The Effects of Climate Change on India's Farmers Show that it's Time for Global Co-operation

Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers

Within months of leaving office in May 2010 as UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown had published a book on what he believes needs to be done to avoid another catastrophic 2008-style global economic meltdown.

In Beyond the Crash, Brown argues strongly that the global economy is now far too interconnected for individual national governments to be able to act alone in tackling economic crises and that what is needed is a global system of regulation for financial institutions and banks and for more co-ordinated international economic co-operation.

He is optimistic in his analysis that, given the more global approach he proposes, there is likely to be sufficient demand in the emerging economies - known as the BRICS (made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China) - and other Latin American emerging economies to stimulate economic growth.

This will come, he claims, from those countries' emerging and growing middle classes, who will stimulate international demand for goods and services.

But in an increasingly interrelated world, and in the light of the increasing specialisation in goods and services produced in different countries around the world, plus the change of balance between individual economies, Brown warns there will be further economic shocks without some global economic and trade balancing mechanisms.

One thing that is not included in his thesis, however, is any sense of a finite world in which resources are limited or recognition of climate change.

It is being predicted, for example, that globally food production will have to rise by 70% - plus to meet the estimated population growth by 2050. Already there has been severe food price inflation, partly caused by commodity price speculation on basics like wheat, rice and sugar.

To use India as an example, there is no question that consumer demand is increasing as a more prosperous middle class grows. India, however, still has to solve its problems of the growing poverty of the 70% of its population that is rural, and on whom increasing farm yields largely depend.

Three news reports, all of which have appeared in the UK newspapers (The Guardian and The Independent) during December 2010, highlight the issues India faces.

The headlines tell it all: "India's battle against hunger beset by problems of delivery and corruption" (focusing on the increase in both urban and rural malnutrition); "India's hidden climate change catastrophe" (describing the suicide epidemic among poor rural farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, because of their difficulties earning a fair price for their crops compared to the costs of buying seed, pesticides and fertiliser and the changes to the climate affecting production) and lastly on December 27 2010 "Climate change leaves Assam tea growers in hot water (reporting that rising temperatures are reducing crop yields and altering the flavour of Assam tea).

Admittedly there are more complex problems involved in these three headlines than an article like this can go into, but they do suggest that a solution to global economic problems that depend solely on economic growth in individual countries is perhaps too simplistic.

In the world of food scarcity, unequal food distribution, rising prices and the need to produce more food by sustainable farming, any growth will have to factor in climate change and the need to preserve and protect the environment and the land on which we all depend, not only the farmers who earn their living from growing the food we need.

So while Brown is perhaps correct to recommend more global regulation and cooperation. This is not simply an economic issue. More global co-operation is plainly needed on issues like helping small farmers with new ranges of low-chem agricultural products like yield enhancers, biopesticides and biofungicides to help them farm sustainably.

The technology is out there thanks to the biopesticides developers, but the progress in getting such products available worldwide has some catching up to do.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Articles Back Link | The Effects of Climate Change on India's Farmers Show that it's Time for Global Co-operation</title></head><body><h3>The Effects of Climate Change on India's Farmers Show that it's Time for Global Co-operation</h3><br><br> By: Alison Withers<br><br><p><p>Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers</P><p>Within months of leaving office in May 2010 as UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown had published a book on what he believes needs to be done to avoid another catastrophic 2008-style global economic meltdown.</P><p>In Beyond the Crash, Brown argues strongly that the global economy is now far too interconnected for individual national governments to be able to act alone in tackling economic crises and that what is needed is a global system of regulation for financial institutions and banks and for more co-ordinated international economic co-operation.</P><p>He is optimistic in his analysis that, given the more global approach he proposes, there is likely to be sufficient demand in the emerging economies - known as the BRICS (made up of Brazil, Russia, India and China) - and other Latin American emerging economies to stimulate economic growth.</P><p>This will come, he claims, from those countries' emerging and growing middle classes, who will stimulate international demand for goods and services.</P><p>But in an increasingly interrelated world, and in the light of the increasing specialisation in goods and services produced in different countries around the world, plus the change of balance between individual economies, Brown warns there will be further economic shocks without some global economic and trade balancing mechanisms.</P><p>One thing that is not included in his thesis, however, is any sense of a finite world in which resources are limited or recognition of climate change. </P><p>It is being predicted, for example, that globally food production will have to rise by 70% - plus to meet the estimated population growth by 2050. Already there has been severe food price inflation, partly caused by commodity price speculation on basics like wheat, rice and sugar.</P><p>To use India as an example, there is no question that consumer demand is increasing as a more prosperous middle class grows. India, however, still has to solve its problems of the growing poverty of the 70% of its population that is rural, and on whom increasing farm yields largely depend.</P><p>Three news reports, all of which have appeared in the UK newspapers (The Guardian and The Independent) during December 2010, highlight the issues India faces. </P><p>The headlines tell it all: "India's battle against hunger beset by problems of delivery and corruption" (focusing on the increase in both urban and rural malnutrition); "India's hidden climate change catastrophe" (describing the suicide epidemic among poor rural farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, because of their difficulties earning a fair price for their crops compared to the costs of buying seed, pesticides and fertiliser and the changes to the climate affecting production) and lastly on December 27 2010 "Climate change leaves Assam tea growers in hot water (reporting that rising temperatures are reducing crop yields and altering the flavour of Assam tea).</P><p>Admittedly there are more complex problems involved in these three headlines than an article like this can go into, but they do suggest that a solution to global economic problems that depend solely on economic growth in individual countries is perhaps too simplistic.</P><p>In the world of food scarcity, unequal food distribution, rising prices and the need to produce more food by sustainable farming, any growth will have to factor in climate change and the need to preserve and protect the environment and the land on which we all depend, not only the farmers who earn their living from growing the food we need.</P><p>So while Brown is perhaps correct to recommend more global regulation and cooperation. This is not simply an economic issue. More global co-operation is plainly needed on issues like helping small farmers with new ranges of low-chem agricultural products like yield enhancers, biopesticides and biofungicides to help them farm sustainably.</P><p>The technology is out there thanks to the biopesticides developers, but the progress in getting such products available worldwide has some catching up to do.<br></P></p> <br><br> <b>Author Resource:-></b>  <br><br><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articlesbacklink.com/'>Articles Back Link</a><br></body></html>