crop yields, land abandonment and
deforestation. On top of this, more
and more people are hungry. The
most recent estimate, released in October 2009 by FAO, says that 1.02 billion
people are undernourished, a sizable
increase from FAOs 2006 estimate of
854 million people.
grows its food will have to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with growing
population and climate change while
avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse.” The authors suggested that food producers should try
using “natural processes” like crop ro-
“According to a 2009 report from the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), organic farming may be the only
way we can solve the growing problem of hunger in
developing countries.”
Organic agriculture is the answer to
both heal the land and feed the world.
In fact, according to a 2009 report
from the UN Environment Pro-
gramme (UNEP), organic farming
may be the only way we can solve the
growing problem of hunger in devel-
oping countries. UNEP states that its
extensive study “challenges the popu-
lar myth that organic agriculture can-
not increase agricultural productivity.”
As discussed in The Organic Green
Revolution, one of the most recent re-
ports from Rodale, “The UNEP re-
ported that organic practices in Africa
outperformed industrial, chemical-in-
tensive conventional farming, and also
provided environmental benefits such
as improved soil fertility, better reten-
tion of water and resistance to
drought. This analysis of 114 farming
projects in 24 African countries found
that organic or near-organic practices
resulted in a yield increase of more
than 100 percent. Achim Steiner, head
of UNEP, said the report “indicates
that the potential contribution of or-
ganic farming to feeding the world
may be far higher than many had sup-
posed.”
Similar conclusions were reached
by IAASTD. The IAASTD stated in a
recent report that “the way the world
tation and organic fertilizers and call
for more attention to small-scale farm-
ers and utilization of sustainable agri-
cultural practices, specifically
mentioning organic farming as an op-
tion several times, according to the Ro-
dale report.
Saving Animal Species and Ourselves
In addition to future water shortages and drought brought on by climate change, we also have come to a
point where much of the water that we
do have is polluted. Toxic pesticides
from chemical agriculture are being
found in our ground water, and ultimately ending up in our drinking
water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, ground water is used for
drinking water by about 50 percent of
