The Royal Society Report - Push-Pull

eing their livelihood, agriculture is for many people a key
part of their society.
In the period from 1965 to 1985, poverty reduction across
the world advanced further than in the previous two
centuries (Lipton 2001). Agriculture provides a potential
route to poverty alleviation for many people around the
world, but the diversity of social, economic and
environmental contexts means that what works to
improve crop outputs and system sustainability in some
places may not work in others (World Bank 2008).
To maintain such progress, agricultural systems in all parts
of the world will have to make further improvements.
Efforts to ensure access for poorer groups need to run
alongside growth in aggregate food production. In many
places, the challenge is to increase food production to
solve immediate problems of hunger. In others, the focus
will be more on adjustments which maintain food
production whilst increasing the flow of environmental
goods and services.
Sub-Saharan Africa has seen fewer productivity gains than
the rest of the world. Here there is significant potential for
productivity increases, but there are also real challenges
that need to be overcome. In the case of African
smallholder farmers, changes that improve upon current
agricultural systems rather than importing a radically
different set of practices tend to be more effective (Reij &
Smaling 2008; Sanchez et al. 2009a). Linking biological
science with local practices requires a clear understanding
of farmers’ own knowledge and innovations. There are past
examples where science has seemingly offered ‘solutions’
to a problem but without success, because of a poor fit
with local circumstances and a lack of local engagement
with end-users at an early stage in the innovation process
(Pretty 2002). In Burkina Faso, for example, researchers
spent years developing systems of rainwater harvesting,
but farmers did not adopt them. An NGO working closely
with farmers has adapted simple soil and water
conservation practices that have now led to significant
improvements in food security and soil management
(Hassame et al. 2000; Kaboré & Reij 2004). If agriculture
continues to contribute to alleviating poverty, technologies
for improving production need to be seen in their particular
local social and economic contexts, as well as a broader
context of public acceptance.
Past debates about the use of new technologies in food
production systems have tended to adopt an either/or
approach, emphasising the merits of particular agricultural
systems or technological approaches and the down-sides
of others. This has been seen most obviously with respect
to genetically modified (GM) crops, the use of pesticides
and the arguments for and against organic modes of
production. The reality is that there is no technological
panacea for the global challenge of sustainable and secure
food production. There are always trade-offs and local
complications. This report recognises that new crop
varieties and appropriate agroecological practices are both
needed to make the most of opportunities on all types of
farms. We thus adopt an inclusive, both/and approach:
no techniques or technologies should be ruled out before
risks and benefits are assessed. Global agriculture
demands a diversity of approaches that are specific
to crops, localities, cultures and other circumstances.
Such diversity demands that the breadth of relevant
scientific enquiry is equally diverse, and that science
needs to be combined with social, economic and political
perspectives.
1.7 Other major studies
Our report follows a number of other reports and policy
documents which have sought to describe and quantify
the scale of the challenge of food security and food
production from a variety of perspectives. Taken
together, they provide a sense of likely future trends. The
differences in analysis, emphasis and recommendations
show the range of options available for tackling the
general issue.
The most comprehensive recent analyses have been the
World Bank’s 2008 World Development Report and the
International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge,
Science and Technology for Development, also published
in 2008 1 (IAASTD 2008; World Bank 2008).
The 2008 World Development Report concluded that
research and development are vital for global agriculture,
and investment in R&D yields a high rate of return
(43% per annum), yet it remains underfunded. The
report describes significant gains from crop genetic
improvement but it also identifies places, particularly
Sub-Saharan Africa, where improved crop varieties
have yet to make such an impact. The challenge of a
growing population is compounded by new threats,
such as pests, diseases and climate change, and this
further indicates the need for constant research into new
varieties and practices (‘running to stand still’). Continued
genetic improvement will be vital, but natural capital
inputs to agriculture—including better soil and water
management—will require new approaches too (World
Bank 2008). The biggest gains from technology, the report
concludes, come from combinations of improved crops
and improved practices (the ‘both/and’ approach referred
to above).
The IAASTD was sponsored by the Food and Agricultural
Organisation (FAO), Global Environment Facility (GEF),
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations
Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),
the World Bank and World Health Organisation (WHO),
and its 4-year process was overseen by stakeholders from
1 Many recent reviews point back to a single report: Rosegrant MW,
Msangi S, Sulser T & Ringler C (2008). Future scenarios for agriculture.
Plausible futures to 2030 and key trends in agricultural growth.
International Food Policy Research Institute. This was a Working Paper
submitted for consideration in the 2008 World Development Report.
The data from this paper appears to have been rewritten as a
background paper for the WDR but not re-published.
8 I October 2009 I Reaping the Benefits The Royal Society