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16 Nov 2011: Major Investment Needed
To Avert Food Crisis, Study Says

An international commission says billions of dollars must be invested in agriculture and food distribution to avoid a catastrophic increase in hunger worldwide in the coming years. In a new study, the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change said a coordinated series of responses is needed to feed a growing world population in the face of climate change, ecosystem degradation, and rising food prices. By significantly increasing sustainable agriculture, the group says, the world can use farming as a tool to fight climate change since healthy soils could absorb carbon dioxide rather than releasing it. Other recommendations include intensifying agricultural production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions; targeting populations that are most vulnerable; improving access to nutritional foods; and improved efficiencies to reduce loss and waste in food production. John Beddington, the chairman of the commission, cited an urgent need change the global food system, and not just in developing countries. “We need a socially equitable, global approach to produce the funding, policy, management and regional initiatives that will deliver nutrition, income and climate benefits for all,” he said.

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