COP27: A call to action for global food security and sustainability Teetering at the edge of agricultural destruction
Teetering at the edge of agricultural destruction
Over the past two weeks, world leaders have convened at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to discuss our climate crisis and lay out the plans to protect our natural environment and our future. A critical discussion point of the conference was the importance of maintaining agricultural integrity across the world, particularly across developing countries that are susceptible to rising global temperatures. The UN projects that the global population will increase from around 8 billion in 2022 to 10.4 billion by the end of the century. This would mean an increase of 2.4 billion mouths to feed.¹ However, unless we take immediate action by adopting more sustainable practices and fast-track agricultural innovation, feeding the planet’s growing population will come at the cost of the environment, with threats of damaged soil, increased food waste and increased use of pesticides, not to mention increased deforestation, water usage and greenhouse gas emissions.
Agriculture accounts for a huge 73% of deforestation² in tropical and subtropical countries, a fact which is often underappreciated. With approximately one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from agriculture, forestry, and land use³, our food system can play a big role in tackling climate change. To protect against further environmental destruction, we need to re-examine our global farming systems and processes to make them more efficient and safeguard global food security.
Eden’s sustainability objectives are aligned to three of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture); SDG12 (Responsible consumption and production); and SDG 15 (Life of land). To tackle these issues and to properly safeguard global food security, three key areas must be addressed: protecting soil integrity; safe production and consumption; and reducing food waste.
Protecting soil integrity
An increasing demand for food in turn increases the demand for farmland and high crop yields. To deliver these high yields and use land more efficiently, farmers are using pesticides to protect crops from pests. Increased pesticide use can lead to degradation of soils, alongside increased reliance on fertilisers. Degraded soils not only mean a decline in soil health, but also lead to decreased biodiversity and crop fertility, which impacts all levels of ecosystems and results in large environmental consequences such as floods and mass migration. Pesticide use also results in water contamination, as materials from the land’s surface, including pesticides, motor oil or road salt move to the soil, ending up in groundwater. Water contamination has grave and unintentional impacts on native species. Furthermore, some synthetic pesticides are known to accumulate in the environment and in plant and animal tissues. It is imperative that governments and regulators adapt laws and regulations of pesticide use to reflect the soil damage being inflicted by harsh pesticides, and by extension, to safeguard biodiversity.
Another measure to take protect soil integrity is to opt for biopesticides over conventional pesticides. Eden’s biopesticide formulations are derived from natural chemistry and compliant with organic grown produce, without compromising efficacy, yield or production costs. Responsible application of our products substantially reduces soil toxicity and foreign-born chemical accumulation, when compared with conventional pesticides. As a result, these healthier soils are richer and denser, which in turn reduces harmful chemical leakage into our water systems.
Safe production and consumption
The damage to the soil and contaminated water can have devastating effects on human health, including acute health effects such as nausea, diarrhoea, and skin problems, as well as more chronic issues such as reproductive harm. Given these risks, governments have implemented regulations such as instating a maximum residue limit for pesticides to be present on crops before they can be harvested and sold to the market. Such regulations are often not required for biopesticides, because they are formulated using natural chemicals which are far less toxic to humans. Taking nematicides as an example, our flagship bionematicide, Cedroz™, is a water-based formulation which utilises Eden’s terpene technology to naturally fight nematodes, a pest known to cause severe damage to crops globally, in both open fields and greenhouses. Its application is far reaching and can be used on high value crops such as tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, courgettes, peppers, aubergines, and melons.
Reducing food waste
Globally, 14-17% of all food is wasted⁴. This doesn’t just happen due to consumer waste, but often happens before crops are even harvested whilst they are still in the field, despite pesticides helping prevent this. Not only does this have a significant financial impact on the food industry, but it also has a significant impact on our climate with food waste accounting for up to 10% of global CO2 emissions.
Pre-consumer food waste is often driven by adverse or variable weather, prolonged storage of crops, and poor farming practices. These issues can be reduced by making technologies smarter rather than fundamentally changing farming practices. The use of “Integrated Pest Management” (IPM) in agriculture supports farmers in their desire for higher yields and improved land use efficiency whilst helping to maintain the natural environment. Biopesticides can also play an important role in reducing food waste. Mevalone®, Eden’s flagship biofungicide, illustrates this as it can be applied to crops up to point of harvest, meaning that farmers do not need to be concerned about maximum residue limits applied on crops, which is necessary with synthetic pesticide use, as well as extend crop shelf life. This contrasts with synthetic pesticides which must be left on crops for a defined period before harvest. Farmers may sacrifice yield, wasting food, in this waiting period. Eden offers farmers greater control of when they can harvest their crops, improving their flexibility.
Harnessing bio-innovation
By harnessing bio-innovation we can build better food systems and help feed the growing global population, without risking the health of our planet. Transforming our food systems will unlock opportunities to significantly reduce GHG emissions, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and provide solutions to some of the most pressing environmental and social issues. A global sustainable agriculture strategy is critical in providing everyone, globally, with healthy and sustainable food supplies. This means working with nature, not against it, and protecting our land, natural ecosystems, and biodiversity. In many instances we already have solutions that address many of these problems.
Many regulators are addressing the requirement for more environmentally friendly agricultural practices by banning the use of harmful chemicals on farmland. At last year’s Conference of Parties in Glasgow (COP26), policy makers took the first steps towards recognising the critical role of food and agriculture in reducing GHG emissions. This year, all parties, from large FMCG producers to farmers, must work together to identify and implement solutions to the increasingly urgent climate problems we are facing. COP27 provides a timely catalyst for global change across the industry, enabling another step to be taken towards a greener and more collaborative future. Now is the time to be taking action to avoid destruction of agricultural ecosystem.
Footnotes
¹ https://ourworldindata.org/future-population-growth
² https://www.wwf.org.uk/10-myths-about-deforestation
³ https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector
⁴ https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-food-waste-day