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1  United Nations Environment Programme www.unep.org 

2  United Nations Environment Programme Rapid Response Assessment; The Natural Fix? The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Change Mitigation , June 2009 

3  2030 Water Resources Group; Charting our Water Future, Economic framework to inform decision-making ; December 2009 

## The Vietnam Coffee Task Force 

The program helps increase the yield 

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and quality of my coffee beans, and I can get a better price for them. 

Van Thiem Phan Coffee grower Tân Thanh, Lâm Hà, Vietnam 

More online www.syngenta.com/ar2011 

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## Preserving the land 

Poor farming practices leave soil vulnerable to erosion by wind and rain. In aggregate, an area large enough to feed Europe has already become too degraded to produce food. We need to help farmers increase soil fertility and improve the productivity on their land in sustainable ways. That means crop rotations, restoring degraded land, planting vegetation around fields to prevent erosion and techniques to avoid unnecessary tilling. 1 

Fertile soils are important for carbon storage. By reducing soil erosion, greenhouse gas emissions from soil are also reduced. Through cropland management, prevention of land conversion, and modern soil conservation technologies, the agricultural sector could stop contributing excess greenhouse gases by 2030. 2 

## Saving water 3 

40 percent  of water used for agriculture is wasted. Investment is needed to develop innovative water-efficient technologies, drought- tolerant seeds, crop protection products, and optimized irrigation systems. In 2011, we launched ARTESIAN ™ , the first corn hybrid that uses moisture more efficiently to give higher yields on drought-stressed land. Herbicides that reduce the need for plowing improve soil’s ability to absorb water, protecting it against erosion and water run-off. This has the added benefit of preventing agricultural chemicals and soil in fields from run-off into rivers and streams. 

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## Protecting biodiversity 

Biodiversity and agriculture depend on each other; the diversity of nature must be secured to enable global food supply and quality of life. We believe agricultural policies should help and incentivize growers to nurture biodiversity as well as to produce more from their existing acreage. 

If we do not sustainably increase agricultural productivity on current farmland, we will not be able to protect biodiversity for future generations. To accomplish the task at hand, farmers and policy makers can coordinate efforts to protect and enhance biodiversity. For instance, growers can turn unproductive field margins into natural habitats for a wide range of species including pollinators. 

## Building rural prosperity 

Strong rural economies are the key to sustainable and productive agricultural systems. There is a prosperity gap between rural and urban populations that causes urban migration. But to meet the growing demand for food we need prosperous rural communities, and farming needs to be an attractive business proposition. We want farmers to earn better incomes and to increase both their quality of life and their capability as stewards of land, water and biodiversity. 

