Oriented on making people closer

World food day which is marked on October 16, this year calls for global solidarity to help all groups of population to fight against COVID-19. The huge role here belongs to agro-ecology. The agro-ecology is an ecological approach to agriculture that is agriculture with low level of external expenses. It is not just a set of agricultural practices, it is concentrated on change of social relations, expansion of rights and possibilities of farmers, use of short chains of creation of cost. It allows farmers to adapt to climate change, it is rational to use and keep natural resources and biodiversity.

Preservation of a variety of agricultural crops is important for health of people. «For last 100 years more than 90 % of varieties of agricultural crops have disappeared. Variety loss in our diet directly is connected with risk factors for health, such as diabetes, adiposity», - tells Marieta Sakalian, a food systems and biodiversity expert with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Working out and encouragement of agro ecological methods of conducting agriculture can help to make soils more fertile, to reduce to a minimum use of agrochemicals, and also to raise a variety of agricultural crops. It, in turn will make agriculture steadier. In April, 2018 World Food Programme with support UNEP and other partners of the United Nations started the Initiative on expansion of agro ecology which works with manufacturers of foodstuff, the governments and other interested parties.

On a global scale this initiative shows the vital value of agro ecological systems for the decision of questions of softening of consequences of climate change and adaptation to them. One of successful examples is the project of natural agriculture with zero budget in state of Andhra Pradesh, India, supported by UNEP.

To agriculture about 20 % of emissions of hotbed gases in the world belong. According to UNEP, it is necessary to find different lines of thought how we make foodstuff if we want to reach our climatic purposes. It is important to transform agricultural and food systems that they worked in unison with nature.

ORIENT news