42
achieve many of the goals. Most notably, Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2)
calls the world community to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.” As part of a comprehensive set of
actions, the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for “doubl[ing]
the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly
women, indigenous people, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including
through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs,
knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and
non-farm employment” (von Lampe et al. 2014).
Accelerating agricultural productivity must be at the core of a comprehensive
strategy to sustainably feed the world (Box 2.4). With more than three-quarters of
the world’s poor being heavily dependent on agriculture for their direct subsistence
food needs as well as for their incomes, agricultural development through productivity improvements and higher incomes is one of the most powerful ways that farmers, pastoralists, and fishers can rise out of poverty and improve their nutrition
and health.
Productivity benefits producers of all sizes by improving the resilience and competitiveness of their operations. Productivity also enables better stewardship of land,
water, and other natural resources.
Fig. 2.4 Sources of growth in agricultural output: high-income countries, 1961–2015. *Depicts
data for the most recent ten-year period. **Depicts data for the most recent five-year period.
(Source: USDA Economic Research Service (2018))
A. Steensland and M. Zeigler
achieve many of the goals. Most notably, Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2)
calls the world community to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.” As part of a comprehensive set of
actions, the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for “doubl[ing]
the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly
women, indigenous people, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including
through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs,
knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and
non-farm employment” (von Lampe et al. 2014).
Accelerating agricultural productivity must be at the core of a comprehensive
strategy to sustainably feed the world (Box 2.4). With more than three-quarters of
the world’s poor being heavily dependent on agriculture for their direct subsistence
food needs as well as for their incomes, agricultural development through productivity improvements and higher incomes is one of the most powerful ways that farmers, pastoralists, and fishers can rise out of poverty and improve their nutrition
and health.
Productivity benefits producers of all sizes by improving the resilience and competitiveness of their operations. Productivity also enables better stewardship of land,
water, and other natural resources.
Fig. 2.4 Sources of growth in agricultural output: high-income countries, 1961–2015. *Depicts
data for the most recent ten-year period. **Depicts data for the most recent five-year period.
(Source: USDA Economic Research Service (2018))
A. Steensland and M. Zeigler