Book Review | ‘Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly’ by Philip Lymbery tells how governments can transform the global food system

The United Nations (UN) World Meteorological Organization recently warned that 2023-2027 will be the warmest five-year period ever recorded, with greenhouse gases and El Nino set to send temperatures soaring. In 2019, deputy director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Maria-Helena Semedo had said that the Earth’s top layer of soil could be lost in the next six decades, and already a third of the world’s soil had already degraded. Soil destruction at this rapid rate is because of chemical-heavy farming techniques and deforestation which accelerate erosion and global warming. It takes about a thousand years for the formation of three centimetres of topsoil.

Taking a cue from FAO’s warning, naturalist and farm- and animal-welfare advocate Philip Lymbery began working on this book. The author narrates the human civilisational journey of thousands of years, right from when our ancestors gave up nomadic lifestyles and became settlers, which resulted in the birth of the agriculture system. Settlers established contracts with the soil, which became the backbone of the food system and led to growth and expansion of human civilisation.

At present, about 95% of the world’s food system, which produces cereals, fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy, depends on soil. The author writes how with rising demand for food, the bond between soil and the production system started to break. Subsequently, animals were removed from the land and placed in captivity. Moreover, growing demand for food as the population grew, especially in the past one hundred years, resulted in application of chemical fertiliser in the soil, which undermines the soil as a living ecosystem.

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The author writes how the UN has warned that “if we carry on as we are, there could be just sixty harvests left in the world’s soils”—a clear departure from how we have always wrongly thought that food and farming are inexhaustible. The current climate crisis and soil degradation are a consequence of living beyond the planetary boundaries.

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As much as 37% of greenhouse gas emissions globally are caused by agriculture. Farming at present already covers half of the habitable land surface of the Earth. But the global bread baskets are at risk, both from soil erosion and global warming. And, with food production system at risk, global food shortages are staring us in the face.

Though providing several examples of farming initiatives across countries in finding balance between nature and food systems, the author argues in favour of regenerative farming with a reduction in animal-sourced foods in ways that will help rewild the soil for future harvests. The book also explains the opportunities that exist for a rebirth in the countryside.

The pandemic also taught us how the virus jumped the species barriers, affecting human beings. Three-quarters of all human diseases originate from animals. A decade back, swine flu originated in pig factory farms and caused half a million deaths globally. The author raises the alarm that Britain had nearly 800 mega farms for pigs, poultry and cattle, each farm housing as many as a million chickens or 20,000 pigs. The US and China have mega farms too. The author raises an alarm about the lack of data on how cattle are raised with no grazing or very little grazing.

Here, the author gives the example of the Shropshire family, owners of United Kingdom’s G’s Fresh, engaging in a regenerative farming project on 13,000 hectares on which they grow three-quarters of the celery and radishes sold in British supermarkets. To deal with plateauing yield and rising production cost, the Shropshires use artificial fertilisers only as a last resort, restoring farming animals to the land in ways that enhance animal welfare and soil fertility. They plan to stop ploughing as it disturbs the soils and releases carbon into the atmosphere. Next move would be to have a diversity of plants and animals and rotate them, which is expected to boost soil health. Reintroduction of free-roaming animals is a big part of the plan to preserve soils and fully regenerate soil within a decade.

The author argues that regenerative farming focuses on bringing farmed animals back to the land, while balancing food consumption that relies more on plants and alternative proteins. Thus, animals live more naturally and their droppings fertilise the land, harbouring insects that attract other wildlife and, in turn, become a source of nutrition.

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Restoration of farm animals would result in more ‘happier’ animals with better immunity, leading to a reduction in veterinary antibiotics and lesser use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers.

British naturalist, nature photographer and television presenter Chris Packham, in his conversation with the author, said soils all across the globe are in a ‘disastrous’ state. However, Packham cautioned against blaming farmers for soil degeneration, as large farms backed by multinational agrochemicals and grain companies, influence policymaking, which favours unsustainable farming. The author suggests that governments, businesses, the financial sector, the UN and civil society must work in partnership to transform the global food system. Regenerative farming would be able to meet the global food demand, can nourish people directly, and also free up enough land to feed the global population.