Following Ecological Agriculture Systems Ensures area of the low cost production of 'nutritious food'
Agriculture faces the challenge of not just meeting the growing demand for more but also safe, nutritious food and produced in a way that it is sustainable in the long term for the illiterate rural poor smallholder producer communitiess, constituting over 50% of the population in developing countries around the world.
Given the persistence of hunger, Mal nutrition, health and poverty problems, there is need to review conventional agriculture 'nutrition and health through a lens to identity the Integrated Agriculture Research for Development (IAR4D) areas for meeting the needs of the smallholder producer communities.
To better understand the producer and their communities', meeting their requirements of nutrition, health and food needs, we first need to ascertain how currently their needs are addressed, document this and their successful low cost integrated agriculture models, meeting their own nutrition, health and food needs and at farm gate prices. These successful farmers need to be contracted for wide replication. This is the first step for reducing the cost, optimizing farm production and increasing the purchasing power and net income of the rural poor producer Communities, Ensuring nutrition, health and food security for Their long term sustainability.
Adding value to the produce locally for increase increasing shelf life, THUS zero down post harvest-losses, made possible With the intervention of the producer orgs (PC) staffed by professionals (general practitioners [GPs] / MBAs in agriculture, Set up by the smallholder producer Communities, but Facilitated by public funding ..
The focus on nutrition-sensitive agri 'Culture' is of high priority and is gaining international attention, if we are to mitigate hunger, Poor nutrition, poverty and climate change (MDGs). Also review how agriculture and food systems can be leveraged to mitigate hunger, Poor nutrition, poverty and climate change in a more sustainable and equitable Manner.
Some areas for IAR4D:
One. Conversion of conventional agriculture to the Ecological Agriculture Systems of each area to Ensure nutrition, health and food security through agriculture.
Two. Value Addition 'in not just agriculture Could Contribute to improved shelf life, harvest Minimizing post-losses, nutritional outcomes, but healthy food systems for Improving economic development and Reducing subsidies.
Three. Comparative research Between the Local and conventional agriculture and integrated agriculture on farmer fields to focus on safety and nutrition and to document / nutritious food and agriculture system of each area, Especially Those Programmes and projects have resulted in improved That nutritional outcomes to be used as the baseline for future IAR4D projects, sharing the success and or failure factors, constraints faced, Lessons Learned: how the impact and objective nutritional Measured and was built into the program.
Four. The key gaps in knowledge or good practices abitur That the limit of agriculture and food systems to optimize nutrition through agriculture.
M. Subhash Mehta