Dusseldorf Ertharin Cousin is a member of the supervisory board of Bayer AG and one of the most renowned agricultural economists in the USA. She headed the United Nations World Food Program for five years. Today she advises governments and companies on how to improve global nutrition.
For Cousin it is clear: “Without modern technology, we will not transform the food system in a sustainable way and we will not overcome the food crisis,” she says in an interview with the Handelsblatt. “We urgently need newly developed plants that are more robust against weather influences and diseases.”
In return, she would also like to see more willingness to use genetic engineering breeding methods. “By specifically changing and switching off genes using the new Crispr technology, we will be able to breed much more robust and high-yielding plants,” she says.
Cousin is surprised at the rejection of this technology. “Gene editing corresponds exactly to the plant breeding that farmers have been doing for centuries – and without criticism.” The Bayer supervisory board member is also calling for financial aid from the international community for investments in agriculture in crisis-hit regions. Otherwise, the UN’s goal of eliminating hunger by 2030 cannot be achieved.
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Read the entire interview here
Ms. Cousin, is the world at risk of a food crisis this year?
We are in the middle of a food crisis. That’s the reality. The pandemic and its economic consequences are exacerbating this crisis.
Who is particularly affected?
The current bottlenecks, delivery problems and high food prices affect us all, but especially those who are already most affected by hunger. Their number has risen to more than 750 million as a result of the pandemic. Even before that, 1.5 billion people could not afford a healthy diet. And now billions more people are being forced to switch to cheap, high-calorie, and unhealthy diets.
>> Read here: The global food crisis is getting worse – and bringing inflation and hunger
How long will this crisis situation caused by the pandemic continue?
I don’t see any long-term and sustainable relief globally. Acute hunger will increase.
It can be assumed that the tense situation with regard to energy and fertilizers will calm down once the pandemic subsides.
It would be naïve to think that only Covid-19 is responsible for the current food problems. The number of starving people has been increasing since 2016/17. Solving energy and fertilizer cost issues may bring food prices to pre-pandemic levels; but that won’t last.
What are the reasons?
First, regional conflicts have repeatedly led to food shortages. Secondly, there are climatic changes that manifest themselves in drought, unpredictable weather or floods. In the underdeveloped regions, climate change is endangering the livelihoods and lives of many people.
What can we do against it?
Tackling food system challenges, chronic hunger and malnutrition requires a common approach to solving the food and climate crises. We need a sustainable and global transformation of the food system so that it meets environmental and health demands and brings appropriate economic benefits to all stakeholders. To achieve this, the developed world must fulfill the financial investment pledges it has made to the developing world.
The goal of the United Nations is to end hunger in the world by 2030. Is this still achievable?
Yes – if the global community, i.e. government, the private sector, non-state actors and academia, provides the necessary humanitarian, financial and technical support. Unfortunately, experts expect that without these investments, around 660 million people will suffer from hunger in 2030.
There is still enough food available, it’s just that it’s unfairly distributed around the world.
This argument falls short. We produce enough calories. But in many regions, a variety of foods that support a healthy and balanced diet are unavailable and unaffordable.
What does a future-oriented food system have to look like?
It must combine stable supply chains with environmental and climate protection, healthy food and sufficient income for all actors in the food system. For this we need strong partnerships and close cooperation. Because agricultural land is shrinking worldwide, but the world population is growing rapidly, agriculture must also become much more productive: it must produce more and more diverse crops while using less land and water.
Even more fertilizer and pesticides – that can’t be the solution.
Certainly not. While crop protection products continue to support agricultural production, we need innovation and modern agricultural technology. We urgently need newly developed plants that are more robust against weather influences and diseases. For example, Bayer has developed a short-stem maize that withstands storms, needs less water and produces more.
Do you advocate more genetic engineering in plant breeding? This met with widespread rejection in Europe.
Without modern technology, we will not sustainably transform the food system and overcome the food crisis. With the targeted modification and switching off of genes using the new Crispr technology, we will be able to breed much more robust and high-yielding plants.
>>> Also read: The food crisis is deepening – and fueling inflation and hunger.
This so-called gene editing is also viewed critically.
Gene editing is exactly like the plant breeding that farmers have been doing for centuries – and without criticism. I am amazed at the resistance to Crispr technology, which allows us to grow plants more effectively, precisely and quickly. In developing vaccines, we have readily embraced this technology.
What role can digitization play in agriculture?
Digital technologies will accelerate the transformation of the food system from farm to fork. On the farm, they can contribute to more resilient plants and higher yields in the same area, while we use less water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
A small farmer in Asia and Africa will hardly be able to afford that.
A global, sustainable transformation of the food system not only requires the production of sufficient, nutritious food for everyone. It must ensure access to the technology and the necessary training for all farmers – including the approximately 500 million smallholders. This is a joint task for politics and business. And it is also one of the reasons why I accepted my seat on the Supervisory Board at Bayer: As a global pioneer in digitization and modern plant breeding, the company will, through its commitment to sustainability, help ensure that farmers everywhere – including in Africa and Asia – continue to have access to the will have the necessary tools and training.
More: Small but resilient – Bayer and BASF are researching climate-resilient plants.