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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Overhaul of Agriculture Systems Needed
  • Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:47:00 -0600


"The report’s message is that the business-as-usual scenario of industrial
farming, input and energy intensiveness, and marginalization of small-scale
farmers, is no longer tenable.

"The IAASTD was launched as an intergovernmental process, with a
multi-stakeholder Bureau, under the co-sponsorship of the FAO, GEF, UNDP,
UNEP, UNESCO, the World Bank and WHO. In a comprehensive and rigorous
process, more than 400 authors were involved in drafting the report, drawing
on the evidence and assessments of thousands of experts worldwide."'

Overhaul of Agriculture Systems Needed
http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/?q=node/view/477
By Lim Li Ching

Lim Li Ching, lead author of the IAASTD's East and South Asia and the Pacific
report, is a Senior Fellow at the Oakland Institute and works with the
biosafety programme at Third World Network (TWN), an international NGO based
in Malaysia.

An independent and multi-stakeholder international assessment of agriculture
has concluded that a radical change is needed in agriculture policy and
practice, in order to address hunger and poverty, social inequities and
environmental sustainability questions.

The final report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and
Technology (IAASTD) was launched simultaneously on 15 April 2008 in
Washington, London, Nairobi, Delhi, Paris and a number of other cities
worldwide.

The report (the product of work of over 400 authors) was finalized at a
meeting of over 50 governments held in Johannesburg 7-12 April 2008.

“Business as usual is not an option”, said Professor Robert Watson, Director
of the IAASTD and chief scientist of the UK’s Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs. Watson was formerly the chair of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The methodology of the
IAASTD’s work and process is similar to that of the IPCC.

The report’s message is that the business-as-usual scenario of industrial
farming, input and energy intensiveness, and marginalization of small-scale
farmers, is no longer tenable. While past emphasis on production and yields
had brought some benefits, this was at the expense of the environment and
social equity. Moreover, there is a recognition that excessive and rapid
trade liberalization can have negative consequences for food security,
poverty alleviation and the environment.

The IAASTD report calls for a systematic redirection of investment, funding,
research and policy focus towards the needs of small-farmers. This involves
creating space for diverse voices and perspectives, particularly those who
have been marginalized in the past, including poor farmers and women. <>The
IAASTD report says that greater emphasis is needed on safeguarding natural
resources and agro-ecological practices, as well as on tapping the wide range
of traditional knowledge held by local communities and farmers, which can
work in partnership with formal science and technology. Sustainable
agriculture that is biodiversity based, including agro-ecology and organic
farming, is beneficial to poor farmers, and needs to be supported by the
appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks.

Over three years, from 2005-2007, the IAASTD had conducted an evidence-based
assessment on the potential of agricultural knowledge, science and technology
(AKST) for reducing hunger and poverty, improving rural livelihoods, and
working towards environmentally, socially and economically sustainable
development. It aims to drive the agenda for agriculture for the next fifty
years.

The IAASTD was launched as an intergovernmental process, with a
multi-stakeholder Bureau, under the co-sponsorship of the FAO, GEF, UNDP,
UNEP, UNESCO, the World Bank and WHO. In a comprehensive and rigorous
process, more than 400 authors were involved in drafting the report, drawing
on the evidence and assessments of thousands of experts worldwide.

The drafts were subjected to two independent peer reviews. The experts for
the assessment included persons from the research community, international
agencies, NGOs and industry, though representatives from industry decided not
to stay with the process.

The process itself was a path-breaking one, in which governments, research
institutions, industry and civil society shared equal responsibility in its
governance and implementation. The success of this experiment supports the
value of civil society participation as full partners in intergovernmental
processes and future international assessments.

The IAASTD held its intergovernmental plenary meeting from 7-12 April in
Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss and finalize the global and five
sub-global assessments, and the Synthesis Report that integrates their
findings.

The Synthesis Report also focuses on eight cross-cutting issues – bioenergy,
biotechnology, climate change, human health, natural resource management,
traditional knowledge and community based innovation, trade and markets and
women in agriculture.

Fifty-four governments accepted and approved the various components of the
report at the meeting. However, by the end of the meeting, Canada, Australia,
the United Kingdom and the United States had yet to sign on to the final
report.

While there are indications that some of these governments may eventually
formally accept and approve the documents, the United States remains the key
government that is unlikely to do so, claiming that the report is
“unbalanced”, particularly with regard to its analysis and proposals for
trade and biotechnology issues.

The agrochemicals and biotechnology industry, which had earlier been a full
participant in the IAASTD process, withdrew from the process before the final
plenary meeting with similar claims. It claimed that industry perspectives,
particularly its view that genetically modified (GM) crops are key to
reducing poverty and hunger, were not adequately reflected in the report.

The report’s lack of specific support for GM crops was based on a rigorous
and peer-reviewed analysis of the empirical evidence. After consideration of
the evidence on both sides of the debate, the report is notably muted in
relation to the claimed benefits of GM crops, highlighting instead the
lingering doubts and uncertainties surrounding them.

For poor farmers, the report concludes, GM crops are unlikely to play a
substantial role in addressing their needs. In any case, longer-term
assessments of the environmental and health risks, and regulatory frameworks,
are needed.

Another key concern highlighted in relation to GM crops is the dominance of
the biotechnology industry in agricultural R&D, at the expense of other
agricultural sciences. Furthermore, the report notes that farmers face new
liabilities from GM crops, particularly as a result of the detection of GM
crops in conventional and organic crops that leads to patent infringement
suits and loss of certification, respectively.

During the Johannesburg meeting, there were heated and protracted discussions
on GM crops. However, the United States pre-empted debate on the
biotechnology section of the Synthesis Report, by asking that its reservation
against the whole section be noted. It said it did so because the section was
“unbalanced”. China then asked to be included in the reservation. No other
country objected to this section.

Other key findings of the IAASTD report acknowledge that market forces alone
cannot deliver food security to the poor. It particularly reiterates that
developing countries are accorded special and differential treatment in
agricultural trade, especially on the grounds of food security, farmers’
livelihoods and rural development.

While hinting that trade rules unfairly favoring rich countries and
multinational corporations must be reformed in order to benefit poor farmers,
the report however falls short of providing specific guidance that speaks to
the current WTO negotiations on agriculture.

Even though the trade policy options could have been stronger, the United
States and Canada still placed their reservations on the section of the
Synthesis Report dealing with trade and markets, essentially objecting to
language that spelt out the negative effects of agricultural liberalization.

The report also recognizes that there are weaknesses and inequities in the
current intellectual property rights regime, in relation to genetic
resources. Strong intellectual property protection on genetic resources has
affected public research and farmers’ rights to seeds. However, the report
did not call for a reform of the intellectual property rights regime,
following objections from the United States. Nonetheless, some policy options
to address the issue are retained in the report.

While recognizing the urgent need to address climate change, for which
agriculture is a significant contributor of greenhouse gases, the IAASTD
report also cautions governments on biofuels. This is because the diversion
of agricultural crops to fuel can raise food prices and reduce the ability to
alleviate hunger throughout the world.

At the end of the plenary meeting, following the acceptance and adoption of
the various components that made up the IAASTD report, co-chair Judi Wakhungu
reminded all participants that “now we are walking in the same direction”.

Nonetheless, while the report provides the policy options that could really
make a difference, the challenges ahead are formidable and need the concerted
effort of governments, civil society and the co-sponsoring agencies of the
IAASTD, in particular the FAO, the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP.

Civil society organizations attending the meeting called on all governments,
civil society and international institutions to support the findings of the
report, implement its progressive conclusions, and thereby jump start the
revolution in agricultural policies and practices that is urgently needed to
attain more equitable and sustainable food and farming systems in the future.


Read the Summary of the IAASTD Report

This article was first published in the Third World Network's South-North
Development Monitor (SUNS) #6457, Thursday 17 April 2008. TWN is involved in
efforts to bring about a greater articulation of the needs and rights of
peoples in developing countries; a fair distribution of world resources; and
forms of development which are ecologically sustainable and fulfill human
needs.




  • [Livingontheland] Overhaul of Agriculture Systems Needed, Tradingpost, 05/01/2008

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