On Reinterpreting SDGs : SDG 2 End hunger and food insecurity through sustainable agriculture (Part 2)

On Reinterpreting SDGs : SDG 2  End hunger and food insecurity through sustainable agriculture (Part 2)

Amzad Hossain, Perth, Western Australia

Email: A.Hossain@curtin.edu.au

Wisdom:

Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads. How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons? Jane goodall

One should eat to live; not live to eat.      Socrates

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are. Jean Anthelme Brillat- Savar

Any food that requires enhancing by the use of chemical substances should in no way be considered a food.     John H. Tobe

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.  Doug Larson

Prelude

        The aims and objectives of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) are meant to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”. In our previous discourse http://newsfrombangladesh.net/photo-story/50

        we reinterpreted the universal phenomenon ‘poverty’ in terms of ‘poverty-like simple lifestyle’ as a sustainable  key to enhancing holistic sustainability. This discourse reveals that, as like as poverty,  ‘hunger’ also exists as a non-removable recurrent global phenomenon.  The notion of ‘end hunger’ is, therefore,   neither possible nor desirable in order to  ‘achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture’.

        For comprehensive re-interpretation of the objectives of SDG 2, this discourse resets the objectives in a more meaningful  way that reads as “promote sustainable agriculture, end hunger, and  achieve food security and improved nutrition”.  By putting the objective ‘sustainable agriculture’ first, it helps open up dimensions for interpreting and achieving the other  objectives conforming to local sustainability norms. The sustainability norms including the culture of food consumption and simple lifestyle, it is the culture of agriculture that stands as the very basis of sustaining local social, ecological, and economic sustainability cultures.

        In other  words, ‘There is no culture without agriculture’ (Sawdayah Brownlee, 2015) https://www.agatheringtogether.com/.  Agriculture is central to food security, which in turn is the basis for improved nutrition. Hunger, on the other, is a natural device for mankind that is also linked with food security, improved nutrition intake, and boosting the immune system of the human body (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/898953?src=WNL_infoc_190102_MSCPEDIT&uac=104521MY&impID=1850565&faf=1).

        This discourse (re)interprets the objectives of SDG 2  - sustainable agriculture, food security, improved nutrition, and hunger in light of sustainable development in Bangladesh, which may also be applied elsewhere.                

What is sustainable agriculture?

        To understand sustainable agriculture, we need to know about what is agriculture. Agriculture is the production of food, fibre, timber and foliage. It is the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/agriculture)

        Sustainable agriculture is farming that conforms to basic principles of ecology; encourages local production and emphasizes on the use of organic farming methods instead of relying on industrial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; and favours the use of green technologies and policies that stimulate small-scale production (Taylor, 2014). Sustainable agriculture maintains long-term productivity system in an environmentally conserving and safe manner coupled with economic viability, social justice, and equity for the grower. It enables food security for all in an ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible manner (Raman, 2006). According to Frances Harris (2004) sustainable agriculture is a a philosophy based on human goals and understanding the long-term impact of our activities on the environment and on the species.

        More simply, sustainable agriculture is a type of agriculture that focuses on producing crops and livestock while having minimal effects on the environment. This type of agriculture aims to find a good balance between the need for food production and the preservation of the ecological system within the environment. In addition to producing food, there are several other goals associated with sustainable agriculture, including conserving water, the use of bio-fertilizers and integrated pest management (IPM), and promoting biodiversity and the ecosystem while growing crops. Sustainable agriculture also helps ensure food security, produces food crops with enhanced nutrition,  and facilitates farmers to improve their techniques and quality of life.

What is sustainable agriculture not?

        Unsustainable agriculture is farming that encourages production, rather than foods, that travel long distances, consuming much fossil fuel and adding carbon to the atmosphere (Taylor, 2014). In other words, unsustainable agricultural practices appear to prevail “When agriculture practices focus on the production of commodities for trade, instead of food for nourishment, hunger and malnutrition is the outcome” (Appleton, 2014).

        Livestock agriculture is not only unsustainable, it is utterly anti-sustainability. Currently “the livestock sector represents the world’s single largest human use of land and largest source of water pollutants” (Jackson, 2009). Hoekstra (2013) reveals that livestock puts a large claim on the Earth’s natural resources that accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet.

        Industrialized agriculture is also unsustainable, for it is a type of agriculture where large quantities of crops and livestock are produced through energy, water and chemical-intensive industrial techniques. Although industrialized agriculture has made it possible to produce large quantities of food, but due to the negative aspects of this technique, there has been a shift towards sustainable agriculture (Shiva, 2016).

Can sustainable agriculture feed the world’s growing population?

        Sustainable agriculture can feed the world’s growing population, but not the world’s increasingly growing unsustainable or extravagance consumption and waste generation.  It is estimated that  if all 7 billion people on our planet consumed the amount of non-renewable resources at the rate of the average American or Australian does, about another four Earths would be required to provide enough farmland and forests to support us. On the other hand, if all the people consumed as per ‘eat to live, but not live to eat’, another 14 billion people can live without starvation, improved nutrition  and food security (Ehrenfeld, 2008).

How is waste linked to SDG 2?

        With regards to waste it is yearly estimated that one third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around $1 trillion – ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices while almost 1 billion people go undernourished and another 1 billion hungry.

Why excessive meat production and consumption is devastating?

        Increasing meat production and consumption in rich countries cost sustainability in numerous ways:

    - World supply of meat is growing globally at close to twice the rate of population growth (Raphaely and Marinova, 2015).

    - A further doubling of meat production is projected for the period 2000-2050 (Steinfeld et al., 2006) during which population is projected to increase by 50% (calculated from UNDESA, 2013)

    - Globalization is creating superfluous demand for increased meat consumption in places like Bangladesh where flexitarian traditional diets have prevailed for centuries.

    - Becoming challenges for human health and morality, biodiversity loss and serious concern about climate change.

    - Livestock animals notably cattle and sheep, are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions because, as ruminants, they produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more powerful thanCO2.  In fact, it  results in more Greenhouse gas pollution  than the world’s entire transport sector (Harris, 2013).

    - Estimates of livestock’s contribution to greenhouse gases (GHG) range between 20 (Eshel et al., 2014) and 51 (Goodland and Anhang, 2009) percent of the global total.

    - The Australian study of Doran-Browne et al. (2015) shows that per unit of nutrient density (covering protein, fibre, vitamins A, C and E, calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium) and per protein equivalent untrimmed beef produces respectively 79 and 54 times more GHG compared to flour.

    - Livestock is the largest source of water pollutants which severely limits the scope for the future productivity of natural systems (Jackson, 2009). An example at a local scale is the city of Delmarva (with a population of 4 million), which struggles to absorb the manure generated by the 600 million chickens raised annually. The excess manure washes off into the rivers and streams or gets into the underground water (Singer and Mason, 2006) 

What is wrong with overconsumption?

        Overconsumption of food is detrimental to our health and the environment. 2 billion people globally are overweight or obese. Over consumption has resulted in  land degradation, declining soil fertility, unsustainable water use, overfishing and marine environment degradation, especially with dumping plastic and polythene.  All the above  are synergistically  lessening the ability of the natural resource base to supply food.

How to evaluate  agriculture in Bangladesh?

        Agriculture in Bangladesh is a synergistic manifestation of peasant’s working attachment to land, water, and biodiversity in order for producing their basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, health, happiness and virtue, yet, keeping nature unharmed so future generations can survive as the present generation doing.

        The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings – Masanobu Fukuoka.

What are the stakeholder’s roles in sustainable agriculture?

The future for world food security rests with a sustainable agriculture that protects local ecosystems and relies on smallholder farmers. Smallholder farmers when guided by coherent policies and fair incentives, can feed the world through the use of organic production methods and various green technologies and innovations. (Taylor, 2014).

        The goal of sustainable agriculture is to meet society’s food and textile needs in the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Practitioners of sustainable agriculture seek to integrate three main objectives into their work: a healthy environment, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. Every person involved in the food system—growers, food processors, distributors, retailers, consumers, and waste managers—can play a role in ensuring a sustainable agricultural system.

How agriculture is linked to other components of SDG 2?

        Besides the main focus of SDG 2 i.e. ‘sustainable agriculture’ the goal includes 3 other components: food security, improved nutrition, and hunger. Food security is inherently related to agricultural sustainability. Improved nutrition is linked to organic agriculture, while hunger is linked to balancing food security on the one hand; and one’s eating spirituality, on the other.

Is sustainable agriculture (re)achievable in Bangladesh?

        Yes. Sustainable agriculture traditionally existed in Bangladesh. Prior to the advent of the Green Revolution (GR) coupled with globalization, small-scale organic farming was a common practice. The GR being proved anti-sustainability in the context of long-term farming, the peasants are currently practicing  small-scale mixed and multi-cropping. In accordance with the principle and practice of sustainable development the farmers are being trained by the government agencies to restore  sustainable agriculture.

What strategies are required for achieving sustainable agriculture in Bangladesh?

