According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the food production model born in the post-Second World War period is no longer sustainable because it fails to solve the tragedy of world hunger and because it damages the environment. Agroecology, on the other hand, offers a new approach with multiple benefits.
The time has come to develop healthier and more sustainable food systems. And to do so, agroecology can be a useful tool. This, in a nutshell, is the appeal launched by the FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, during the opening address of the 2nd International Symposium on Agroecology, which took place on 3, 4 and 5 April in Rome and brought together 700 delegates representing 72 governments, around 350 non-governmental organisations and six UN agencies.
According to the FAO, the so-called Green Revolution launched in the post-Second World War period — which promoted increasing production at any cost, through the application of pesticides and other synthetic chemicals in the fields — has not been, and is no longer, sufficient to eradicate world hunger (last year there were still 815 million people at risk of dying from lack of food), while, paradoxically, on the other side, we are witnessing a global obesity epidemic. Today's food production, moreover, is no longer sustainable, since it is based on agricultural systems that make intensive use of resources with excessive consumption and pollution of soil and water, and with negative consequences for air quality and biodiversity as well. For all these reasons, the time has come to promote a change in the way we produce and consume food.
Agroecology offers an alternative in this regard. By combining traditional and scientific knowledge, this model applies ecological and social approaches to agricultural systems, focusing on the interactions between plants, animals, human beings and the environment. But what is agroecology in practice? Let us explain it with an example cited by the FAO: in China, farmers devised an ecosystem in which mulberry leaves feed silkworms, whose organic waste is used as food for fish. The organic matter in the ponds is then used as fertiliser for the mulberry trees, thus completing a virtuous circle of production. "Agroecology offers multiple benefits," said da Silva, "for food security and resilience, for strengthening livelihoods and local economies, for diversifying food production and diets, for improving soil fertility and health, for helping to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects, as well as contributing to the preservation of local cultures and traditional knowledge systems."
From this emerged a consequent call to stop "perverse" incentives for unsustainable agriculture and agrochemicals and instead to support small-scale farmers by guaranteeing them rights and access to land, water and seeds. A closing declaration from the summit — which thus marks a turning point in the United Nations agenda — brought together a set of good practices for the launch of a doubly green revolution: on the one hand, governments are urged to promote agroecology and sustainable food systems; on the other, the call goes out to consumers who, as in the case of the continuously growing organic sector, can be the true agents of change, once they become aware that low food prices come at the expense of the health of the environment and of people.
