Christopher Doering has an interesting story in Reuters that reports U.S. agricultural business leaders believe that working to create “sustainable production around the world will not only bring food to millions of starving people, but it’s ultimately a lucrative source of revenue for their companies.”It sounds too good to be true, but Deere & Co., Archer Daniels Midland Co., DuPont Co., and Monsanto Co., didn’t get to be where they are in the industry by over-zealously investing in projects they didn’t think were sounds investments. The aforementioned companies, though competitors, have joined together to create The Global Harvest Initiative “with the goal of doubling agriculture output by 2050 to meet rising world demand.”
According to the Doering story, “While expanding output and finding ways to help farmers produce their own food more efficiently is a goal all four companies say will make it easier to work together, the unique partnership will create business challenges that are yet unforeseen.”
The companies currently spend an estimated $9 million daily on research and development, but sustainable agriculture creates obstacles as basic, yet vexing, as producing more food on the same amount of land with less environmental damage so that the land will continue to be available for production for generations to come. This is the basic idea of sustainability: take what is needed to survive today without sacrificing the ability of future generations to survive by depleting resources. Achieving this goal has often proved difficult in the past.
The United Nations’ World Food Program estimates that more than 1 billion people will be “chronically hungry this year.” Last year the number was 963 million “when food prices spiked, causing hoarding and riots over food in some nations.”
World governments are also engaged in addressing food aid problems by empowering local farmers. As Doering reports, “Members of the G8 countries pledged $20 billion in July to impoverished farmers to tackle chronic hunger. Instead of counting on food donations, they want to focus on helping small farmers feed themselves and neighbors through research such as creating seeds better suited to local conditions, boosting production and infrastructure to get crops to market.” The Obama administration is expected to make public a new initiative to achieve food security soon.
If both politicians and business leaders make combating world hunger a priority, then perhaps substantive advances in reducing world hunger can be achieved.
To read the Doering article click here.
Posted; 09/23/09
