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Haley McDonald

Phillips

AP Language and Composition

4 December 2017

Dutch Agriculture and World Hunger

The planet that we inhabit does not currently produce enough food to feed all of

its people, nor does it have the resources to create enough for the future at its current

pace. Leading plant scientist Ernst Van Den Ende estimates that the world must

produce more food in the next four decades than all of the farmers in the past 8,000

years have produced (Viviano). Most countries are not taking action to combat world

hunger, and some even deny that the world has a hunger problem. One small country,

however, has an answer for world hunger: the Netherlands. Their proven superior

agricultural techniques can combat global hunger if coupled with a reduction in waste,

animal product consumption and the use of pesticides.

The Netherlands is historically known as the country of tulips, windmills and

clogs. It is also a country with a large population, nestled in a small low-lying delta

region. They have the largest population density in Europe. Amazingly, most of this

land is used for agriculture and they export most of what they make. Most of their

economy is focused on agriculture as is their education system. For example, one of

their biggest universities, the University of Wageningen, specifically focuses on

producing healthy food and a positive living environment by working with other

countries’ governments and businesses. With more than half of its land area utilized for
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farming, Dutch farmers employ innovative techniques like those used at Wageningen

that produce more food with fewer resources. This notion of innovative techniques in

one place is fantastic, but not large scale enough to end world hunger. Other countries,

specifically third world countries, must adopt these techniques too in order to combat

world hunger.

No one can deny the brilliance and innovation that that has gone into the design

of the Netherlands’ agricultural system. Farmers use such advances like driverless

tractors and drones that measure soil chemistry, water content and growth

(Borkhataria​)​. Unfortunately, though, new technology is not the whole solution to world

hunger. The world also needs to reduce its environmental impact. One way that the

Dutch are doing this is by using less water in farming. They use around 1.1 gallons of

water to produce one pound of tomatoes while the United States uses around 15.2 and

China uses 34.0 (Vallianatos). This startling difference in water usage demonstrates just

how wasteful the rest of the world is compared to the Dutch. The Netherlands is also

home to hundreds of thousands of greenhouses which minimize gas usage, water

usage and greenhouse gas emissions which in turn help protect the environment

(Wang).

Despite being a small, densely populated country, the Netherlands is the world’s

number one producer of chillies, green peppers, and cucumbers; it ranks second in

pears, fifth in carrots and sixth in potatoes and onions (Vallianatos). Not only are the

Dutch highly proficient in agriculture, the country is determined to give back. Almost two

decades ago, the Dutch created a national commitment to produce sustainable

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agriculture and generate twice as much food using half as many resources. Since

2000, this tiny country has become an agricultural powerhouse, bent on feeding their

country and the world. Such a drive to help others is very admirable, but must be

contagious in order to solve world hunger.

Our globe has many problems, but perhaps the most prevalent is world hunger.

Almost 842 million people worldwide suffer from hunger (that’s almost 12% of the

world's population) and 98% of those people live in developing countries (Turken). By

2025 the world will need to feed a world of over a billion people (RVO). To facilitate

increased food production, the Netherlands is also focusing its resources on developing

partnerships with companies and non-profits. For example, they have begun a

partnership with Farm Africa and Aqua-Spark. Farm Africa is an international NGO

partner with the Dutch government. Through Farm Africa, the Dutch are promoting fish

farming through technical and business skills among farmers in order to boost food

production. Aqua-Spark, founded by entrepreneur Mike Velings, invests in companies

that support sustainable aquaculture (Llave). Both Farm Africa and Aqua-Spark help

reduce water consumption and work with third-world countries to encourage new, less

environmentally-destructive ways to acquire food.

Another innovative approach of the Dutch is their creation of Robank and its $1

billion credit program to launch land and forest restoration projects and increase

sustainable food and farming practices in third world countries. Robank has partnered

with the WWFS Brazil chapter to finance agriculture strategies to combat deforestation

and loss of land in the Amazon (Kaye). Once again, both of these ventures are helping
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feed the world by partnering with countries that need help with their agricultural

problems thus making more money available to combat world hunger.

Some opponents of certain agricultural practices like Evaggelos Vallianatos and

many others, believe that the technologically advanced greenhouses of the Dutch are “a

temporary convenience that will never feed the world”(Vallianatos) and the only way to

solve world hunger is to “dramatically reduce the population”(Vallianatos). Stating that

overpopulation is the cause of world hunger is absurd. While still somewhat connected

to world hunger, the notion that we shouldn’t focus on how to more efficiently grow

crops and instead get rid of people is entirely missing the point of solving world hunger.

The goal of ending world hunger never has been and never will be to reduce the

number of people on the earth. The goal of solving world hunger, for example, is to

help the starving families in Africa to produce their own food and make sure that the

homeless women and men in our own cities are fed.

Solving world hunger is critical to the future of our planet. Agricultural innovators

in the Netherlands have proven that they have found solutions to the 21st Century's

biggest problem by developing ways to reduce the use of water and energy while

simultaneously increasing production. They have also focused on partnering with

third-world countries to improve farming practices through economic solutions. World

hunger cannot be solved by just one method, but the Dutch are leading the world in

developing methods shown to combat it. Now is the time for other countries to take

measures to make agriculture more sustainable by reducing animal product

consumption, waste and pesticide use.

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Works Cited

Borkhataria, Cecile. “High-Tech Future of Farming.” ​Daily Mail Online​, Associated

Newspapers, 7 Sept. 2017,

www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4863106/The-hi-tech-future-farming-Net

herlands.html​.

Kaye, Leon on Tuesday, Oct 17th, 2017 Climate & Environment. “$1 Billion In Credit

Now Available for Sustainable Farming.” ​Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit​,

Triple Pundit, 16 Oct. 2017,

www.triplepundit.com/2017/10/rabobank-kicks-off-1-billion-credit-program-sustain

able-farming/​.

Llave, Claudia De la. “Claudia De La Llave.” ​Aquaculture Magazine​, Aquaculture

Magazine, 31 Oct. 2017,

aquaculturemag.com/2017/10/31/responsible-investing-funding-sustainable-aqua

culture-farming/.

(RVO), Netherlands Enterprise Agency. “Agriculture and Food.” ​Key Sector | Holland

Trade and Invest​, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, 7

June 2017, ​www.hollandtradeandinvest.com/key-sectors/agriculture-and-food​.

Turken, Chasen. “15 Important World Hunger Statistics.” ​The Borgen Project​, The

Borgen Project, 16 Oct. 2017, borgenproject.org/15-world-hunger-statistics/.

Vallianatos, Evaggelos. “Who's Going to Feed the World?” ​The Huffington Post​,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 Nov. 2017,

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www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/whos-going-to-feed-the-world_us_5a2084ade4b0

5072e8b5676d​.

Viviano, Frank. “This Tiny Country Feeds the World.” ​National Geographic​, National

Geographic, 31 Aug. 2017,

www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/09/holland-agriculture-sustainable-

farming

Wang, Brian. “Netherlands Is World Number Two in Agricultural Exports by Using

Greenhouses and New Technology.” ​NextBigFuture.com​, Next Big Future, 14

Oct. 2017,

www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/09/netherlands-is-world-number-two-in-agricultural-

exports-by-using-greenhouses-and-new-technology.html​.