Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) for Asia and the Pacific for the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-16) 26-27 November 2007, Jakarta, Indonesia
FORMAL STATEMENT OF FARMERS’ GROUPS
AFA (Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development)
AFA is a regional alliance of farmer federations and organizations in eight Southeast and North Asian countries, representing 10 million farmers. We advocate for policies and programs that promote farmers’ rights, development and welfare at both national, regional and international levels, while developing our members’ capacities on policy advocacy, sustainable agriculture, pro-small farmer, equity-led trading and self-governance.
IFAP (International Federation of Agricultural Producers)
IFAP works on issues and concerns of farmers and is interested in establishing sustainable agriculture for food security, rural development, farmers’ income security and integration of agriculture in national and international development policies. IFAP is also concerned about retaining farmers on their lands and making their livelihood viable today and for future generations.
IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements)
IFOAM is the international umbrella organization of organic agriculture movements worldwide. IFOAM’s mission is leading, uniting and assisting the organic movement in its full diversity. Our goal is the worldwide adoption of ecologically, socially and economically sounds systems that are based on the principles of organic agriculture.
Background
The common statement below is based on the sad state of development, which makes Asia and the Pacific region home to the majority of the worlds poor and hungry, and the lowest per capita availability of water and biological resources of all global regions. It takes into account that economic growth in the region has not always brought the desired improvement for the rural population and farmers in particular. To the contrary, government policies aiming to increase productivity through industrialization have shown negative effects for the environment, rural development and social structures in general. It seems that the agricultural sector with all its players down to the small scale producers, which compose the majority of agricultural producers, has not been appropriately assisted and developed. Even worse, in some cases the agricultural sector has been badly affected by industrialization efforts: Loss of agricultural land through changes of land use, loss of biodiversity and soil fertility through monoculture and chemical farm inputs, environmental degradation and contamination, scarcity of water resources and other natural resources essential to sustainable agricultural development.
There is a need of drastic change in development and government policies regarding economic development, and increase of productivity of agricultural production. Development agencies and governments need to change their way of formulating policies, implementation of policies and on how to react to global developments affecting our region. The “top to bottom” development strategy has to be replaced with a strategy of consultation and cooperation. Development agencies and governments shall seek to understand the needs of concerned stakeholders, value their contributions to society and allow “bottom up” processes in policy making. Close cooperation shall be aimed at and achieved through a continuous process of respecting the different needs beyond market and profit-driven interests and through involvement of all parties concerned.
We are urging all UN bodies, developing agencies and governments in the region to put emphasis on Sustainable Agricultural Production and Rural Development to improve Social Equity, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability as a contribution to “Green Growth” in the Region:
Sustainable Development Strategies for Agricultural Production shall
• Put the farmers and stakeholders at the center of the farming strategy restoring a decision-making role to local communities, guaranteeing their right to control their production resources, particularly land, water, seeds and breeds and engaging their active participation in a value added food chain.
• Emphasize on maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem and the productivity of the natural resources assuring sustainable development and social equity.
• Diversify production of quality products to decrease the impacts of crop failures and increase marketing opportunities, income and food security.
• Develop infrastructures necessary for sustainable agricultural production such as irrigation systems, post harvest facilities, cold storage, farm-to-market roads, transportation systems, processing plants for small scale producers
• Develop production systems that decrease external input dependency by farmers
• Develop organic agriculture to maintain healthy ecosystems and to provide a healthy food and healthier working environment to farmers.
• Main-stream sustainable agriculture through massive extension and promotion.
• Formulate standards for sustainable and fair production and marketing (i.e. organic agriculture and fair-trade standards), which in turn shall encourage farmers and traders to produce and trade only products that are produced in a safe and sustainable manner and that gives fair returns to small producers and rural communities.
Build Social Capital of Rural Areas
• Create rural development strategies that improve the quality of life of rural communities, by satisfying their socio-economic and cultural aspirations and strengthening their social organization, while protecting natural resources
• Recognize, validate and support indigenous and traditional production systems, which are knowledge intensive, rather than capital and resource-intensive and are often forming an important basis for the development of organic agriculture
• Improve educational opportunities for formal and informal trainings geared towards sustainable agricultural production, processing and marketing
• Develop R&D activities that include concerned stakeholders, farmers and women in particular, and develop appropriate technologies in cooperation with concerned sector stakeholders.
• Recognize and support independent efforts in organizing small rural producers and partnerships among government, and independent NGOs and farmers’ groups
Sustainable Land and Soil Management
• Development plans shall include the maintenance of prime agricultural land which is often converted into industrial and urban zones
• Establish policies that guarantee security of land tenure for small scale producers and rural communities
• Protect natural ecosystems with the help of farmers and rural communities from all sort of contamination and degradation inclusive irreversible contamination of GMO
• Promote sustainable management of natural ecosystem through “safe” wild harvesting promoted in organic agriculture
• Develop livelihood opportunities through environmental services by farmers
• Develop agricultural production systems geared towards long term soil fertility (i.e. Organic Agriculture) and biodiversity
• Protect and maintain natural ecosystem, inclusive of mangroves and sea shores
Accessibility and Sustainable Use of Water
• Infrastructure development for sustainable water management inclusive of recycling
• Infrastructure for sustainable irrigation facilities
Financial Strategies of Agricultural Production
Financial strategies of agricultural production, processing and marketing must
• include the development of financial tools to assist small scale farmers and communities directly and the development of production technologies that are knowledge intensive rather than capital intensive
• take into account and change existing social and business structures which currently contribute to increase poverty of certain sectors of society and often greatly disadvantage small scale producers (credit-dependency of farmers, middle men in marketing, access to value added production, market access)
• develop appropriate micro-financing programs
• provide adequate support services to small farmers like access to credit/capital, technology, crop insurance, adjusting systems, where needed to include women to give them access and protection at the same level as men farmers
• end subsidies that encourage agricultural production systems which harm the environment and biodiversity (mono culture, chemical farm inputs in particular pesticides, which destroy the natural habitat, thus biodiversity)
• introduce the polluter-pays-principle for agriculture inclusive of taxes on polluting, environmentally destructive farm inputs. Proceeds of these taxes are to be “cause oriented” and used for research for the development of alternatives
Access to Domestic and Global Markets
• Create local and domestic production and markets based on diverse food production and the principles of food security, sovereignty and health
• Facilitate full participation in these markets by small scale producers
• Ensure self sufficiency in basic or staple crops of the country; where producers are assisted to produce enough food that comply with safety and environmental standards
• Simplify and harmonize national and international trade rules, inclusive of organic certification and compliance systems, rules and regulations, taking into account the specific needs of small scale producers and rural communities
• provide calibrated liberalization and calibrated protection to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the small producers, attuned to the specific conditions and needs of each member country
Prepared by:
Estrella Penunia of AFA
Sarala Gopalan of IFAP
Jacqueline Haessig Alleje of IFOAM
Comments are closed