        There are several farming strategies that are used to help make agriculture more sustainable. Some of the most common techniques that are practiced in Bangladesh include growing legume plants that can fix nitrogen and other crops such a jute plants that  create their own nutrients to reduce the use of fertilizers and rotating crops in fields. This practice  minimizes pesticide use because the crops are changing frequently. Another common technique is mix cropping. The peasant grows turmeric plants mixed with chilies and eggplants. They grow sugar plants mixed with onions and rock or watermelons. This practice reduces the need for pesticides and herbicides. Sustainable farmers also utilize water management systems, such as drip irrigation, that waste less water.

What is food security in Bangladesh context?

        At the national level achieving self-sufficiency in food crop production is food security. At social level, food security is a socio-political situation where no one starves due to unavailability of food i.e. inefficient distribution of food or people’s unaffordability due to economic or other reasons. However, Bangladesh’s food security largely suffers from inefficient food distribution system.

How to achieve food security in Bangladesh?

        Besides practicing sustainable agriculture as indicated earlier, achieving food security largely depends on political governance as well as  upgrading of social values.  Corruption driven partisan friendly distribution culture in Bangladesh is inherently unsustainable with regards to achieving food security, even, there is no shortage of food in the country. It is highly unacceptable that many political leaders at all level fail to perform honestly and efficiently  in every aspect of their engagement in assuring food security. They even do corruption in distributing government’s food relief programs. They  are often seen biased as they give relief only to their party people.

        With respect to social values, it is culturally obligatory that the rich helps the poor during the food crisis period. This practice is hardly followed.  Only a few people do it who desire to promote their name and fame in the society.

What is ‘improved nutrition’ in the context of SDG 2?

        Nutrients are chemical compounds in food that are used by the body to function properly and maintain health. Examples include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. Thus, Nutrition is about eating a healthy and balanced diet. Food and drink provide the energy and nutrients mankind need to be healthy. https://medlineplus.gov/definitions/nutritiondefinitions.html

        In this context, improved nutrition is comprised of the food and drinks that are produced from natural healthy soils and organic agriculture. It is worth noting here that even in this high-tech age, the low-tech plant continues to be the key to nutrition and health.’  Jack Weatherford https://www.wiseoldsayings.com/nutrition-quotes/

Why improved nutrition is significant for the people of Bangladesh?

        Many people such as the poorest segment of Bangladeshis cannot afford sufficient food to eat 3 times a day. So, the amount of foods and drinks they consume are  required to be of improved nutrition so the people can keep themselves  healthy. As Bangladesh is a country of insufficient and inefficient health management system, so  the consumption of improved nutrition is essential to enhance the immunity  system of the people.

The following quotes reveal about the need of nutrition:

        Life is a tragedy of nutrition -  Arnold Ehret; https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/27658-life-is-a-tragedy-of-nutrition

and nutrition is the only remedy that can bring full recovery from illness as food is our best medicine - Bernard Jensen; https://www.azquotes.com/quote/926470

What is hunger?

        Hunger is the physical symptoms you feel when your body is trying to tell you it needs more fuel, such as an empty, growling sensation in your belly or maybe a light headedness or even a headachy feeling. https://www.obesityaction.org/community/article-library/do-we-eat-to-live-or-live-to-eat/

        Like  ‘poverty’, ‘hunger’ is also universal and often desirable. Hunger can refer to the discomfort, weakness, illness, or pain caused by a long-term lack of food. Although the United States has been called the “land of plenty,” more than 14 percent of U.S. households in 2013 experienced food insecurity at times during the year—a condition that can include household members going hungry because they can’t afford enough food, as well as having to skip meals, compromise on nutrition, or rely on emergency food sources such as food banks, food pantries, or soup kitchens. http://www.foodsystemprimer.org/food-and-nutrition/hunger-and-food-insecurity/

In sum, hunger is a condition of food intake. It may be voluntary, or forced. However, in any situation, occasional hunger is pro-sustainability.

Why is hunger crucial for food security, good health, and social coherence?

        The concerned literature generally relate hunger with food and social insecurity, which is, of course, undeniable. It is also clear that the exercise of hunger is, indeed, largely favourable for sustaining food and social security during the period of short-term food shortage. At the time of food shortage at national or household level, exercise of fasting helps relief from the agony of food shortage.  The better-off people from neighbourhood come forward to assist the hungry with food that helps improve food security  in one hand, and it also helps strengthen social coherence, on the other.  This culture of brotherhood is an agelong tradition in Bangladesh (Hossain, 2001).

        With regards to the impact of hunger in terms of health, there is literature that speak about the impacts of consuming less food i.e. voluntary hunger. Voluntary hunger or responsible dietary habits needs to be actively promoted, applied, and demonstrated in order for achieving SDG 2. Voluntary ‘Hunger’ is a divinely created provision that is fundamental for sustaining healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages. Hunger is also linked to nutrition. There is a  spiritual dimension in all of us, and it hungers for nourishment. Nature can often bring us inner peace, the depth of reflection, and the wholeness that we lose touch within our busy everyday lives.   (Hill,1998). 

