Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change launches summary report for policy-makers

The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, a research initiative of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), has released a report reviewing the scientific evidence that identifies a pathway to achieving food security in the context of climate change.  

The Commissioners’ summary report, entitled ‘Achieving food security in the face of climate change’, provides case studies from various countries and regions to show how policies that support affordable food, viable farm livelihoods and healthy environments can be brought to scale.  The report suggests a “safe space” exists in which enough nutritious food can be grown while adapting to climate change and limiting agriculture’s contribution to the GHG problem.  Under seven key messages, the Commission proposes a wide-ranging set of pragmatic actions that provide the means to navigate the “safe space”.

Key findings of the report:

Food systems must shift to better meet human needs and, in the long term, balance with planetary resources. This will demand major interventions, at local to global scales, to transform current patterns of food production, distribution and consumption. Investment, innovation, and deliberate effort to empower the world's most vulnerable populations will be required to construct a global food system that adapts to climate change and ensures food security while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and sustaining our natural resource base. Greatly expanded investments in sustainable agriculture, including improving supporting infrastructure and restoring degraded ecosystems, are an essential component of long-term economic development. The sooner they are made, the greater the benefits will be.

The Commission is funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD). The Commission's recommendations will be presented on 3^rd December at Agriculture and Rural Development Day.

Further details about the Commission can be found here.

WRAP estimates household food and drink waste in the UK has declined

New peer-reviewed research, commissioned by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), shows that annual UK household food and drink waste has fallen by 1.1 million tonnes (13%) over a three year period (2006/7 and 2010) from 8.3 million tonnes to an estimated 7.2 million tonnes.  Wrap's figures, based on data from 90 local authorities, indicate that the recession and falling incomes may have played a part in the food-waste reduction.

The report demonstrates that the environmental impact of avoidable household food waste is around 17 million tonnes of CO2e, and 4% of the UK total water footprint.  The savings associated with the reduction in avoidable food waste amount to around 3.6 million tonnes of CO2e, and almost a billion litres of water a year.

According to the report, the associated reduction in food waste is broadly consistent with decreases in the quantity of food and drink purchased for consumption within the home.  The decrease is also discussed in light of possible influences, including: 

·         Positive changes in practices and behaviours in the kitchen and whilst shopping, and changes to products and packaging, that can reduce food waste;

·         Food price rises;

·         Changes to income levels; and

·         How waste is collected from homes.

The report can be read here.

The findings were reported at WRAP’s annual conference. See here for further information, where you can find conference speeches, presentations, and videos from the event.

Coverage by the Independent can be read here. 

Defra unveils £20m ‘green’ farming fund

Defra has launched a £20m ‘Farm and Forestry Improvement’ fund as part of its revisions to the Rural Development Programme for England.  Open for grant applications of between £2,500 and £25,000, the scheme will focus on themes including nutrient management, energy efficiency, water harvesting and animal health.

Applicants have to show the funding will help them to improve the health and welfare of farm animals or save, recycle or reuse rainwater.

Further details of the scheme can be read on DEFRA’s website here.

Arla Foods Environmental Strategy 2020 sets new standards

In June 2011, Arla Foods launched its Global Environmental Strategy 2020, which maps the entire environmental impact of its dairy products and includes a pledge to reduce global CO2 emissions by 25% by 2020 within the areas of production, haulage and packaging.

Arla Foods is a global dairy company owned by Danish, Swedish and German dairy farmers.  It is responsible for employing 16,000 people and has operating production facilities in 13 countries; it is the world’s largest producer of organic dairy products. 

In launching its strategy, the company claims to be the first UK dairy processor to go beyond reporting its own operations and include its suppliers, those on the Arla Foods Milk Partnership.  Within the UK its focus is on reducing CO2 emissions by 34% by 2020 within its own operations on a 2005 baseline.   Other key targets include:

·         30% of energy will come from renewable sources by 2020;

·         Reduction in the amount of water use by 20% by 2015;

·         By 2012, no waste will be sent to landfill;

·         Achieving the Courtauld 2 target of a 10% carbon reduction in packaging by 2012;

·         Meeting Dairy Roadmap targets of incorporating 30% recycled plastic in our fresh milk bottles by 2015 and 50% by 2020;

·         Supporting their farmers to reduce on-farm emissions.

Most of the reduction will derive from biogas plants and the construction of the worlds largest, and CO2 neutral, dairy outside London.

Nb. The report refers to CO2 emissions but it is not clear whether the expressed carbon footprint means the total climate change impact of all the greenhouse gases - the carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2e. From the context it appears that CO2e is meant.

In a recent interview with Arla Foods, the corporate environmental director highlights the challenges of achieving the sustainability goals.  Coverage can be found here. 

Arla’s corporate responsibility reporting can be read here. 

Reporting of the strategy by the Global Dairy Agenda for Action on Climate Change (GDAA) can be read here. 

NEW BOOK: “Food Systems Failure”, edited by Christopher Rosin, Paul Stock and Hugh Campbell

This new book, published by Earthscan (now part of Routledge) has recently been published.

This book provides a critical assessment of the contemporary global food system in light of the heightening food crisis, as evidence of its failure to achieve food security for the world's population. A key aspect of this failure is identified in the neoliberal strategies which emphasize industrial efficiencies, commodity production and free trade-ideologies that underlie agricultural and food policies in what are frequently referred to as 'developed countries'.

The book examines both the contradictions in the global food system as well as the implications of existing ideologies of production associated with commodity industrial agriculture using evidence from relevant international case studies. The book's first section presents the context of the food crisis with contributions from leading international academics and food policy activists, including climate scientists, ecologists and social scientists. These contributions identify current contradictions in policy and practice that impede solutions to the food crisis. Set within this context, the second section assess