Food Security through Organic Agriculture : A Global and National Perspective <Reviews>

Singh Mrinila

Maharjan Keshav Lall

Dangol Dharma Raj

国際協力研究誌

Journal of International Development and Cooperation

Organic farming practices have been spreading gradually in both developed and developing nations as a system following agro-ecological principles, depending on locally available resources, healthy produce or certified-export oriented production. This has raised a question of whether organic farming would be able to feed the world population, especially when food insecurity is expected to intensify further in the future. While there is skepticism that excluding the use of fertilizer and pesticides will be a threat to total food production, there are also numerous studies which has shown that farmers have in fact improved the level of food security after being introduced to organic farming methods. Thus, this paper assesses achievements made by organic agriculture for attaining food security and provides direction for organic agriculture development in Nepal. This paper is based on various scientific papers, proceedings, books and websites of different organizations working for organic agriculture and food security. Studies have shown that in areas with intensive high-input agriculture, conversion to organic farming reduced crop yield. But those with low input agricultural system, yields have been predicted to increase when agro-ecological principles are used. Also as it is claimed that though global food production is sufficient to feed the present global population, incidence of food insecurity largely looms in the society. Therefore, it is clear that food security depends not only on yield determining factors such as seeds, soil structure and overall geographic condition but also on socio-economic factors such as availability of technologies, human capacities, policies, prices, trade and infrastructural context. The analysis of research findings show that organic agriculture can be one of the option for achieving food security with primary focus on agro-ecological and socio-economic factors. Finally the paper concludes by emphasizing on how food security can be enhanced through agro-biodiversity, strong politica

Food insecurity

food availability

accessibility

utilization and stability

extension service

Agriculture [ 610 ]

eng

広島大学大学院国際協力研究科

[ISSN] 1341-0903

[NCID] AN10482914