Declaration for Farmer Choice calls for new action to feed nine billion

    3 November 2011

    The United Nations have estimated that as of last weekend, the world’s population passed seven billion. This population benchmark should be the cause for a genuine recommitment by government to actively support Australia’s agricultural sector so that it can do even more in contributing to global food security.

    Chief Executive Officer of CropLife Australia, Matthew Cossey, today said, “It is time for a renewed and coordinated effort by government at every level to ensure that Australia’s farming sector and associated agri‑industries are supported in meeting the genuine and serious challenges in supplying global food requirements. Key to this is ensuring the growth and continued innovation of the plant science industry, which delivers the technologies to meet the challenges of food security”.

    “In the past decade, the world has grown by nearly a billion people and since 1940 the population has more than tripled. To meet the challenge of feeding this exponentially growing world, the plant science industry has created innovative technologies that provide farmers with the means to boost yields, increase farm income and protect natural resources. However, for these tools to meet the challenge of feeding the next billion people, all nations must ensure farmers have access to these sustainable, science-based technologies.

    “To support this effort, CropLife International, the plant science industry’s global federation, of which CropLife Australia is a member, has launched the Declaration for Farmer Choice. This is a new framework built on five principles that can empower farmers with the knowledge and freedom to determine what they need in order to grow crops successfully and sustainability.

    “Today, our world stands at a crossroads – we have surpassed seven billion inhabitants and will surpass eight billion in the next 15 years. To feed this population we must empower farmers to continue to improve their productivity by providing access to new agricultural technologies,” explained Matthew Cossey.

    “As the international community prepares for the June 2012 RIO+20 Earth Summit, the Declaration for Farmer Choice will provide a basis for discussion on how to foster sustainable farming practices while improving farmer’s lives, especially in the developing world”.

    Through its five principles, the Declaration for Farmer Choice creates a foundation to determine how to achieve green agriculture while improving yields and increasing farm incomes.

    The Declaration for Farmer Choice calls for:

    • sustainable, productive and environmentally-responsible technologies
    • enhanced access to agricultural technologies
    • science-based regulatory schemes
    • increased agriculture investment; and
    • improved agricultural knowledge.

    Under the Declaration for Farmer Choice, farmers are recognised as the best and most knowledgeable stewards of their unique plot of land, and environmentally sensitive farming is comprised of a mosaic of sustainable agricultural solutions and practices that farmers can choose from.

    To learn more about the Declaration for Farmer Choice visit www.ActionforAg.org/get-involved