Despite the considerable disappointment with the results of the Rio +20 conference, it generated a few promising work directions, all of them based on very detailed studies and data. One of the most relevant documents presented at Rio +20 was the report "Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems". In it, UNEP, United Nations Environmental Program, discusses the availability and access to food on a global scale, the tremendous negative impacts of the current model in the ability of the ecosystems to carry out the basic ecological services that we all depend on (the water cycle or the renewal of the soil, for instance) and the economic impacts of a much need change of the current model.

The report compiles data from various sources and concludes that an investment of 200 thousand million dollars in sustainable agriculture in developing countries until 2050 would lead not only the improvement of soil quality, increased agricultural production and reduced needs for soil and water for agriculture, but also an increase in GDP and the addition of up to 47 million additional jobs (when compared to the conventional scenario). Joseph Alcamo, chief scientist of UNEP, goes further and states that "... if we invest 1.06% of global GDP in sustainable agriculture from 2015, we have 50 million new green jobs in the field by 2050. It's a win-win situation. Strengthen the ecological foundations of agriculture and increased the job offer…"

Read the Full Report HERE.