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Feeding the Planet through Democracy and Diversity Florence – 14 July 2014

Feeding the Planet through Democracy and Diversity Florence – 14 July 2014. What can the Italian Presidency do to help resolve the EU food security paradox : good policy – lousy PCD? Nora McKeon

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Feeding the Planet through Democracy and Diversity Florence – 14 July 2014

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  1. Feeding the Planet throughDemocracy and DiversityFlorence – 14 July 2014 What can the ItalianPresidency do to help resolve the EU food security paradox: good policy – lousy PCD? Nora McKeon Terra Nuova/Concord Italia representative in the EuropeanFood Security Working Group

  2. Concord position paper on food security: Justice, Democracy and Diversity in ourFood System 1. Observations: • Hungeris a result of injustice, not of scarcity.

  3. In ourglobalised world wehave a dualfoodsystem: the industrial systemgeneratinghugeprofits for corporationsbutfailing to feedpeople with healthyfood and generatingother negative impacts…

  4. …and local small-scale foodsystemsthat are still the basis of the world’sfoodsupply(80%) and can restore the environment and improve social justice, butare neglected by policies, research and investment.

  5. Concord position paper on foodsecurity.2. Problems • Domination of production, processing, retailingby a small number of multinationalsgivingthem an unsafelevel of power.

  6. 2. Problems (cont.) • Politicalsupportinvested in unfair and environmentallydamagingfoodsystems; vastmajorityexcluded from contributing to decision-making on food. • Unjusttraderulesthat force markets in foodinsecurecountries open to unfaircompetiton. • Financialization of naturalresourcesand agriculturalcommoditiesleading to speculation and landgrabbing. • Unsustainable production methods. • Race to the bottom in foodprovisioncreating long and unaccountablefoodchains. • Unsustainableconsumptionpatterns. • Researchagenda and fundingdisproportionatelygeared to high-tech, profit-drivenapproachesratherthan meeting the needs of localfoodproducers.

  7. Concord position paper on food security.3. Solutions • Ensuredemocracy and coherence in policy making, with bottom-up approach. Globally: Committee on World Food Security. • Opt for agroecologicalmethods of production. • Prioritiselocaleconomies and trade. • Bring back the State! Investmentpoliciesfocused on provision of public goods to complementfarmers’ investmentsratherthanfacilitatingforeign private sector. • Letfoodinsecurecountriesensurestable and fair prices and more responsibleconsumption by managing and protectingmarkets – as Europe does. • Guaranteeaccess to productiveresources. • Redirectagriculturalresearchtowards meeting the needs of family farmers, with theirparticipation. • Betteraid and developmentpoliciesbuilt on human rights.

  8. EU food security policy framework - the best in town in 2010. The EU and Membersshould: • “focus on sustainable small-scale food production to increase availability of food in developing countries. It has multiple effects of enhancing incomes and resilience for rural producers, making food available for consumers, and maintaining or enhancing environmental quality.” • . “help create employment In rural areas through agro-processing, mainly in small and medium sized enterprises.” • “support research and innovation which have clear benefits for smallholder farmers”. • “support application of right to food in developing countries: strategies that tackle the root causes of hunger and empowerment of marginalised groups in the design, implementation and monitoring of national programmes, as well as establishing and strengthening redress mechanism”. • «Support the reformed CFS to become the pivotalinstitution to coordinate global food security».

  9. EU Food and Nutrition Security Implementation Plan – 2013. • Laudableeffort to ensure policy doesn’tremain on a shelf and to buildcoherenceamongMembers. • Councilconclusions, reiterate rights-basedapproach, support for small-scale producersasbiggestinvestors, shorterfoodchains, support for CFS and VGGTs, addressingrootcauses of food and nutrition security. • Baseline monitoringexercise in 2013/2014 – report will be published under ItalianPresidency. An excellentinitiativebut… • Too muchemphasis on coordination and complementarity and notenough on policy coherence. • Patchyinclusion of civil society in the monitoringexercisedespitereiteratedefforts by Concord EFSG. Italy the positive exceptionthanks to Italian HARD member.

