* A typical pig factory generates the same amount of raw waste as a city of 12,000 people. He pointed to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time building the resilience and promote the adaptation of farmers to the impacts of climate change. Speaking to members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in May, Graziano da Silva highlighted the findings of FAO’s report, The future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges. Top ten causes for The Environmental Damage. “Today, it is fundamental not only to increase production, but to do it in a way that does not damage the environment. Radical action is needed to combat increasing rate of environmental damage to water sources, land, biodiversity and marine life, report shows The dried-up river Tawi in Kashmir, India. For a small donation of S$60 a year, your help would make such a big difference. Proposed solutions include drastically decreasing meat consumption in rich countries, reducing food waste, reforestation, and intensifying food production via technological innovations enabled by redirecting funding from subsidies to research and development. To achieve sustainable development we must transform current agriculture and food systems, including by supporting smallholders and family farmers, reducing pesticide and chemical use, and improving land conservation practices, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said addressing European lawmakers in late May. This can prolong water and food scarcity and economic hardship far into the future. Food production contributes, for example, to climate change, eutrophication and acid rain, as well as the depletion of biodiversity. He called on the parliamentarians as lawmakers to ensure that adequate policies, programmes and operational frameworks are anchored in appropriate legislation. José Graziano da Silva, director-general, UN FAO. Support our journalism. “Massive agriculture intensification is contributing to increased deforestation, water scarcity, soil depletion and the level of greenhouse gas emission,” Graziano da Silva said. Agro-ecological methods, such as agroforestry, integrated pest management, and livestock integration, can substantially increase yields for people formerly practicing either conventional or subsistence agriculture, across the board for a wide variety of crops. Though the UN says that food production will have to increase by more than half to meet the demands of the growing population by 2050, the actual increase would be much lesser if food waste was reduced. This is in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, he added. This is in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change , he added. To this end, FAO supports countries through different initiatives and approaches, including climate-smart agriculture, agroecology and agro-forestry. ... "Today, it is fundamental not only to increase production, but to do it in a way that does not damage the environment. Methane has a global warming potential 20 times higher than carbon dioxide. Nourishing people must go hand in hand with nurturing the planet," he said. The report, Creating a Sustainable Food Future, published this week by the World Resources Institute (WRI) lays out a whole smorgasbord of solutions to tackle the paradox of increasing food production while decreasing farming emissions and … Read our policy paper on sustainable diets [PDF]. To increase production of livestock, natural land is turned into pastures, which besides the aforementioned deforestation also impacts biodiversity by the increase of livestock; the more livestock graze and range on an area, the less natural and diverse the area becomes. This article was originally published on fao.org and is … The role of parliamentarians in combating malnutrition. Citing estimates that indicate that nearly half of the European Union’s adult population are overweight, the FAO Director-General noted how malnutrion affects both developed and developing countries. And it's better for the environment than thirsty rice, which needs a lot of water to grow. The role of parliamentarians in combating malnutrition. According to a 2006 study, they can prevent normal hormone binding to hormone receptors, influence cell signaling pathways, and increase cell division. “Today, it is fundamental not only to increase production, but to do it in a way that does not damage the environment. High-input, resource intensive farming systems have substantially increased food production, but at a high cost to the environment. By the year 2050 the world’s population will increase 33% to 10 billion. People: Movers and shakers in sustainability, Banks in Southeast Asia lack recognition of deforestation and biodiversity risks, Singapore law firm launches sustainability practice, Temasek hires impact investor Ann-Marie Wun as operating partner, sustainability, Agribusiness giants ADM, Bunge trading in ‘conflict’ palm oil, new human rights report says, ‘Great concern’ as new study finds microplastics in human placentas, Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler: 11 things to watch in 2021, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia. ... "Today, it is fundamental not only to increase production, but to do it in a way that does not damage the environment. Today the world produces enough to feed the global population, but about one third of this food is either lost or wasted, while at the same time there is also a waste of natural resources such as land and water. Conventional methods of agriculture and cattle-breeding cannot feed the world population. We can survive without many things but we cannot survive without food, the production of which has become a serious environmental concern. Organic food supplements produced without the use of chemicals which means that it dramatically reduces water, soil and air pollution. After Food Production The environmental damage of food production from conventional agriculture is not limited to deforestation and pollutants associated with crop growth. Asia Pacific's Hub For Collaboration On Sustainable Development. Increasing Food Production without Damaging the Environment. FAO currently supports about 50 countries in the area of food losses and waste, including through the SAVE FOOD initiative, a unique partnership - with more than 850 members from industry, associations, research institutes and non-governmental organizations - that addresses these issues "across the entire value chain from field to fork," Graziano da Silva told the European parliamentarians. 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