| NGLS Civil Society Observer |
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Page 1 of 3 NGLS Civil Society Observer Volume 5, Issue 2 March-April-May 2008 Special Section: Food Crisis Today, the world is witnessing escalating social tension in many countries across the globe as a result of the sharp rise in the price of basic food. This development has the potential to dramatically increase the numbers of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition and to undermine the recent progress made in reducing poverty and hunger. The UN is addressing the crisis on several different fronts: The Secretary-General established a High-level Task Force on the Global Food Crisis, with himself as Chair and Sir John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, as Coordinator. The goal of the Task Force is to create a prioritized plan of action and coordinate its implementation. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held a Special Meeting on the Crisis where it identified short and long-term challenges and sought to enhance cooperation amongst international actors. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will host the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy from 3 to 5 June 2008 in Rome. The Conference will be attended by several Heads of State and will meet with an aim to address food security issues in the face of soaring food prices and the new challenges of climate change and energy security. For an overview of the preparatory process, as well as for daily coverage, read the Earth Negotiations Bulletin here To stay abreast of the UN’s actions in addressing the Food Crisis visit the UN News Centre or www.un-ngls.org Civil society, too, is playing an important role in both mitigation of the current crisis and in addressing long-term challenges. Please find below several resources relating to the food crisis emanating from civil society: This paper, authored by Joachim von Braun et al. for IFPRI, offers an action plan to combat the global food crisis. It calls for an “emergency package” to stem the tide of the humanitarian crisis and a “resilience package” to strengthen the capacity of poor people and developing countries to meet their own needs, and outlines an implementation strategy. http://www.ifpri.org/PUBS/ib/foodprices.asp Global Civil Society statement on the World Food Emergency Via Campesina released a civil society statement on the World Food Emergency which mentions the historic and systematic failures of governments and emphasizes the responsibility of international institutions. Several social movements and other civil society organisations joined together in this statement which includes a global plan of action for food and agriculture that they developed and mentions that they will to discuss this plan with governments and intergovernmental organisations in the upcoming FAO Conference. http://viacampesina.org/main_en/images/stories/pdf/22-05-2008_csofoodemergency-en.pdf Time for food sovereignty has come! This paper - which serves as a background document for an upcoming civil society forum in Rome, parallel to the aforementioned FAO Summit – argues that the current food crisis is the result of many years of deregulation of agricultural markets, the privatization of state regulatory bodies and the dumping of agricultural products on the markets of developing countries. The paper advocates ‘rebuilding national food economies’, the regulation of international markets and support for countries to strengthen their food production http://www.foodsovereignty.org/public/terrapreta/Terra_Preta-foodcrisis-EN.doc Links on Food Crisis This webpage includes a collection of documents and links from civil society and inter-governmental institutions related to events around the recent food crisis. http://www.grain.org/go/foodcrisis Turning High Prices Into an Opportunity: What is Needed? IATP argues in this report that, given higher prices fro agricultural products, the increase in food prices may bring some benefits to farmers. The report also mentions that in the short-term though, the rapid price increases are causing enormous stress for the urban and rural poor in regions dependent on food imports. Net food-importing, low-income countries are struggling to pay their food import bills, which diverts money from other needed investments. The report advocates for strong policies in favour of marginalized, resource-poor farmers, so as to make agriculture work as an engine for sustainable development. http://www.tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=102867 Blog: 'Think Forward' This is a blog written by staff of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy which covers information regarding sustainability as it intersects with food, rural development, international trade, the environment and public health. http://iatp.typepad.com/thinkforward/food_crisis/index.html Saving Water: From Field to Fork – Curbing Losses in the Food Chain This report stresses the link between food production and water use, and indicates that the magnitude of current food losses represents challenges and opportunities. It outlines a number of steps to reduce by half, by 2025, the amount of food that is wasted after it is grown, such as supporting farmers with improved harvesting and storage facilities, benchmarking standards for businesses to minimize waste in processing and transport, and educating consumers on the impacts of over-eating and food waste on water resources. http://www.siwi.org/documents/Resources/Policy_Briefs/Paper_13_Field_to_Fork.pdf Right to Food Quarterly Right to Food Quarterly aims to provide experts, activists and other interested persons with information and analysis on the right to food and important trends concerning ESC-Rights. The fourth edition of the Right to Food Quarterly takes up agrofuels production, human rights and the recent decision by UN Member States to approve the text of an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). |
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