The eyes of the food and farming world turned on Berlin this week as, in addition to hosting Germany’s annual Green Food Week, which saw thousands take to the streets in demonstrations demanding more sustainable agriculture in Germany, the city has played host to agriculture ministers’ symposium and the World Social Forum (WSF), a symposium which brings together tens of thousands of anti-capitalist activists to discuss alternative solutions to the world’s problems. The WSF is opposed to the World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of the world's economic and political elites, which runs concurrently in the Swiss resort of Davos.

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Mr Graziano da Silva outlined the problems threatening the viability of farming; he said, "Agriculture contributes 30 percent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming and we must raise the awareness of our farmers."

The FAO chief said that in order to meet the goals for sustainable development which will be discussed at Rio+20, agriculture must undergo a paradigm shift, focusing increasingly on supporting and feeding people sustainably, rather than on non-renewable petrochemical inputs and economic gain. He explained, "Agriculture is not just part of the problem, it is also part of the solution to the environment issue. It can contribute a lot to the planet's sustainable development, by finding techniques less harmful to the environment, by helping with clean energy and with a better redistribution of production."

He also said that his leadership of the FAO would be more socially responsive, being more inclusive and interacting more with developing nations; the UN official, a former Brazilian food security minister, proclaimed that his organisation "Must open its doors to society; we are trying to create space for dialogue with society to break the monopoly of dialogue with governments, with some specific governments, as occurred over the past few years."

Problems facing global production

Mr Granziano da Silva told the ministers gathered in Berlin of the amount of food that is wasted globally, which he said must change, and criticised the “roulette” of commodity speculation, which he claimed exacerbates food price rises and volatility.

The FAO head revealed that UN figures show that one third of the food produced around the world each year is lost or wasted due to unsuitable storage in poorer countries and wastefulness in richer areas. Overall 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year; consumers in richer countries dispose of 222 million tonnes of food waste per year, which verges on the entire food output of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).

Echoing Mr Granziano da Silva’s comments, European agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos told delegates that the problems of wastage facing the world must be solved by education. He warned that addressing food waste must not be solved by raising the price of food, as many in Europe struggle to afford their food as it is. According to Commissioner Ciolos, people in nations where food is abundant need to retain “grandmother’s knowledge” of how to cook healthily whilst minimising waste.

He and Mr Granziano da Silva agreed that more productive and equitable agriculture could be achieved without impacting severely on the environment.

The FAO’s most recent figures show that up to 925 million people faced hunger worldwide in 2010. the Rio+20 summit will call on world leaders to make commitments towards more environmentally and socially minded policies. Priority will be given to eradicating hunger, though as the talks over the weekend showed, with such a large number of delegates present agreeing on anything more than vague statements may prove difficult.

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