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According to the SDG website, the objective of sustainable development goal two is to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” Specifically, I am addressing SDG target 2.5. This target aims to “maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed,” according to the SDG website. A skeptic may make the argument that this is no longer an issue, but despite the many strides we’ve made in the direction of preserving genetic diversity, we are still far from it. Infact, as reported by the SDG website, only around 7 percent of global breeds have been sufficiently preserved, and 20% of breeds were classified as being at risk. As stated by David Hooper of Western Washington University, “Our new results show that future loss of species has the potential to reduce plant production just as much as global warming and pollution.” As another example of the severity of this issue, we can look to history. One of the most extreme examples of a lack of biodiversity and its consequences took place in Ireland in the 1840’s. Known as the Irish Potato Famine, this was a period of history in Ireland that caused mass starvation.The root of this issue was a lack of biodiversity, and an extreme over reliance on one crop. The Irish had come to rely almost entirely on the Irish Lumper Potato. When a disease called Late Blight began spreading through the lumper potatoes, destroying the leaves and tubers, it spread to all the potatoes, as they were all of the exact same variety with no resistance to the disease. According to Britannica, the effects were so devastating that the population fell from “8.4 million in 1844 to 6.6 million by 1851. About 1 million people died and perhaps 2 million more eventually emigrated from the country. Many who survived suffered from malnutrition.” This is excluding the economic effects, which were also very severe. The financial burden was placed primarily on Irish landowners, and many were evicted from or lost their land. By 1920, the population was barely half of what it had been before the famine. In the Dry Forest of Columbia, however, people are taking steps in a different direction. After the end of a 50 year conflict, farming communities are coming together and the economy is blossoming, based on the collective goal of maintaining biodiversity. During the conflict, many crops were lost or forgotten about, as it was difficult to support non necessity crops while farmers feared for their lives. Families that had fled during the conflict have taken back to the dry forest in an attempt to recover a variety of lost species. Leyla Vega, a community member, was one of many
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who took to this task. She and others collected seeds of 16 different varieties of crops from the forest. After recultivating the crop, it was being planted again and reintroduced to markets. This is just one example of people making a difference and restoring agricultural biodiversity. It is clear that not everyone can contribute in such a direct way, but there are many ways individuals can help the cause. One aspect of preserving genetic diversity is preserving the diversity even within one specific crop. Large companies with monopolies on seeds push these seeds on farmers, always attempting to eliminate the previous generation of seeds. An individual can choose to not support companies that press this monoculture on farmers. An alternative to this is purchase locally, and if this is not always possible, do research into the food you purchase. There are other wide scale ways that this issue can be addressed as well. The US government currently supports the idea of a monoculture by offering extensive incentives to farmers to grow certain products and not others. There are massive incentives offered on crops like corn, so it is no surprise that we rely so heavily on corn. As the UN, we can implement protection against this. Furthermore, we can invest more money into seed banks. These are very important as they are our only backup as more and more species go extinct. We have seen the consequences in the past, the only question is whether we will learn from them or continue down the same ignorant path? I urge you all to consider this question. Thank you. Mokyr, Joel. “Great Famine.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 May 2019, www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history. United Nations. “Goal 2 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, 2018, sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg2. United Nations Development Programme. “PRODUCTS of Peace - United Nations Development Programme | UNDP.” Exposure, United Nations Development Program, 14 June 2018, stories.undp.org/peace-products. University Of Michigan. “Ecosystem Effects of Biodiversity Loss Could Rival Impacts of Climate Change, Pollution | Newswise: News for Journalists.” Newswise = Smart News Connection, Newswise, 27 Apr. 2012, www.newswise.com/articles/ecosystem-effects-of-biodiversity-loss-could-rivalimpacts-of-climate-change-pollution.
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