Agro-ecology and the right to food

Olivier de Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food, presented his new report, "Agro-ecology and the right to food", before the UN Human Rights Council.

Based on an extensive review of recent scientific literature, the report argues that agroecology, if sufficiently supported, can double food production in entire regions within 10 years while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty. It calls for a fundamental shift towards agro-ecology as a way for countries to feed themselves while addressing climate- and poverty challenges.

You can read the report attached below, as well as coverage in the Guardian here.

Note that, as with the UNEP green economy report, the report emphasises the need to reduce use of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers but not necessarily to eliminate it (see p9) in other words agroecological and organic farming is not necessarily synonymous.