallfieldsintheFederalRepublicofGermanyandfromallpropertiesownedbyDeutscheBahn.

7.3.6ReimburseFarmersforMisinvestments

Farmers should be compensated for misinvestments in industrial agriculturefollowingthestandardpracticealreadyinplaceintheenergysector.Ratherthanthe farmers, German and European agricultural policies, which promoted faultymodelsfordecades,aretobeheldaccountableforthesemisguideddecisions.Onlyfinancial relief from this burden will allow farmers to escape the “business asusual”forceduponthem,andtoinvestintoanecologicalnewbeginning.

Documents

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