The agricultural picture can be divided into various key areas.

• Agriculture’s role in climate change
  Farming is a major contributor to global warming. The International Panel on Climate Change believes that it accounts for up to 12% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
  [To discover more, read our factsheet.
• Biodiversity
  Pesticide use has had a harmful impact on biological diversity. These products can have short-term toxic effects on directly-exposed organisms, and long-term effects can result from changes to habitats and the food chain.
• Food security
  How safe is the world’s food supply? This depends on factors including how many mouths we need to feed, our average consumption and the availability of fertile land on which to raise crops or livestock.
• Integrated production
  How do we reduce our dependence on pesticides in farming? The answer lies in practising a more holistic approach to managing pests and crops. A gradual approach of this kind offers the greatest degree of flexibility to the world’s farmers.