This report argues that the world needs a paradigm shift in agricultural development: from a ‘green revolution’ to a ‘truly ecological intensification’ approach.

This will require a rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high external-input-dependent industrial production towards sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers. The report argues that we need to see a move from a linear to a holistic approach in agricultural management, which recognises that a farmer is not only a producer of agricultural goods, but also a manager of an agro-ecological system that provides quite a number of public goods and services.

The report calls for a better understanding of the multi-functionality of agriculture, its pivotal importance for pro-poor rural development and the significant role it can play in dealing with resource scarcities and in mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, the sheer scale at which modified production methods would have to be adopted, the significant governance issues, the power asymmetries' problems in food input and output markets as well as the current trade rules for agriculture pose considerable challenges.

The report analyses the challenges and the most suitable strategic approaches for dealing holistically with the inter-related problems of hunger and poverty, rural livelihoods, social and gender inequity, poor health and nutrition, and climate change and environmental sustainability - one of the most interesting and challenging subjects of present development discourse.

It is highlighted that, despite the fact that the world currently already produces sufficient calories per head to feed a global population of 12-14 billion, hunger has remained a key challenge. Almost one billion people chronically suffer from starvation and another billion are malnourished. Nearly three wuarters of these people are themselves small farmers or agricultural labourers. Therefore, hunger and malnutrition are not phenomena of insufficient physical supply, but results of prevailing poverty, and above all problems of access to food. It is argued that enabling these people to become food self-sufficient or earn an appropriate income through agriculture to buy food needs to take center stage in future agricultural transformation.

The report argues that a shift towards diverse production patterns is required that reflect the multi-functionality of agriculture and enhance close nutrient cycles. Moreover, as environmental externalities are mainly not internalised, carbon taxes are the rare exception rather than the rule and carbon-offset markets are largely dysfunctional – all factors that would prioritise regional/local food production through 'logical' market mechanisms – trade rules need to allow a higher regional focus of agriculture along the lines of ‘as much regionalized/localized food production as possible; as much traded food as necessary’.

[Adapted from source]