This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
An environment that is biologically diverse has lots of differentplants and animals. The Food and Agriculture Organization says thisis needed for people to have enough high-quality food to lead activeand healthy lives. For World Food Day this year, the United Nationsagency chose the message: “Biodiversity for Food Security”
The idea of biodiversity recognizes that natural systems arecomplex and depend on one another.
In agriculture, depending on only a few crops can be dangerous.One example is the Great Potato Famine in the eighteen forties.Ireland depended on potatoes as a food resource. But a diseaseruined the crop for several years. More than one million people diedfrom hunger.
Yet experts say the world depends on only four crops to providehalf its food energy from plants. These are wheat, maize, rice andpotato.
The experts say it is important to support a large number ofdifferent food crops and farm animals that can survive differentconditions. Such diversity helps to reduce the risk from losing onemain crop.
Farmers also have a responsibility to protect wild species. TheFood and Agriculture Organization says more than forty percent ofall land is used for agriculture. Farm fields are an important placefor wild animals to live and reproduce.
Also, farmers must consider the effects that agriculture has onthe environment. Farm pollution or poor agricultural methods canharm wetlands, rivers and other environments needed to support life.
The World Bank says invasive species are a severe threat tobiodiversity. Plants and animals often spread without naturalcontrols when they enter areas they are not native to. They candestroy crops, native species and property. Invasive species costthe world economy thousands of millions of dollars each year.
The World Bank says it is the world’s largest supporter ofbiodiversity projects. It says its support had reached almost fivethousand million dollars by the end of the two thousand fourfinancial year.
World Food Day is observed on October sixteenth. It celebratesthe anniversary of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, whichhas its headquarters in Rome. The F.A.O. started in nineteenforty-five in Quebec City, Canada.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Gwen Outen.