b'THE RISK CORNER BY: DAVID ZARUKLET THEM EAT CAKE!WAR, FAMINE AND SEED BREEDINGW hen Russia brutally invadedis not called out in the streets in Sri Lanka. I dont imagine, under such horrifying the Ukraine in February 2022,In conflict zones, starvation is theglobal conditions, that calls for politically war in the worlds breadbasketcruellest weapon of war. Biafra was per- driven agroecology techniques or elitist could only forebode greater tragedies tohaps the worst case in living memory, butdemands for organic farming transitions come. Large percentages of global exportsthis is not something consigned to ourwill have much resonance in public dia-of wheat, maize, soy, sunflower, and barleybarbaric past. Recent UN data shows thatlogue. The activist impositions at the heart come from the region with import-depend- of the 815 million people suffering fromof the European Commissions Farm2Fork ent developing countries being their mainmalnutrition, 60 per cent live in regionsstrategy will timestamp the end of this era export markets. The FAO Global Foodwith armed conflict. Today we see foodof ideology over agriculture and of food Price Index, already up almost 20 per centaccess ruthlessly being denied in hungercults over science.in 2021, soared by 12.6 per cent in Marchhotspots like Yemen, the Tigray region in alone (to its highest level ever). Sadly, asEthiopia and Myanmar. OUT OF TRAGEDY COMES HOPEprices escalate, hunger will haunt millionsStarvation was used against theWhen a nation recovers from a famine or and famines are likely. Ukrainians in the Holodomor, and this hasfood crisis, it often turns its attention to The war in Ukraine is unique in thatsurely not been forgotten, 90 years on, asbetter farming tools, agronomy, and more the effects of food shortages, hunger andthe word genocide has once again beenfood autonomy. Those with full bellies see poverty will reverberate around the worldexpressed. As a Ukrainian-Canadian whono need to change (and often restrict agri-more than in the conflict region. Whilegrew up on a farm, the importance of acultural innovations) but those knowing the growth in agricultural output in thewell-stocked pantry was one of my earliestwant, want better farming. Following World Ukraine and Russia has been impressive,lessons. After four generations, wealth isWar II, agricultural yields exploded in the perhaps the main reason we have hadstill measured in our home via stored foodUS and Europe, aided by improved tech-very few food security crises over the lastabundance. nologies. Food for Peace was the mantra. decade, the cutting off of exports, failureBut by this measure, many others willEnlightened leaders, exiting famines or to plant a 2022 crop and loss of access tonot be so wealthy. Assuming the war inhunger-driven conflicts, will look more fertilisers will generate further food short- Ukraine drags on, sanctions bite deeperopenly towards agricultural technologies, ages and spell disaster for many develop- and developed nations hoard their foodbetter farming practises, better seedsing countries before the first drought orstores, 2022-23 will sadly be known asHistorically,agriculturalyield failed crop is recorded. the years of hunger, food crises and rev- increases have come largely from plant Many lives will be lost from thisolution with large population migrations,breeding innovations. At a time when the Russian aggression; but many more,strife and famine defining the narrative.world will be refocusing on yields, research-worlds away, will quietly die from faminesers need to come forward with their seed and strife. THE END OF THE AGE OF FOODsolutions. The European Commission, after AFFLUENCE years of backward-looking ag-tech poli-A WEAPON OF WAR How will this narrative shift affect thecies that would rival Lysenko, is prepared Revolutions often germinate from hunger.public perception of agriculture and food(finally) to listen and move forward to a From the French Revolution to the Arabproduction (often taken for granted in themore Mendelian approach to agriculture.Spring, history has shown that removingaffluent West)? Seed researchers offering resil-the ability to feed ones family is an intol- The urgent demand for higher yieldsient varieties, higher yields and drought erable indignation. What will happen thisand sustainable intensification will leadresistance will now have a more captive year in developing countries where foodto greater challenges for the researchaudience. Agricultural yields should once prices might double, with basic staplescommunity. To make matters worse,again occupy a primary seat in public dia-going beyond the reach of large parts ofmany areas in Western Canada, thelogue and at the policy table. The research the population? Will the populations blameUnited States, Argentina and Eastern andcommunity will need to speak loudly to the Russian invasion, or will they rise upSouthern Africa have been struggling withvoice their solutions. against their governments? Putins namedrought conditions.Out of the darkness comes the light.34IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'