Anudari

The room was full of young farmers and young people who work in agriculture sector. It was really a meeting of youth from all over the world: Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, Slovenia, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Peru, Columbia, Georgia, Mongolia, Luxemburg and many more countries.  After panelists finished presenting session’s moderator Mr. Corby Kummer, a senior editor of Atlantic Monthly, gave young people in the room the chance to speak about the main challenges they face while farming.  

No microphones and no interpretation, but this is when all the fun begins! One by one, young farmers from different countries stood up and shared their opinions loudly as if there were “thirsty” to talk.  

Denis Kabiito, national coordinator of Uganda’s National Young Farmers Association (UNYFA). told those present that farming is not attractive because there is no “role model” to look up. “Do you know any farmer who is famous? And who is known globally, like you know soccer players?” he asked during the discussion.

This made me realize that I have never met a kid whose dream was to become a farmer when he grew up. The usual answers were always doctor, policeman, fire fighter, lawyer, chef, a cleaning lady (for me), but rarely “a farmer”.

Then  I Googled “ definition of a farmer” to know what young kids would see when they search the term.  The first result was “a farmer is a person who farms; person who operates a farm”. Despite being very simple, this looked quite okay. But the second definition was, “an unsophisticated person from a rural area”. This is the “real” problem. Now, who wants to be an unsophisticated person?

This is highlights the issue with agriculture’s “image”, and is partially why the agriculture sector is aging. According to an FAO publication, the average age of farmers is 60 years in developed countries and 60 years in Africa (given that 60% of whole population is under 24 years old).  And this trend is similar in other countries too.

The current definition of a farmer is not helping to tackle the challenges of feeding nine billion people by 2050 and eliminating hunger by 2030. We have to call out young people and show them the opportunities in agriculture.  I’d say “Let’s make farming famous!”

We can do it by engaging young people from rural areas in using social media tools to better access information, to learn about great opportunities, and to promote people in the agriculture sector. An example of this is the Young Professionals for Agriculture Development (YPARD). It is a social platform movement and a network of young professionals. YPARD has more than 10,000 members from more than 45 nations, all working in the agriculture sector. It reaches the rural youth on the ground through its country representatives, enabling young farmers to inspire each other.

YPARD is one of many more platforms we can use to make farming famous. Other organizations such as Farming First, International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), International Association of Students in Agriculture Related Science (IAAS), Global Forum For Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), and many more are working together to promote the sector.

If you are a young person then go ahead and join them! Contribute to change the farming “image” that we have now. In doing so you will be contributing to zero hunger, a sustainable future and feeding the world.

Share your story.  Share your friend’s story. Be a role model! Sharing is Caring.

Find the original blogpost on the CFS website.

This Blogpost by (Anudari Enkhtur), #CFS43 Social Reporter – ([email protected])  is part of the live coverage during the 43rd Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and represents the author’s views only.

Find the original blogpost on the CFS website.

At the side event “Urban Food Security in an Urbanizing World: Lessons from Singapore” during this week’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS) a young man caught my attention.  Actually,  EVERYONE was interested in Martin Lavoo, Co-founder and director ofSustenir Agriculture Ltd a young farmer-entrepreneur from Singapore.

Sustenir Agriculture, an indoor farming company based in Singapore, was founded by Martin and his friend Benjamin Swan in 2013. They describe themselves and their team as “a bunch of crazy, passionate farmers that want to share their love for veggies with the world”. They grow and sell vegetables.

What is particularly interesting about Sustenir Agriculture is that it grows their crops using special technology called Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA).  This technology produces plants without ever exposing them to outdoor elements.  (In fact they started their business in their basement.) Vegetables are grown indoors in artificial plant habitats created by technology and people. It means no soil; LED-lights instead of sunlight, and no pollutants.

According to Sustenir Agriculture,  their product is 100% clean, fresh, organic, free of pesticides and rich in beta-keratin, vitamin K, C, A and calcium.

CEA technology allows Martin and his team to grow a type of salad-kale that is not native to Singapore. Their vision is to grow and supply the market with local products to replace imports.  Moreover he wants to show young people that farming is not an “old-school” thing by providing a successful example.

Now, if you are a young “traditional” farming lover like me who loves sunshine, feeling the soil and getting your hands dirty, the CEA method may not appeal.  Photos of people in white protective clothes with masks (imagine a surgeon) farming in LED-light (dark pink neon lights) may give you a “uneasy” feeling.

