Around 400 people from all over Europe and numerous developing countries participated in the EFARD conference and discussed questions surrounding issues of agricultural research. Joint innovative projects in the service of partners from the southern hemisphere were developed and presented. The identification of common research interests at a European level and the contribution of European agricultural research to the global challenge of poverty alleviation, food security and the protection of natural resources stood at the centre of the conference.

Realising a vision

How must future agrarian research react to new challenges arising from globalisation, the liberalisation of markets, overuse of resources and climate change? These were the questions that renowned experts expounded during the 3-day conference, among others, Ian Johnson, Vice President of the World Bank (4), who opened the conference with a vision that would be realisable: If the right measures were taken, he said, the lives of the poorest in the world could be improved considerably by 2050. In countries with low or median incomes today, the annual income could be raised to 6300 US$. Life expectancy would rise from 64 to 72 years and instead of 85 children, only 17 in a 1000 would die before reaching their fifth birthday. Amongst the adult populations the literacy rate could be increased from 75 to 95 per cent. In addition, important basic needs could be satisfied, such as shelter, food and clothing. To exemplify the imbalance of human development, Johnson used the following statistic: "Over two billion people in the world exist on less than two dollars a day, while a European cow is subsidised with more than this sum every day".

Domestic cattle are penetrating ever deeper into the towns, like these in Addis Abeba (Ethiopia). (Picture: Andreas Jenet) large

From the left: Barbara Becker (ZIL manager), Ian Johnson (Vice President of the World Bank), Remo Gautschi (DEZA), Hans Hurni (EFARD chairman) and Manfred Kaufmann from ZIL, which organised the conference. large

The key to improvement was agrarian research, emphasised Johnson. In order for it to work, agriculture had to be transformed to an environmentally-friendly and socially consistent activity. By building on technological know-how and research results, sustainable agriculture would become possible that would raise productivity. In its turn, this would raise income, improve health and nutrition, as well as help in the protection of the natural resources of land, water and biological diversity. Simultaneously, inequity in trade had to be eliminated.

Production moves to organic

Diverse projects were presented and discussed during the conference. For example projects that aim at improving the livelihood of resource-poor farmers by introducing sustainable agriculture. One example cited was that of butter produced from the carité tree in Mali. This butter is not only a source of nutrition but is also used for medical and cosmetic purposes. Linking women who produce the butter with marketing actors creates markets and ensures the sustainable use of the trees at the same time. To take another example, participants of a WWF workshop discussed pesticide-free cotton production without waste of water, in order to eliminate danger for man and nature, using examples of field projects in Pakistan, India and Australia. Other projects dealt with organic farming. Biological coconut production on Cuba for the Swiss market provided a further example for discussion. "Agriculture and Health", "Cattle breeding for food safety and fighting poverty" were further thematic outlines of the conference, as well as an ETH project, "Potato research", already presented at the "Welten des Wissens" ("Worlds of knowledge") exhibition.

Potato research was presented at the exhibition "Worlds of Knowledge" in Platzspitz Park. large

Cassava made the start

Over ten years ago, a year after the UNO environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Centre for International Agriculture (ZIL) was founded with the intention of contributing to the fight against world hunger and to promote sustainable development by the means of agricultural research. As Peter Rieder, first ZIL president, said recently in his farewell lecture, the most important point to start at was to increase the amount of food, something that could be realised most easily by increasing yield. This approach was subsequently followed, especially with research on the major tropical root crop cassava (5). There was wide consensus today that hunger is primarily a result of poverty; this means that many cannot afford to buy food even if it was available. For this reason the research programme on livestock systems was launched as a major project at ZIL. Thanks to its comprehensive network the centre became ETH's contact partner in international agricultural research into development co-operation in 1993. This was visible at the exhibition "Welten des Wissens" (6), where the presentation at ZIL's stand invited visitors to "Discover the Treasure of the Incas". Two projects on potato research–one from Peru and the other from Ecuador–were presented, as well as research on livestock, which was funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (DEZA). In Peru the aim is to preserve and market older varieties of potatoes and an initiative in Ecuador aims to discovers ways of combating forms of potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans).