If I had a $ for every key to feeding the world…

…I’d have about enough for a pizza in Rome.

Theme of World Food Day is agricultural cooperatives. Today's "key to feeding the world." If I had a $ for every key… http://t.co/F58eEs9z

— AgroBioDiverse (@AgroBioDiverse) October 16, 2012

Having presented a hostage to fortune with this recent tweet, I thought I’d better check how many things have actually been put forward as keys to feeding the world. Unsurprisingly on this particular World Food Day, the most common answer is indeed agricultural cooperatives, but ranging into the nether regions of a Google search throws up the following eclectic, but alas short, list:

Crop quality
Integrated Pest Management
Biotechnology
Diets and nutrition
Russia’s small-scale organic agriculture model (sic)
Modern agriculture
Peasants

Trying variants such as “key to agricultural development”, “agricultural production” and “agricultural sustainability” broadens the range to include some old favourites, such as perennial crops, little-known crops, ICTs, research/extension and policy; even biodiversity finally makes an appearance. But perhaps the most interesting result is that only a very few items appear on more than one of these lists: farmers’ organizations, biotechnology and girls/women.

Anyway, it’s World Food Day, and you can get involved!