organic farming and food security

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Yield ahead: African farmers doubled their food production by going organic.

11-12-08 RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Organic farming can feed Africa and bring higher incomes to poor, rural farmers, according to a United Nations report focusing on food security and sustainability issues. The report, compiled by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), contradicts a popular myth that organic-farming methods can’t produce enough food to feed the world.

THE DETAILS: Much of the study data comes from East Africa, where an organic-agriculture project was put into place in 2004. Organic and near-organic crop yields in the 24 countries studied increased by 116% since the start of the project. In 11 of 13 cases, food production rose—and sometimes doubled—when farmers switched from chemical methods to more sustainable, organic growing methods. The report’s authors argue this will feed millions more and bring much more food security to the continent.

“The evidence presented in this study supports the argument that organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and that it is more likely to be sustainable in the long term,” write Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of UNCTAD, and Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP. “The great technological progress in the past half century has not led to major reductions in hunger and poverty in developing countries.”