Agribusiness Management. Increasing Food Production With Environmental Consideration

Table of Contents Page

Chapter 1: prologue
Chapter 2: Limitations of Increased And Sustainable Agricultural Food Production
Chapter 3: Environmental And Social Sustainability in Food Production
Chapter 4: Forward Looking Approach
Chapter 5: Conclusion

Reference

List of Figures Page

Figure1: children in Bonsaaso (Ghana) waiting for school feeding

Figure 2: Farmer selling her produce

Figure 3: Students in Gumulira (Malawi) receiving school lunch

Figure 4: Types of food

Figure 5: Poor Farm Sanitation

Figure 6: Poor Farm Sanitation

Figure 7: Unpruned palms

Figure 8: Excessive pruning

Figure 9: Pocket prunes

Figure1: Kid in Ghana waiting for school feeding

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source: Developed for this work

Figure2: Farmer selling her produce

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source: Developed for this work

Figure 3: Kids in Gumulira receiving school lunch

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source : Millennium Promise 2010 Annual Report

Figure 4: Types of food

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source : Developed for this work

Chapter 1: Prologue

“The global population is estimated to grow from the present seven billion to over nine billion in 2050. John Parker inquires whether we will have enough food”

http://www.economist.com/node/18200618

Almost seventy percent of the world’s agricultural food production particularly, in crops is produced by a considerable number of smallholders especially in less developed economies. A considering number of these smallholder farmers live in abject poverty, have significantly low productivity, resulting in low incomes and resort to poor methodology in farming that deplete the soil. Forest in the tropic have been destroyed to gratify the need for fertile farm lands, therefore it is imperative that we employ methods that will be sustainable in the long run. Blue chip companies on the globe are conscious of the need to produce sustainably and have shown the commitment towards that. It is in view of this that, Solidaridad and a number of other Non Governmental Organization’s as well as multi National Companies decided on the Utz Certified standard for sustainable cocoa in 2009. “At the close of 2009 close to 3,600 smallholders cocoa producers had been trained in certification standards to produce sustainably.

http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org/cocoa

Supplying enough food for the mushrooming global population in environmentally and sustainably tolerable levels, devoid of negotiating on our resources, food production should optimize tremendously from the present production. It should strongly be noted that we can maximize productivity without necessarily damaging the ecology to meet the growing food needs of our time and future. According to the Institute of Food Technologist, (2010 Pg. 574), during the global summit on food security in 2009, it was asserted that, food production must grow between 34%-70% by 2050, if we are to feed the estimated 9 billion people. The obstacle however is the big, increasing food security need in most economies of the world. A large proportion of food produced in less developed and developing economies are not consumed, partly due to poor management and distribution network. In view of this, pronounce malnourishment and dietary deficit in vitamins, minerals, protein, and calories continuous to be common globally. To overturn this dreadful development and ensure a momentous sustainable improvement towards improving the impoverished, this theme should attract the attention of managers of our economies and international bodies

Low cost scientific improvements in food production and distribution mechanisms as well as environmental management and dealing decisively with post harvest management will be key in satisfying this need, indeed failure on our part to hasten the application of science today and yet to be discovered; to food production in an ecologically tolerable level will leave us in critical condition. In fact it will be a fiasco if we increase food production without improving conservation. Variables contributing to food losses differ from one economy to the other as a result of differentials in infrastructure, investments and awareness levels

The milestone of this paper will concentrate on agriculture primary food production since food production encompasses a wide range of produce, thus all issues will be constricted to improving farm produce to meet the growing demand of the global market, whiles considering the sustainability of such produce with the view to ensuring exponential increase in farmers’ incomes.

There are four over-arching goals in writing this paper. The first, and most basic, is discussing challenges confronting increased sustainable agriculture food production The second is discussing the underpinning sustainability by restoring and conserving the natural resource base, managing the ecological and societal sustainability issues connected to the development of food crop production by optimizing performance in existing farms and improving the income levels of smallholder producers.

The third objective is to discuss hopeful but innovative channels of forward looking approach by presenting a promising way of increasing food production sustainably. The spotlight of this essay will begin with a prologue that abridge the growth of cultivation, food knowledge and sustainability perspective; a section on challenges confronting optimum crop production to meet the needs of humanity; a section about potential environmental and social consideration solutions; a section on forward looking approach and concluding remarks.

