Thinking about and rethinking agriculture
(GovInn, May 2014)
Author: Bruno Losch
After decades of marginalization in the international agenda, agriculture is back. The food price crisis of 2008-2009 reminded most that food security could be a major issue due to the fact that the majority of the world’s population was now living in cities (the tipping point was reached at the end of the 2000s) coupled with the perspective of a 9-billion people planet expected by 2050. Urban population will continue to grow exponentially and will require more natural resources to answer an evolving demand corresponding to new diets. This new context stimulates new strategies of governments and private firms which engage in new investments as they try to secure access to production factors (notably land as illustrated by the boom of land grabbing) and/or to control value chains. It also results in growing interest of equity companies looking for profitable assets and activities; a step towards an increasing financiarization of agriculture which is far away from the harsh reality of billions of rural people in developing countries.
Thinking about and rethinking agriculture
(GovInn, May 2014)
Author: Bruno Losch
After decades of marginalization in the international agenda, agriculture is back. The food price crisis of 2008-2009 reminded most that food security could be a major issue due to the fact that the majority of the world’s population was now living in cities (the tipping point was reached at the end of the 2000s) coupled with the perspective of a 9-billion people planet expected by 2050. Urban population will continue to grow exponentially and will require more natural resources to answer an evolving demand corresponding to new diets. This new context stimulates new strategies of governments and private firms which engage in new investments as they try to secure access to production factors (notably land as illustrated by the boom of land grabbing) and/or to control value chains. It also results in growing interest of equity companies looking for profitable assets and activities; a step towards an increasing financiarization of agriculture which is far away from the harsh reality of billions of rural people in developing countries.
For more info see: http://governanceinnovation.org/wordpress/thinking-about-and-rethinking-agriculture/govinnpolicybrief42014-compressed/
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