This year, we commemorate World Food Day in a tough reality. We are confronted with the lingering fragility of our global food systems. The outlook for the food industry remains vulnerable, thanks to continuing supply chain disruptions, crop and livestock losses, energy crises, all resulting in a higher cost of living.
The climate crisis compounds this reality, with many communities in East and Southern Africa experiencing extreme weather patterns such as severe drought and flooding. It follows, that with this context, food security remains a dire concern, further compromising easy access to affordable nutrition for all.
Since before the Covid-19 pandemic, the planet had already been dealing with interesting population dynamics. In the global north, an ageing population was and still is impacting many economies’ abilities to efficiently produce food. The implication on a significant reduction in the working-age population, along with shifting immigration policies has left the food industry compromised.
Curbing food insecurity
In the global south, a rising population means increased demand for food, and consequently, increased use of arable land and water. It follows that a paradigm shift is necessary to curb food insecurity and efficiently address the United Nations’ second sustainable development goal (SDG) to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
The answer to this global quandary does not have a known reasonable panacea. However, there is a central convergence point we can focus on to deliver significant change, and it is proving effective in many pilots. That is, in the area of agriculture, employing fundamental shifts to farming practises that can match growing demand, while protecting and perhaps even restoring the environment.
Sustainable farming practices
Regenerative agriculture, as it has come to be known, is a collective of sustainable farming practices that, by design, work in harmony with nature, while maximising output in both quantity and quality of food. The approach borrows from indigenous practices that have been used by ancient communities for centuries, and over the years, has evolved to include cutting-edge technology to finesse efficacy. The result, better quality raw materials for food manufacturing, while significantly reducing the release of harmful greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
A pilot project that has applied these practices is Skimmelkrans Boerdery in South Africa’s Western Cape province. The farm, which is poised to be South Africa, and possibly Africa’s first net zero dairy farm by 2023, has co-opted regenerative agriculture practices in its day-to-day activities.
