A document from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) released yesterday brings to the fore a key issue for the future of agriculture at a global level. Under the title “About 'failed' food systems and other narratives”, the authors come to the crossroads of
a discourse that seeks to install the idea that the “true costs” of food systems exceed the monetary value of foods
marketed in the world. And in this way, they “detract value” from society.
The document was presented by the head of the organization,
Manuel Otero
, who in his prolific management at the head of IICA has been carrying forward the position agreed upon among the Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas, on the basis of documents generated by the academy and the centers of public and private research in the region. This was presented in large international forums where the issue of
food security and the climate crisis
is debated . And where he has managed to establish that agriculture, perceived by conservative forces as part of the problem, can be part of the solution.
The authors of the article are
Eugenio Días-Bonilla, Eduardo Trigo and Rosario Campos
, recognized experts in agro-food systems. The “idea-force” that emanates is the need to convert the concept of “true costs” into “true value.” In the “true cost” narrative, the negative externalities of the production and marketing process are privileged. Among them, the environmental impact (30% of greenhouse gas emissions), the persistence of hunger in sectors of the world's population, and problems of rural poverty.
Against this, the document states that in
1960,
in
a world with 3,000 million inhabitants
, some experts such as Paul Ehrlich predicted famines, reviving the Malthusian thesis according to which population growth was faster than food production. .
But the reality was very different.
The population reached 8,000 million inhabitants, but the growth of food production did so at a much higher rate
, so that the supply of calories per capita has clearly increased. And particularly, in American countries. Only in Haiti is there still a caloric deficit.
This was based on the
technological revolution in agriculture.
Which, at the same time, was accompanied by an extraordinary development of new and better agricultural practices, which broke the paradigm of conventional agriculture, originating in industrialized countries. In this way,
the objectives of the environmental and social agenda can be aligned, with the greater task of continuing to advance the critical issue of food security
, while improving the economy and social aspects in the sectors dedicated to agriculture. The document recalls that food production and processing explains more than half of employment worldwide. And it also covers values that are more difficult to quantify monetarily, such as cultural ones.
The interesting thing about the document is that it accepts the challenge of the 2030 agenda, whose sustainability goals and “green” rhetoric cause irritation to agricultural producers around the world.
This denialist reaction leads to a confrontation in a dead end.
This new vision, which privileges the positive externalities of agriculture under the concept of “true value”, comes to the fore of the debate by placing science as a basis for support. True value is direct sowing agriculture and the intelligent systems that we learned and applied in these pampas.
In this sense, it is
a vindication of Agronomy
. The Green Revolution, which earned Norman Borlaug the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, ran under the motto “Peace and Humanity.”
Agriculture adds value to society
.