  10. A special word aboutItaly. • Particularattention to food security. EXPO, ICN, Rome-basedagencies and CFS. • No coherent policy yetbutinterestingreflections in post 2015 processhighlighting: • Need to focus on local agri-foodsystems • Need to act on rootcauses of foodinsecurityincludingdistortions in international market. • Right to food the basis. Italy a richterrain of experimentation in building a betterfoodsystem from the base up – foodsovereignty: • Family farming and agroecology • Territoriallyrootedqualityfoodprovision. Producer-consumer cooperation. • Public procurement.

  11. BUT…. goodpoliciesriskbeingthwarted by inadequate Policy Coherence for Development. Can the ItalianPresidencymake a difference?A fewexamples: 1. Economic Partnership Agreements Benefit Europeancompetitivityat the expense of African small-scale producersthat EU food security policy claims to want to support. Will ItalianPresidencywitnessfinalact of a decade of ROPPA resistence? 2. Agrifuels Can ItalianPresidencypilot an ILUC decisionthrough EP and Councilthathas a meaningful impact in terms of reducingEU’sincitment of landgrabbing?

  12. Goodpoliciesriskbeingthwarted by lousy Policy Coherence for Development. Can the ItalianPresidencymake a difference? 3. Financial speculation Wesupport the ItalianPresidency’sefforts to seekagreement on the FTT, targetingthoseformsmostpernicious for speculation on food and land. 4. TransatlanticTrade and Investment Partnership. We urge the ItalianPresidency to fightagainst pressure to: • lower EU standards on foodsafety and labelling and tolerance of GMOs. • Derailefforts to makefinancial and commodity market regulations more effective and transparent. • Undermine public procurementpoliciesfavouringlocalfood. • Introduce Investor State Dispute Settlementclause. And to fight for transparency and an end to favoringcorporations in consultations.

  13. Goodpoliciesriskbeingthwarted by inadquatePolicy Coherence for Development. Can the ItalianPresidencymake a difference? 5. Role of Private Sector in Development. Councilconclusions in December? We urge ItalianPresidency to be cognizantthat the EC Communication: • forgets that the bulk of investment in agriculture comes from small-scale producers themselves. Theyare the actors that need to be “leveraged”, not TNCs profiting from public funding to increase private profits.

  14. 5. Role of Private Sector in Development (cont.) • Extols global market-led, value chain, contract farming approach to “turning smallholders into small entrepreneurs” denounced by small-scale producer organizations and demonstrated to undermine autonomy that is the basis of their resilience. Trade and Agriculture Support Programme in SAGCOT/Tanzania.

  15. 5. Role of Private Sector in Development (cont.) • Parrots the mantra of PPPs and use of public “patient capital” to support enterprises, ignoring the evidence that they represent a more expensive and less equitable way of delivering public services and infrastructure in the longer-term.

  16. 5. Role of Private Sector in Development (cont.) • Counts on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to induce TNCsto respecthuman rights and economic, social and environmentalimpacts of theirinvestmentsdespiteevidencethatitis a weak or evencounterproductiveapproach to regulation. «Wedon’twant ‘responsibleinvestors’. Wewant a legislative frameworkthat protectsuseffectively and investorswho are obliged to respect the law.»

  17. 5. Role of Private Sector in Development (cont.) • Strengthenscorporations’ alreadyexcessiveinfluence in shapingpolicies and regulatoryframeworks. • No mention of Committee on World Food Security, whereprinciples on responsibleinvestment in agriculture are beingnegotiated in the name of food security and the right to food, with small-scale producers’ organisationsin the room.

  18. The EU, the ItalianPresidency and the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition - whoseaddedvalueis corporate-friendly policy change: land, seeds and otherinputs, rules and regulationsthat «make a difference for entrepreneurs».

  19. TwoimportantinternationalappointmentsduringItalianPresidencywhere EU can and must play a decisive role: • International Conference on Nutrition 2 (19-21 November 2014) Fight for an approach to nutrition security based on sustainable, diversifiedlocalfood production and provision VS corporate GMOs and fortifiedfoods. • Negotiation of principles for responsibleagriculturalinvestment (rai) in Committee on World Food Security (4-8 August 2014) Fight for principlesgrounded in human rightsthatprioritise public policies and investments to support and protect small-scale foodproducers and localfoodsystems.

  20. Weneedeachother to build a just, democraticand diverse foodsystem!

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