Organic Myth Busting - can it feed the world?

Dr Oliver Moore (Ollie) is an author, academic, journalist, blogger and all round organic know-it-all! We asked him to analyse some of the more prevalent myths or accepted wisdoms around organic foods. In the latest in the series, Ollie tackles the notion that 'Organic can't feed the world':

As it happens, the organic approach to farming may be the only type that can. In the rich, western world, this may seem counter intuitive – organic food is usually marketed at the middle class consumer, and can often be used and seen as a lifestyle marker. And, notwithstanding the points made in the last myth busting column, organic can cost more. So how then could this type of food possibly feed people with very little money in the poorest parts of the world?

The answer is in the question: organic farming has been shown to work well when the growing conditions are difficult and cash for agri-industrial inputs unavailable. This is the reality of food production in the poorest parts of the world, where people rely on local food security rather than a race to the bottom with cheap food imports.

Organic farming techniques actually improve soil quality, and thus provide longer term sustainability – especially in arid conditions. In fact, millions of acres of arable land are being lost precisely because of the negative environmental impact of conventional farming. A major cost of organic food produced in the richer world is the labour cost. However, in the poorer parts of the world, cash for inputs is hard to come by, but labour is far more available.

The UN’s FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) put it well:

“In market-marginalized areas, organic farmers can increase food production by managing local resources without having to rely on external inputs or food distribution systems over which they have little control and/or access”… “Organic farms grow a variety of crops and livestock in order to optimize competition for nutrients and space between species: this results in less chance of low production or yield failure in all of these simultaneously. This can have an important impact on local food security and resilience”.

Transferring over to an organic production system can increase yield where it is most needed - In productivity terms, organic is a big step up from subsistence farming. At the same time, organic farming reduces exposure to pesticides and indebtedness for farm labourers and small scale farmers currently farming conventionally. Both of these, pesticides and indebtedness, are massive killers in the poorest parts of the world, through poisonings and suicides respectively.

In the longer term, organic farming also feeds into climate change solutions by being about 50% less dependent upon fossil fuel. The worst effects of climate change, through drought and floods, are felt in the world’s poorest regions. Food security is not just about having enough land or food. The problems in food supply are about political will and about economic and distributional issues at least as much as production: Last year, a record breaking 2.3 billion tonnes of grain was produced globally, which was an increase from 2006. But climate disasters, the privatisation of control of food stocks coupled with speculation on crop markets, massive inefficiencies in storage and transportation, energy costs, using grains to feed animals to feed people, biofuels and a weak US dollar are all currently contributing to hunger. This is compounded by over production of food for rich world consumption, coupled with chronic waste.

It is also worth remembering that conventional agriculture has not actually solved world hunger in the places it is most acute. And while food riots have re-emerged as headline grabbers, in sub Saharan Africa, the most acute hunger has been with us for decades at more or less the same levels. In fact, a study which looked at all of the research reports available on the effects of the move to conventional farming in poorer regions in the post war period, up to the 1990s, is poignantly revealing. It found that economic inequality increased rather than decreased in 80% of applicable cases. This study examined over 300 reports in total.

With organic being such a small part of the overall global food supply picture, it can hardly be blamed for the current situation: simply put, agri-food business as usual hasn’t worked for the poorest, and won’t work in the future.

Without doubt, we are in a challenging food security environment, with food price rises effecting the poorest the most: people spend up to 80% of their income on food in poor countries. So now more than ever, there will be pressure on organic farming. And now more than ever, the world needs it.

Read more of Ollie's views at http://olivermoore.blogspot.com