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CSOs CALL FOR
ACTION PLAN
CSO reflections on “Cultivating our Futures,” the FAO/Netherlands
Conference on the Multifunctional Character of Agriculture and Land
12-17 September 1999, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Without success, CSOs called for a Plan of Action that would address the implementation of sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD). It would have covered the main constraints to its implementation. As well, it would have included both the opportunities for, and lessons learned about, the use of SARD policies and practices - holistic, safe, healthy, diverse, poverty-alleviating policies and practices that integrate all functions in sustainable agricultural systems that provide for food security.
[The Chairman's report, while including many, but not all, of the points raised by CSOs is, however, weak in commitments to action.]
The multifunctionality of agriculture in industrial systems is withering: there is global spread of specialised would-be monofunctional agriculture, which threatens SARD. The full costs of such monofunctional agriculture should be internalised.
A viable Action Plan would have emphasised the growth of rural poverty and hunger, the central role of women in providing local food security and the loss of local resources, knowledge and technology as well as local control over sustainable use.
The Action Plan would have called for the immediate implementation of all actions in support of SARD from previous agreements at UNCED (1992), Beijing (1994), the Leipzig Global Plan of Action (1996), World Food Summit (1996) and the CBD (1996 &1998), among others (see < http://www.uned-uk.org/roadmap/agriculture.htm>) that would enhance the multifunctional character of agriculture. In particular, the Action Plan would have emphasised:
1. Developing a Concrete Framework for Giving Guidance on the Multiple Functions of Agriculture
CSOs recognized that there was a confusion over the meaning of multifunctionality and there is a need for further development of guidance on the principles to give guidance to policymakers for their consideration in assessing how best each country can determine for themselves their approach to agricultural sustainability, bearing in mind the central role of women. FAO could have been asked to develop this - but the reference was deleted in the final version of the Chairman's report because of Cairns Group objections.
2. Fostering Policies that Support Best Practices: The Case for Organic Agriculture and Agroecological Methods of Food Production
There is a need to further examine the solution potential of organic agriculture and to work towards a better understanding of how it meets the framework of the multiple benefits for food security, economic, social and environmental concerns. Commitment and progress has been uneven, even though organic agriculture is experiencing rapid worldwide growth and there is considerable support from the public sector and some governments in both developing and developed countries. Low external input farming systems, although not always 'organic', make greater use of the diversity of biological resources, of producer ingenuity, and of indigenous systems of organisation. The greater use of these resources leads to their being more rewarded and to their being more highly valued, both by farmers and by society at large. In contrast, high external input farming often requires massive use of pesticides which cause human health and environmental problems. These costs should be fully internalised.
3. Ensuring Access to, and Sustainable Use of, Productive Resources
Land tenure and property rights can improve food security, increase the incomes of the rural poor, reduce landholding inequalities and prevent rural conflicts. Access, especially secure access, to land can catalyse practices of sustainable resource use, improve soil management and contribute to combating desertification.
The concern about sustaining agricultural biodiversity and productive agro-ecosystems as well as access to a diversity of locally-adapted seeds and breeds must, inter alia, be translated into an increase of public funds into research and development that is based upon sustainable technologies and practices, and emerging knowledge that is more supportive of environmentally-friendly agriculture and takes advantage of the growing contribution of organic agriculture. A major constraint is the investment of massive resources, including public funds, into the research and development of GE biotechnologies, including technologies for preventing the germination of seeds -- the so-called Terminator Technologies -- which are the antithesis of multifunctionality. The conference should have reflected the concerns of citizens and institutions worldwide on this issue, as others such as the CGIAR have already done, and call for the CSD to reject these technologies that will deny the most basic of Farmers' Rights - the right to save seeds - and destroy production systems, local development and livelihoods.
The next decades will see significant scarcity of water resources for both productive and domestic uses. The social organisation of the control of these resources needs full stakeholder participation and management, watershed by watershed.
4. Recognition of the Essential Contribution of Small Family-Owned and Operated Farms and Waged Agricultural and Food Workers to Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
It should be recognized that in general small farm agriculture provides more multiple benefits to society and the biosphere than large scale monoculture farms. Small farms sustain more biodiversity, are more productive per unit area, thus greatly benefiting efforts to achieve food security, generate more employment, and contribute more to local towns and regional development. On the other hand, for the most part, small farms are the most negatively affected by indiscriminate trade liberalization and export promotion policies. Research shows that they are frequently the most successful at contributing to vibrant internal markets for domestic foodstuffs and local food security. The role of waged agricultural workers in achieving sustainable agriculture and food systems is key, as over 40% of employment in this sector is wage workers, not owners. These workers and their trade unions need to be better recognized in their efforts to contribute to the achievement of conditions that enhance progress in this area.
5. Recognition of the Growing Adverse Impact of Unregulated Trade on Achieving Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development
The present agricultural and trade policies do not make possible a multifunctional and sustainable agriculture, and are contributing to the deep crisis in agriculture, including making it impossible for countries to maintain food sovereignty and development of their national policies for agriculture and rural development. The overriding issue is that trade must not distort the ability of people to secure their livelihoods -- we are displacing rural people, contributing to urban implosion, by distorting their ability to make a livelihood in the agriculture and food sector.
The growing ecological and socio-economic crisis of agriculture continues to result in the massive exodus of small farmers to urban areas worldwide, in both developing countries and the industrialised world. This state of affairs is caused mainly by the ever quickening impetus of globalisation of markets, cultures and tastes, its attendant hi-tech industrialisation processes and reconfiguration of powerful market forces, including the growing privatization of land, seed and water resources.
6. Inclusion of ALL Stakeholders in the Process
It is clear from a number of the case studies presented to the conference that when agriculture systems meet the needs of farmers, agriculture and food workers, and other rural people, they are more likely to be sustainable and to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits. There is, therefore, an obvious need to build the capacity of women and men farmers, agricultural workers and consumers, including grassroots stakeholders so that they can control the development of their agricultural and land economy. This also necessarily implies involvement of non-agricultural and urban sectors.
There are more participatory models to strengthen the role of Major Social Groups in Sustainable Development and the implementation of Agenda 21. For example, in implementing Chapter 19 an Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) has been formed on the basis of full participation by all the stakeholders.
Return to report on "Cultivating our Futures"