Reality Clock Statistics: Comment on World Hunger.

Read the petition here.

642 persons coming from 93 countries and representing 450 organisations of peasant and family farmers, small scale fisher folk, pastoralists, indigenous peoples, youth, women, urban people, agricultural workers, local and international NGOs, and other social actors, gathered in Rome from the 13 -17 of November, 2009 to address world hunger.

The meeting declared support for the renewed Committee on World Food Security and the central role the RIGHT TO FOOD plays. They emphasised the role of ecological food provision, that it  actually, today, despite the mass industrialisation of agriculture,  feeds the large majority of people all over the world in both rural and urban areas (more than 75%). Their practices focus on food for people not profit for corporations. It is healthy, diverse, localised and cools the planet.

The petition calls for an end to government-aided land grabbing: in less than a year, over 40 million hectares of fertile land in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe have been usurped through these deals, displacing local food production for export interests. Read more…

Please consider signing the hunger petition by the United Nations FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization), which they will show to government delegates at their big Food Security conference next week 16-18 November 2009.

Petition: http://www.1billionhungry.org/

Info on Food Security conference: http://www.fao.org/wsfs/world-summit

The director of FAO is also calling for people to hunger strike, i.e., fast for 1 day this weekend (Saturday or Sunday) as a sign of compassion for the 1,000,000,000 people who are hungry right now.

One speaker I heard recently said: Today’s 1 billion hungry is the greatest calamity ever in human history! It bears reflecting upon.

Self-sufficient, off-the-grid housing.

An earthship is a building that not only provides shelter, but produces heating, electricity and drinking water, cleans waste water and provides food as well!

The brainchild of architect and innovator, Michael Reynolds, these buildings have been appearing for more than three decades, many from recycled material. While others see “waste”, Michael sees raw materials for sustainable living – structures that might someday shelter large numbers of people. Earthships are now in all fifty US states and around the world. Mike says that these Earthships are not only homes but symbolic ships that sail on the seas of tomorrow.

Mike has built earthships in disaster areas where water has been scarce, teaching local engineers the skills to build their own.

Earthships from whatis waste on Vimeo.

Stockholm 23 September 2009. In an interview for Swedish Television’s Climate blog, Professor Kjell Aleklett, professor at Uppsala University, claims that the current maximum production level of oil that has been reached will drastically affect world food provision systems. Rapid transition torenewable fuels in agriculturals and a move from oil dependency is required of we are to feed the growing population. For those of you who know Swedish, see this  link.

Professor Aleklett’s statement comes as his department publishes a study entitled ”Can agriculture provide us with both food and fuel?”.

To hear more of his views on oil and food, read his blog post “our oily food”.

This blog has often taken up the issue of the way climate change is impacting food security. Now the turn has come to prestigious wine growing districts in France. Champagne makers are calling for their government to push for a strong global agreement at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December. They warn that

failure to cut greenhouse gases will devastate the  sector.

Thanks to the New York Times for the story

New York Times, September 12, 2009: Tests on tap water in The US city of Charleston, West Virginia reveal it contains arsenic, barium, lead, manganese and other chemicals at concentrations federal regulators say could contribute to cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system. The situation is so bad that residents have stopped showering, and avoid all contact with the water.

Those who do come into contact with the water cover their skin with lotion afterwards to avoid painful rashes.

Research done by the newspaper  shows that an estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways.

“How can we get digital cable and Internet in our homes, but not clean water?”

says Mrs. Hall-Massey, resident and a senior accountant at one of the state’s largest banks.

Read more at the New York Times website.

The story illustrates that the modern technical society shares the challenges of providing water in a secure way with developing countries.

(Image courtesy COP 15) The picture shows Europe’s predicted reductions in river flow 2071 -21000 compared to 1961-1990. As Europe is expecting an increase in population and more expensive fossil fuels this does not look good for food security.

In the run-up to the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen it is appropriate to ask questions about how World food security will be affected by climate change, especially if the current net increase to CO2 levels in the atmosphere is allowed to increase. In 2008 the IPPC published this report on the likely effects of climate change on water and thereby agriculture. Recommended reading if you have a technical interest!