Martin Lavoo’s farming seemed at first a bit “distant” to me.  Agriculture is not only planting but, for some of us, also socializing. However the CEA method has great importance in the food security systems of Singapore, as it is a 100 percent urbanized country with very little land for agriculture.

Ms. Tan Poh Hong, CEO of Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, says that high-tech, innovative, highly intensive and productive farming is the future of their agriculture sector. Indoor farming SPREAD Ltd in Japan and SEAFARM in the Netherlands are the examples of successful urban farming that Tan Poh Hong admires.

During the session I begin to relate more to Martin and his team.  It is easy for us to say that growing food in an artificial habitat seems wrong. But for a highly urbanized country, dependent on imported food like Singapore, high-tech agriculture is critical to their food security.

For some countries extensive, for some intensive, for some community based farming and for some high-tech farming is the best choice.  In this pressured world of ours, choosing the best local practices suitable for specific conditions might be one of the best ways.

There is no right or wrong way to do things. There is millions of ways to do things. 

Blogpost by Anudari Enkhtur, #CFS43 Social Reporter – e.anudari(at)yahoo.com

This post is part of the live coverage during the 43rd Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), a project GFAR is running in collaboration with CFS. Anudari Enkhtur is one of five YPARD members who was fully sponsored by GFAR to participate in the GFAR social media bootcamp and to attend CFS as a social reporter from 17-21 October 2016.

Photo: Amaranth under grow lights, courtesy: Plant Chicago on Flickr

Find the original blogpost on the CFS website.

The variety of food on the supermarket shelves make today’s world “chooser-friendly”. When I want to buy tomatoes, for example, I’m always looking for the perfect ones (shiny, round, dark red, with the green leaves on top). As consumers, we have a right to choose what to eat or buy and where to buy. We even have a right to judge by appearance. But how does our preference and “pickiness” affect producers and food systems? Do we need to be concerned about our behaviour?

Food loss and waste

Food loss is defined as a decrease in quantity or quality of food that is produced for human consumption. It is the food that does not reach the market from producers. It mostly occurs in the production stage of the supply chain. Farmers’ low productivity, lack of storage, transportation and other limitations related to market systems, affect the food loss in the world.

Food waste on the other hand, is an intentional discharge of items that are consumable and is caused mainly by consumer negligence and behaviour. Despite the quality, food is being wasted based on individual’s preferences and choices.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the annual global value of food loss and waste is US$ 1 trillion.

“We should reduce the food loss and waste! And we should do it now!” was the opening remark at the Side Event on “Reducing food losses and waste while connecting smallholders to market” during this week’s Committee on World Food Security (CFS).

Those attending the session were in no doubt as to how food loss and waste was affecting small farmers’ well-being.  “There is nothing more difficult to see a farmer losing their crops due to lack of access to market and opportunities to sell them,” Anna Lartey, Director of the Nutrition and Food Systems Division (FAO), said.

“In order to reduce the amount of food waste, we have to be less choosy,” said Judith Hitchmann, a president of Urgenci (an International Network of Community Supported Agriculture). Urgenci aims to maintain and develop small-scale organic family farming  and to achieve local food sovereignty. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a market system where farmers and consumers share risks of food loss and farmers’ income loss.

Products of CSA are organic, having very low impact on environment, are not packaged and create very little waste. “When compared to the supermarkets, CSA production creates almost 50% less food loss and waste,” Ms. Hitchmann said.  She said she loves the fact that CSA members take or buy anything that farmers’ offer. Consumers do not care about the perfect shape, or slightly different color of the item. 

Local farmers, consumers and civil society organizations in the CSA model are closely connected and learn various ways of preparing and preserving food. Instead of wasting and putting the slightly rotten food to trash bin,  “everyone should learn how to preserve food!” Ms. Hitchmann said at the end of her presentation.

Listening to her enthusiastic speech, I felt guilty about my tendency to choose food based on its looks. All consumers should understand their role in the supply chain. The collective effort of small farmers and consumers at local, national and international levels is an important first step in tackling the complex issues of food loss and waste.

So, few slightly spoiled vegetables from local farmers are definitely on the next grocery list.

Blogpost by Anudari Enkhtur, #CFS43 Social Reporter – e.anudari(at)yahoo.com

This post is part of the live coverage during the 43rd Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), a project GFAR is running in collaboration with CFS. Anudari Enkhtur is one of five YPARD members who was fully sponsored by GFAR to participate in the GFAR social media bootcamp and to attend CFS as a social reporter from 17-21 October 2016. 

Photo Credit: Matt Preston on Flickr