For related articles and more information please visit OCA’s Resource Centers on Farm Issues and Agriculture and Climate.

Geneva – The UN top official on the right to food called for wholesale changes in farming methods to safeguard the environment and ensure everyone has enough to eat.

Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said in a statement to mark World Food Day that there is currently “little to rejoice about”, and “worse may still be ahead”.

“Current agricultural developments are… threatening the ability for our children’s children to feed themselves,” he said. “A fundamental shift is urgently required if we want to celebrate World Food Day next year.”

De Schutter said the emphasis on chemical fertilizers and a greater mechanisation of production was “far distant from the professed commitment to fight climate change and to support small-scale, family agriculture”.

In addition, “giving priority to approaches that increase reliance on fossil fuels is agriculture committing suicide”, he said.