Farming First Steering Committee

Agriculture for a Green Economy: improved rural livelihood, reduced footprint, secure food supply

The transition to a green economy is fundamental for addressing the social, environmental, and economic pillars of sustainable development.

As a sector, agriculture is essential to the green economy. With a predicted 9 billion people by 2050, agricultural production will have to increase to meet new demands, for food, feed, fuel and fibre.

Agriculture must not only meet demand – it must also do so while minimising its environmental footprint and creating sustainable livelihoods for farmers and others along the supply chain. In a time of food insecurity and with the largest share of its population in developing countries living in rural areas, the world cannot afford to ignore the potential of agriculture to achieve the triple goals of a secure food supply, poverty reduction through improved rural livelihoods, and environmental sustainability through reduced footprint of production and climate change adaptation.

Agriculture by nature represents a mosaic of solutions and practices, focused on farmer needs and knowledge sharing. Sustainability is a moving target towards which farmers in different geographies and farming systems are already moving and they will need support to continuously improve.

Agriculture for a Green Economy:
improved rural livelihood, reduced footprint, secure food supply

Agriculture in a green economy means a broad-based, knowledge-centred approach to agricultural development. Key to achieving this goal is a focus on:

• Addressing implementation gaps through support for knowledge sharing; and advisory and training services; • Ensuring agricultural policies are based on science;

• Supporting productivity through innovation and best practices. The Farming First coalition supports the implementation of the outcomes of CSD17 on agriculture as the basis for any outcome on agriculture for Rio+20.

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