idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
In many developing countries, poverty and commercial exploitation lead to unsustainable use of resources causing sinking water levels, loss of fertile land, accelerated desertification, a decline in biodiversity and will eventually lead to more poverty and growing migration. At the same time there is a demand for a higher agricultural output. In recognition of this dilemma, voices are calling for higher efficiency in agricultural production, more output with less input. However, this can not be accompanied by compromises regarding the sustainability of production.
Key issues under discussion will be, among others:
Multifunctionality: What services should be provided by the agricultural sector to society, e.g. production of food, feed and fuel, environmental services, preserving cultural heritage and who is paying for it through what kind of?
Income generation: Under which conditions can the agricultural sector be an engine of economic growth and provide jobs especially for poor people to future generations?
Finding the right scale: Will the world’s food supply be produced on small-scale farms with low input use such as fertilizer, pesticides and agricultural machinery, or will the farmers of the future be highly qualified professionals applying large-scale production systems with an array of high-tech instruments and capital input?
Rural vs. urban: what will be the dominant migration patterns, will ever fewer people in rural areas produce the bulk of food staple crops and at the same time peri-urban agriculture is supplying the fresh produce market?
The functional divide: Will arid areas of the globe be used to power solar plants and agricultural production will be concentrated in fertile regions of the planet?
Technology: New themes such as vertical agriculture, in-vitro meat production, functional food or cloning are coming more and more into the debate. New ways of communication impact the way agricultural products are produced and marketed.
Information on participating / attending:
A quick note to journalists: The symposium will be held in English, however most of the speakers willalso be available for interviews in German.
If you are a journalist and like to attend the symposium and have interview wishes, please contact:
Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
Division Agriculture, fisheries and food
Oliver Hanschke
T +49 6196.79-3293
M +49 177.4471032
E oliver.hanschke@gtz.de or future-of-agriculture@gtz.de
At this stage,the registration process for expert participants is already closed. Registration is still possible for journalists.
Date:
08/25/2010 08:00 - 08/26/2010 16:30
Registration deadline:
08/20/2010
Event venue:
KTC Kommunikations- und Trainings-Center Königstein GmbH
Ölmühlweg 65
61462 Königstein
Hessen
Germany
Target group:
Journalists
Email address:
Relevance:
international
Subject areas:
Economics / business administration, Environment / ecology, Nutrition / healthcare / nursing, Politics, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
Types of events:
Entry:
08/13/2010
Sender/author:
Oliver Hanschke
Department:
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit / Public Awareness
Event is free:
no
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event32157
Agenda/Programme Background to the symposium You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
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