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DELTARES, FEBRUARY 2016
There are surely many other ways forward, such as
saline agriculture?
‘There isn't a single solution; we have to tackle the problems
in an integrated way. The salinisation of coastal areas is a
major concern and saline agriculture is a good example of the
complexity of our work. It sounds so promising but, in reality,
the approach isn't producing much in terms of calories as yet.
We may make progress by crossing salt-tolerant vegetables
with potatoes or rice, but conventional breeding takes time,
and the world isn't yet ready for the fast approach: genetic
modification. On top of all that, the saline vegetables we have
now are not very salt-tolerant at all. I think plants that remove
salt from the soil have more promise. Everything is possible,
but it takes time.’
How do you manage, despite all the complex
problems in the world, to stay optimistic about
the future?
‘Pessimism is a luxury we can't a£ord. Three quarters of the
world's population live and work within a hundred kilometres
from a coastline and we will have two billion extra mouths
to feed in the next thirty years, on top of the two billion we
already have who can't get a balanced diet or even enough
food. We must engage in a dialogue with one another, and that
is what we are doing. We have accomplished such an incredible
amount in recent decades. So we can ask each other a very
concrete question: what can we actually do together?’
What would you like to see at the top of the
international agenda?
‘The world needs models. The Netherlands has made a lot of
progress: farming isn't this closely controlled anywhere else,
and water management is nowhere as sound. They aren't
this thorough even in California. But things have to be done
quickly as well. Deltas are fertile and appealing but they are
also vulnerable. Solutions cost a tremendous amount of money
and so we can't manage without investors. I believe that large
deltas like those of Nigeria, Brazil and South-East Asia need
delta authorities that bring together public and private bodies
to tackle the problems. Even the Netherlands hasn't got that
far yet.’
Does it help that the most vulnerable areas oen
happen to be the most densely populated and
economically strongest?
There are certainly areas where we have a good chance of
achieving quick results, and setting an example for the rest
of the world if we get to work now. In those areas, there
are serious reasons for taking action, and there is a lot of
investment potential. But we have to get started quickly.
We are used to working in boxes. As a result, ministries and
universities in the West may be very professional but they
may also be too slow. We need a lot more ad hoc partnerships.
It could be that the countries that have only had central
governments for a short time will be able to move faster in
the future. For example, Eastern Africa was the first place to
introduce payment with cell phones. Things like this also make
me optimistic.’
Have the challenges in your profession changed
a lot in recent decades?
‘We knowmore and we can do more. What worries me is the
enormous lack of trust in science that has emerged on this
side of the world. There are highly educated people who say:
"I only eat things that come from nature" or "I've stopped
eating bread". Westerners take good, cheap food for granted,
but they shouldn't. They dream about solutions that are
completely impossible scientifically. There has been a rise
in magical thinking that has been totally unexpected for me
and that will certainly not help us to save the world. It's going
to take a major e£ort to roll that back. It stands in the way
of progress and it is negating what we have achieved with
decades of systematic research.’
What can the Netherlands learn from the rest
of the world?
‘Flexibility. We are oen still talking when the problems
elsewhere have already been sorted out. Entrepreneurship:
there's another thing. Silicon Valley has obviously been a
huge catalyst for ICT. We want to go down that road as well,
but it takes much too long to set up something like that here.
Diversity: we still have way too many white, grey-haired men
at the top. That is probably one reason why we still think and
work in disciplines, even though we actually should be looking
at problems in all sorts of di£erent ways at once. That's the
way to succeed.’