necessary and achievable goal. Addressing some of these inefficiencies – especially crop and storage losses – offers opportunities that require small investments in simple farm and storage technology on small farms, where it makes the most material difference to smallholder farmers. The FAO reports that although reducing post-harvest losses could be achieved relatively quickly, less than five percent of worldwide agricultural research and extension funding currently targets this problem.
5. Greening agriculture requires investment, research and capacity building. This is needed in the following key areas: soil fertility management, more efficient and sustainable water use, crop and livestock diversification, biological plant and animal health management, an appropriate level of mechanisation, improving storage facilities especially for small farms and building upstream and downstream supply chains for businesses and trade. Capacity building efforts include expanding green agricultural extension services and facilitating improved market access for smallholder farmers and cooperatives. The aggregate global cost of investments and policy interventions required for the transition towards green agriculture is estimated to be US$ 198 billion per year from 2011 to 2050.4 The value added in agricultural production increases by 9 per cent, compared with the projected BAU scenario. Studies suggest that “Return on investments (ROI) in agricultural knowledge, science and technology across commodities, countries and regions on average are high (40-50 per cent) and have not declined over time. They are higher than the rate at which most governments can borrow money”. In terms of social gains, the Asian Development Bank Institute concluded that investment needed to move a household out of poverty, in parts of Asia, through engaging farmers in organic agriculture, could be as little as US$ 32 to US$ 38 per capita.
6. Green agriculture has the potential to be a net creator of jobs that provides higher return on labour inputs than conventional agriculture. Additionally, facilities for ensuring food safety and higher quality of food processing in rural areas are projected to create new better quality jobs in the food production chain. Modelled scenarios suggest that investments aimed at greening agriculture could create 47 million additional jobs in the next 40 years, compared with the BAU scenario.
7. A transition to green agriculture has significant environmental benefits. Green agriculture has the potential to: rebuild natural capital by restoring and maintaining soil fertility; reduce soil erosion and inorganic agro-chemical pollution; increase water-use efficiency; decrease deforestation, biodiversity loss and other land use impacts; and significantly reduce agricultural GHG emissions. Importantly, greening agriculture could transform agriculture from being a major emitter of GHG to one that is net neutral, and possibly even be a GHG sink, while reducing deforestation and freshwater use by 55 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.
8. Green agriculture will also require national and international policy reforms and innovations. Such policy changes should focus particularly on reforming environmentally harmful subsidies that artificially lower the costs of some agricultural inputs and lead to their inefficient and excessive use. In addition, they should promote policy measures that reward farmers for using environmentally-friendly agricultural inputs and farming practices and creating positive externalities such as improved ecosystem services. Changes in trade policies that increase access of green agricultural exports, originating in developing countries to markets in high income countries, are also required, along with reforms of trade- distorting production and export subsidies. These will facilitate greater participation by smallholder farmers, cooperatives and local food processing enterprises in food production value chains.