        Hunger exists throughout the ages, for  the major religions promote different forms of voluntary hunger or responsible dietary habits. Popular wisdom has it that “Fill 1/3 of your stomach with food, 1/3 with water and leave 1/3 empty for breath and spiritual exercise”. Baul guru Aziz Shah Fakir (112) of Choraikole, Kushtia follows this directive religiously to live longer, healthy, and happy.

        In sum, SDG 2 speaks about ‘hunger’ in terms of materialistic aspects of ‘poverty’ (Tashi, 2011, Townsend 1977 and 1993), while the correlation between SDG 1 and SDG 2 offers scope to promote the spiritual and moral interpretations that could be utilized to promote responsible citizen behaviour in the socioeconomic and religio-cultural contexts of Bangladesh.
See More at: http://newsfrombangladesh.net/photo-story/38

Who generally practice healthy hunger?

        Wise and spiritual people practice moderate hunger for both good health and longevity, also for spiritual ascension to a higher level of being e.g. Bauls, Sufis, Fakirs, Sanyasis, and so on. Also, many people have to practice hunger as part of their medical condition. The later mostly happens to people who over-consumed earlier in their lives.
See More at: http://newsfrombangladesh.net/photo-story/38

Is SDG 2 achievable in Bangladesh?

        Yes – if  the highly mismanaged and corrupt food security system can be addressed by political will and good governance. It is clear in Bangladesh that during the food crisis period, just as the current ‘Lockdown’ time under COVID-19, many elected and/or nominative representatives who are involved in food distribution amongst the needy people are reported to be involved in selling the relief stuff in the black market. Also, there are allegations about impartial and politically  selection of recipients. Often government agencies are also held responsible. In Bangladesh, it is frequently reported that the whole sellers and stockists create food insecurity through syndication. Only the political will and good governance can address this persisting food security problems in Bangladesh.

Concluding remarks

        The culture of “Eat to live, but do not live to eat” is a universal key to end hunger and achieve food security.  The emergence and divergence of Corona Covid -  19  https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=124898932514162&id=100740978263291 

also gives us the  message of how human should live with limited freedom i.e. to observe ‘Lockdown’ to maintain inclusive ‘Distancing’. This inclusive ‘distancing’ covers distancing from  things and beings including the  consumption of finite renewable resources  so they can get some freedom for rehabilitation and regeneration to allow and create space for their respective sustainability

        However, the practice of the culture of ‘Eat to live’ and distancing from ‘Live to eat’ intrinsically emphasizes on producing food crops enhanced with improved nutrition, so people can get more nutrition with less amount of food consumption i.e. ‘Eat to live’ measure;  which in turn is linked to ‘sustainable agriculture’. Sustainable agriculture for ‘Eat to live’ culture is presumably free from commercial livestock farming that claims 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet (Hoekstra (2013).

        Should the above notion become a global culture of ‘eating’, it is likely that the planet earth’s  food production  can sustainably feed much more people than the present 7 billion and remain self-sustaining in terms of food security, for long. To this end, Mahatma Gandhi said that there is enough provided by nature to meet everybody’s needs, but not to fulfil their wants, for there is no limit to our wants and that is the basic cause of our problems. The Scriptures  always emphasize that we should control our desires. In other words, the earth can satisfy the needs of all, but not the greed of those bent on insane consumption (Boff, 1995).

        However, achieving SDG 2  in the West may be a mission impossible,  for Western culture is the origin of consumer culture and the insane consumption trend, and therefore, leads to a global culture of excess and is emerging as the biggest threat to the planet.  It is almost an impossibility that the West can retreat from their culture of wasteful extravagance. Maybe, Covid - 19 would compel them to return on the sustainability track.

        Last but, not the least, achieving SDG 2  could be an outcome of the way we choose to live our lives. If we can maintain a balance between hunger, nutritious food intake and agricultural sustainability – it is 

highly likely that achieving SDG2 is accomplishable. 

*to be continued)

Links to our other published Discourses and Facebook Postings :

https://www.facebook.com/100740978263291/posts/100749594929096/?sfnsn=mo

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=124898932514162&id=100740978263291 

1. On Reinterpreting SDGs : Bangladesh Perspectives (Part 1)  http://newsfrombangladesh.net/photo-story/48

2. On Reinterpreting SDGs : SDG 1 End Poverty in Bangladesh (Part 1.1) http://newsfrombangladesh.net/photo-story/50

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Ehrenfeld, John R. 2008 Sustainability by Design – A Subversive Strategy for Transforming Our Consumer Culture. Yale University Press, London

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