World's Food Supply Under 'Severe Threat' From Loss of Biodiversity https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/feb/21/worlds-food-supply-under-severe-threat-from-loss-of-biodiversity
The world’s capacity to produce food is being undermined by humanity’s failure to protect biodiversity, according to the first UN study of the plants, animals and micro-organisms that help to put meals on our plates.
The stark warning was issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation after scientists found evidence the natural support systems that underpin the human diet are deteriorating around the world as farms, cities and factories gobble up land and pump out chemicals.... “Around the world, the library of life that has evolved over billions of years – our biodiversity – is being destroyed, poisoned, polluted, invaded, fragmented, plundered, drained and burned at a rate not seen in human history,” Ireland’s president, Michael Higgins, said at a biodiversity conference in Dublin on Thursday. “If we were coal miners we’d be up to our waists in dead canaries.”
Over the last two decades, approximately 20% of the earth’s vegetated surface has become less productive, said the
report, launched on Friday.
It noted a “debilitating” loss of soil biodiversity, forests, grasslands, coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and genetic diversity in crop and livestock species. In the oceans, a third of fishing areas are being overharvested.
Many species that are indirectly involved in food production, such as birds that eat crop pests and mangrove trees that help to purify water, are less abundant than in the past, noted the study, which collated global data, academic papers and reports by the governments of 91 countries.
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t found 63% of plants, 11% of birds, and 5% of fish and fungi were in decline. Pollinators, which provide essential services to three-quarters of the world’s crops, are under threat. As well as the well-documented decline of bees and other insects, the report noted that 17% of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats and birds, were threatened with extinction.Once lost, the species that are critical to our food systems cannot be recovered, it said. “This places the future of our food and the environment under severe threat.”
Although consumers did not yet notice any impact when they went shopping, the authors of the report said that could change.“The supermarkets are full of food, but it is mostly imports from other countries and there are not many varieties. The reliance on a small number of species means they are more susceptible to disease outbreaks and climate change. It renders food production less resilient,” warned Julie Bélanger, the coordinator of the report.
UN FAO Report: The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture http://www.fao.org/state-of-biodiversity-for-food-agriculture/en/ ----------------------------
Women Custodians of Biodiversity Hold Key to Food Security https://dw.com/en/women-custodians-of-biodiversity-hold-key-to-food-security/a-47513319Women account for around half the agricultural labor force across much of the developing world, most especially in sub-Saharan Africa. These farmers, livestock keepers, fishers and forest managers are vital to promoting biodiversity for food and agriculture, says a landmark study by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) released this week.
... Through their deep knowledge of local plants and grains, empowered women can better respond to food shortages caused by climate change-induced drought and erratic rainfall.
In many instances, this "knowledge intensive" understanding of the local food landscape, helped by a highly nuanced appreciation of regional weather patterns, has been lost by male farmers who Manicad says are often focused on commercialized crops that contribute to biodiversity loss.
... "Humankind has throughout its entire history reduced biodiversity," Irene Hoffmann, Secretary, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture at FAO.
By way of example, Europe's biodiverse agricultural systems peaked around the 1750s — "when you had relatively small-scale agriculture before intensification and artificial inputs came into place" — such systems still prevail in many developing countries.
... The UN agency estimates that of 570 million farms worldwide, 475 million are less than two hectares (roughly 5 acres) in area, yet only occupy 12 percent of total agricultural land. As a result, biodiversity for food and agriculture is gradually being shut out by large-scale monoculture farming
