Institutional Learning and Change Initiative

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Abstract:

Agriculture in developing countries faces a huge challenge. In the next 50 years the number of people living in the world's poorer countries will increase from 5 billion to nearly 8 billion (Population Reference Bureau, 2001). Moreover, per capita food consumption needs to increase to adequately feed the 1.1 billion underfed people in the world (Gardner and Halweil, 2000). This means that in 2050 farmers will need to produce at least 50% more food from a natural resource base that is already damaged by human activity to the point where further degradation could have devastating implications for human development and the welfare of all species (World Bank, 2000). The Green Revolution is widely credited with having averted a similar crisis when large-scale famines were predicted to threaten Asia in the 1970s and 1980s. The research component of the Green Revolution was largely based on the genetic improvement of a few commodity crops to enhance their productivity and improve their resistance to pests and diseases. The gains were largely confined to areas of high agricultural potential, and they often benefited the more prosperous farmers. In many cases, this research yielded large production gains at the expense of soil degradation, water, biodiversity, and non-cultivated land (Sayer and Campbell, 2001).