Global Harvest Initiative

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Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) claims its mission is "to sustainably double agricultural output and improve storage and distribution to eliminate the global productivity gap."[1]

GHI says it "believes innovation in agriculture from production through distribution will make it possible to feed the world of 2050."[2]

When it comes to the farming methods that are to deliver this "innovation in agriculture", it claims even-handedness:

Achieving this monumental task requires embracing all production practices, including conventional and organic agriculture, for producers of all sizes, ranging from subsistence farmers to large modern producers.[3]

However, there can be little doubt as to what type of farming it is advocating, as its founding members are the massive grain processor and biofuels producer Archer Daniels Midland Company, agricultural equipment supplier John Deere, and GM (genetic modification) and chemicals giants Monsanto and DuPont.[4]

Activities

In September 2009 GHI held a symposium, Agriculture at a Crossroads, in Washington DC. According to a press release from GHI:

Chief executives of four leading agricultural companies pledged ... to work collectively with public and private entities in an effort to close an imminent productivity gap to meet the needs of a growing and more affluent world population.[5]

Among the government officials present at the symposium was U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar.[6]

Notes

  1. About the Global Harvest Initiative, Global Harvest Initiative website, accessed 23 Sept 2009
  2. About the Global Harvest Initiative, Global Harvest Initiative website, accessed 23 Sept 2009
  3. About the Global Harvest Initiative, Global Harvest Initiative website, accessed 23 Sept 2009
  4. About the Global Harvest Initiative, Global Harvest Initiative website, accessed 23 Sept 2009
  5. Agriculture Leaders Commit to Address World's Growing Needs, Goal is to Sustainably Double Agricultural Output by 2050, GHI press release, 22 Sept 2009, PRWeb, accessed 23 Sept 2009
  6. Agriculture Leaders Commit to Address World's Growing Needs, Goal is to Sustainably Double Agricultural Output by 2050, GHI press release, 22 Sept 2009, PRWeb, accessed 23 Sept 2009