Chapter 2: Limitations of Increased And Sustainable Agricultural Food Production

“World population is expected to rise by 36% between 2000 and 2030. Average crop yields are anticipated to grow at about the same rate. However, relative yield increases have been undermined generally (projections for global yields in the next decade predict 1-1.1% p.a. growth for cereals).”

http://www.sefalliance.org/fileadmin/media/sefalliance/docs/Call_Seminar_Downloads/2 0100311_Assessing_Biofuels_Presentation.pdf

The reasons are farfetched; weak agronomic practices in the form of poor: production, maintenance of farm, and post harvest management as well as international charters have been the bane for most smallholder producers in sub-Saharan Africa.

With respect to production, most often than not, the soil is not prepared and where it is done, the preparation is woefully executed, “Africa is the lone constituency on the globe where per capita food productivity has been waning for the past three decades. Cereal yields in Africa are a quarter of the international average and Africa’s soils remain the worst globally.” Karapinar, Baris Haberli Christian (2010, Pg. 82); most smallholder farmers adopt low yielding planting materials, and where they are used, they are not appropriate for the soils and climate; more imperatively, depleted soil fertility; absence of small irrigation systems due to over reliance on rain, Crop plants require a continuous supply of water to replace the water evaporated (transpired) from their aerial organs; irresponsible use of agro-chemicals; non observance of proper planting spacing that are necessary within the interrows immensely impinge on harvesting paths, weed control, fertilization and other agronomic practices; the high planting density in planting pattern leads to competition for basic crop requirements. On the other hand, a sparse planting density (evident in some farms) is a waste of land resources. For good growth and productivity, the optimum spacing for every food crop farm should be observed to circumvent crop plant from being tall and etiolated.The constant attack of insect, pests and diseases on farms all contract yields; ill timed harvesting periods are equally contributing variable to low productivity, thus long and short harvesting cycle if not appropriate to the food crop affect the quality of the produce to a larger extent.

International bodies such as the World Bank, IMF and other powerful bodies have via policies contributed to low productivity unconsciously, the inexorable of such policies and financial support to developing economies is migration of needed farm labor in food producing areas to the urban slums. Regarding farm maintenance, “the maintenance regime (weeding, pruning) on most farms are generally poor. There were cases of excessive pruning which tended to affect the architecture of the palms. An instance of fronds supporting developing bunches being cut was observed. None of the farms had been planted with cover crops and there were no harvesting paths” CSIR-OPRI, (2012). The figures below are illustration of poorly maintained oil palm farm at Bonsaaso Ghana

Figure 5: Poor Farm Sanitation

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 6: Poor Farm Sanitation

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 7: Unpruned palms

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 8: Excessive pruning

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 9: Pocket prunes

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Source: Developed for this work

Concerning post harvest management, smallholder farmers in the sub-Saharan African do not have storage facilities and with market vulnerabilities confronting them most farm produce are left to go waste. Thus non guaranteed prices for smallholder producers will inexorable contract production levels. Poor infrastructural network compound this menace and further waning their prospects to make money. At the root of the problem is the high cost of fertilizer and limited access to them.

Chris Pollock, Jules Pretty, Ian Crute, Chris Leaver, and Howard Dalton in a publication in the Royal Society contended that estimation of climate change impacts propose that there will be significant adverse effects on crop production, predominantly in sub- Saharan Africa. http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/363/1491/445.short

Lawrence Geoffrey, Lyons, Kristen, Wallington, Tabatha. (2010, Pg. 3) posit that droughts, floods, disease, pestilence and other so called natural disasters have ceaselessly affected the level of food accessible for human use. Such events will persist to impact negatively on agriculture

Chapter 3: Environmental And Social Sustainability in Food Production

The popular axiom states that ‘the last man dies when the last tree dies’ and according to Perfecto, Ivette, Vandermeer, John H., Wright, Angus Lindsay, (2009, Pg. 11), the world will surely be diminished as the last wild gorilla is shot by a local warlord grateful to one or another political ideology, or as a rare but gorgeous bird species has its habitat detached to make way for yet another desperately needed line of supermarket.

societal, green (ecological) and commercial factors are entrapped, generating volatility; ecological anxiety such as depleting of reserves, coupled with communal matters akin to the volatile increase in population in developing economies, are joining forces in a sparkling cauldron. For sustainability to be attained, then marketplace should be the centre piece, put differently, sustainability requires fully the assistance of market forces, i.e. firms and manufacturers. And it must be toughened by development at the marketplace; this encapsulates pricing that will be reflective to the social-ecological

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