The enormity of the challenge faced by global agriculture in meeting the needs of our growing and more affluent population is widely accepted.  Land, water and habitat constraints are tightening, as recognition grows of the critical need to protect these resources for future generations.  Failure to meet these expectations sustainably has implications that transcend agriculture, with enormous ramifications for political stability in many parts of the world.

The Global Harvest Initiative believes that the challenge can be met and that much of the solution rests with agriculture's ability to produce more with the same or fewer resources.  The "global productivity gap" - the difference between the historic rate of productivity growth and the pace required to meet future needs - will not be closed without widespread significant innovation that leads to accelerated agricultural productivity growth and improved supply chain efficiency.  The key question of this new Century is how we, as a world community, mobilize to close this gap.

The following are some areas of common ground that Global Harvest believes will help lead toward closing the global productivity gap.

Acknowledging and Tackling the Problem

The first step toward closing the productivity gap is to acknowledge the reality of its existence and the dire consequences of failing to address it.  To that end, Global Harvest intends to promote awareness of the challenges we face on a global basis through a variety of means, including sponsoring symposia, commissioning research studies, and holding media events to encourage informed dialogue among thought leaders, policy makers and others. 

We want to broaden the base of stakeholders who are engaged in constructive dialogue and who are committed to working together to identify the best answers to the complex questions before us.  No country, organization or company can effectively close the global productivity gap alone.  Instead, a concerted pursuit of policies that collectively foster innovation and technology sharing globally throughout the chain is required.
 
Experts suggest that closing the productivity gap will entail the efforts of national governments in both developed and developing countries, in partnership with international organizations such as the World Bank and regional development banks, FAO/WHO and other multilateral institutions, national aid organizations such as the US Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID, academia, and the private sector.

• Research. Meaningful increases in research can lead to technology breakthroughs and productivity gains across the agricultural system. Studies suggest that the return from each additional dollar spent on basic agricultural research yield a far greater return to society than obtainable in almost any other discipline. Several comprehensive reports,[1] however, conclude that public agricultural research funding is woefully inadequate and lags basic research funding in other areas. Increased funding for basic food and agricultural research is a top immediate priority to help close the productivity gap. Policies also should help drive private investment in ways that complement public investment, as well as support partnerships between the private and public sectors.
  
  Further, developed countries, as well as those with fast-growing developing economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China), must do a better job in leveraging research results globally and in advancing agricultural science partnerships with developing countries.
• Trade. Increasingly, global population centers are distant to the surplus food producing areas, suggesting that expanding trade will be a critical component of improved global food security. Not all countries have the natural resource base or accommodating climate needed for agriculture. Global Harvest thus supports continued liberalization of food and agricultural trade through expanded trade agreements. While this is a sensitive topic for both developing and developed nations, finding an accommodating balance is essential to food, environmental and economic security.
• Conservation Programs. We must minimize environmental degradation while meeting the global agricultural production needs of the future. Deforestation and use of fragile lands is simply not a viable option, so more will have to be grown on the existing land base using natural resources more efficiently. Much additional emphasis should be placed on irrigation and drought management, nutrient efficiencies and management, conservation tillage, and other actions that will improve water quality, reduce water use, and reduce greenhouse gases. These programs are important both in U.S. agriculture and throughout the rest of the world.
• U.S. Foreign Assistance. Global Harvest supports elevating the visibility and effectiveness of foreign development assistance programs. We urge better coordination across the 26 U.S. government agencies that participate in international aid programs, international donors, the NGO community, and the private sector. Improved coordination across these entities could help target poverty in the neediest areas, especially in Africa and other developing nations and regions.
• Good Governance and Appropriate Policy Environments. Global Harvest supports the strengthening of programs that fundamentally address good governance and anti-corruption measures. Rural sector aid and development is most effective in environments where policies are in place that reinforce good governance, economic freedom and investment in people and businesses. The ultimate goal of these programs is to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth, enhanced productivity and environmental stewardship.
• Incentives for Innovation. Global Harvest believes that the United States should take the lead in promoting global discussions on tax credits, intellectual property and other policies that encourage innovation, stimulate environmental benefits and spur economic growth.
• Science-Based Approval of New Technologies.  Innovation and adoption of new technology are key to meeting the challenges ahead. To encourage productivity advancements, approvals of new technologies must be based on science. Not only does Global Harvest encourage the United States to maintain an open, transparent and science-based system for approvals of new seeds and other innovations, it encourages all others to have a science-based approval process as well.

[1] See: National Institute for Food and Agriculture Report of the Research, Education and Economics Task Force (2004); National Research Council, Frontiers in Agriculture Research: Food, Health, Environment, and Communities (2003).