المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

بيانات العضو
تصفح جميع الأعضاء

السيد Justine Mwanje

عضو منذ
المنظمة: Uganda Forestry Association
الدولة: أوغندا
مجال (مجالات) الخبرة:
I am working on:

A project to promote bee keeping, agro forestry and wood energy conservation for improved livelihoods and environment protection. It consists of two components. The first component is about bee keeping and agro forestry for improved livelihoods and environment protection. It involves sensitizing farmers on bee keeping and agro forestry, training farmers, setting up apiaries, establishing various agro forestry systems, processing, packaging and marketing products. The second component is about production of energy-saving stoves and briquettes from charcoal waste, for improved livelihoods and wood energy conservation. It includes carrying out MA&D, sensitizing farmers, training farmers, producing briquettes from charcoal waste, marketing the briquettes and stoves. Hopefully, the project will result in achievement of MDGs 1 and 7 in Kiboga District

أسهم هذا العضو في:

    • Dear Sir or Madam,

      Thanks for this important discussion.

      My contribution is as follows:

      1a.  No. Food security and Nutrition is profoundly diverse. A holistic framework is required, in order to capture all the components of the FSN system. That framework is the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, if implemented well, would significantly transform global food systems.

      1b. No. Because it is not holistic. Too much relevant data would not be collected.

      1c. No. The four-stage-cycle does not mention critical issues, such as assessing information needs, team formation, planning, finding and using data, data collection techniques, etc. Further expounded in the FAO e-agriculture strategy guide.

      1d. The Costa Rica Food and Nutrition Policy.

      2a. No. Because it is not holistic.

      2b. Data on production (and productivity), storage, marketing, business, finance, policy and legal factors.

      3a. Yes.

      3b. No. Trends such as climate change, pandemics, pestilences, empowerment, governance, and root causes of food and nutrition insecurity.

      3c. Technology is empowering. Digital technologies would enable communities on the global continuum to effectively and efficiently participate in food security and nutrition, if properly applied. Inclusion and Innovation result in empowerment.

      4a. No. Capacity constraints emerge from underlying or root causes. Also, there are connectivity and content hindrances. These include poor basic infrastructure, poor production and storage services, poor marketing and business services, poor financial services, and lack of or inappropriate policy and legal framework.

      5a. Yes. Others: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Nanotechnology.

      5b. Data is collected on: (i) Basic infrastructure. (ii) Production and storage services. (iii) Marketing and business services. (iv) Financial services. (v) Policy and legal framework. In each of these stages, the FSN data value chain is applied, in accordance with conventional data collection and analysis practice.

      5c. See (b).

      5d. Respect for human rights, good stewardship (including professionalism), gender equality, good governance, persons with special needs, non-discrimination, social protection.

      6a. Yes, Transparency and accountability; responsive service delivery; authentic institutions; and the rule of law.

      6b. Risks of data-driven technologies: (i) Subjective algorithms. (ii) Unpredictable behaviour of advanced technologies. (iii) 'Usurping' of human work. (iv) Lack of conscience. (iv) Data privacy (v) Data security.

      6c. (i) Equitable benefit-sharing (ii) Governance. (iii) Climate change adaptation and/or mitigation. (iv) Empowerment of communities. (v) Value chain approach. Note: These factors are intricately woven.

      6d. -  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). - Conflict Analysis and Management.

      6e. Financing needs: Often context-specific and subject to assessment. But, in general terms, financing for basic infrastructure, production, marketing etc., as aforementioned.

      Financial mechanisms and tools: Policies, markets and institutions which enhance FSN.

      7a. Data on the following: (i) Demographics. (ii) Economics (iii) Technologies. (iv) Politics. (v) Institutions. (vi) Culture.

      7b. Data on the following (country): In addition to the above (7a), data on infrastructure, production, storage, marketing, business, finance, and policy and legal frameworks.

      References:

      • Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit (United States Department of Agriculture)
      • Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change (Participatory Learning and Action-60).
      • Costa Rica and its commitment to sustainability. In: Challenges for food and nutrition security in the Americas.
      • Data Management and Mapping tools and systems for food security; Food and Agriculture Organization, Project GCP/RAS/247/EC.
      • Empowerment theory, research, and application; American Journal of Community Psychology, 1995.
      • Factors affecting implementation of good government governance (GGG) and their implications towards performance accountability; International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2013.
      • Food Security and Food Production Systems; . In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
      • Food security and Nutrition Data Collection Framework: Inter-agency Social Protection Assessment (ISPA)
      • Innovation for Inclusive Growth; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2015.
      • Quantitative methods for integrated Food and Nutrition Security measurements.
      • Sustainable Livelihoods Guidance Sheets; Department for International Development, 1999.
      • The Costa Rica Food Security and Nutrition Policy.
      • The Food and Agriculture Organization E-Agriculture Strategy Guide.
      • The Future of Food and Agriculture: Trends and Challenges (Food and Agriculture Organization)

    • Corrections and/or additions to my contribution:

      Q1: Potential entry points:

      Addition to root causes:

      Technological: Digital divide, gender divide, geographic divide, inappropriate technology, inadequate innovation, etc. 

      Q4: Governance structure:

      The pillars of empowerment are knowledge, technology and cooperation. The goal of the Digital Council should be to uphold these pillars. 

      My apology. 

    • Thanks for a very important discussion. 

      1. Potential entry points:

      Root cause analysis to address challenges and foster the development of digital agriculture. 

      Root causes: Demographic, Economic, Technological, Political, Institutional, and Cultural. 

      a) Demographic: Inadequate digital literacy (and numeracy); inadequate new skills development; demographic dividends; digital divides, etc. 

      b) Economic: Poverty, inadequate access to financial services, inadequate for and by innovation; socio economic divides (gender, digital, geographic); lack of investments (particularly in under developed countries); low affordability of new solutions; inadequate financial capacity, etc; 

      c) Political: Inadequate access to information, inappropriate policies and regulations; inadequate enforcement; interference; inadequate governance; etc. 

      d) Institutional: Inadequate capacity; inappropriate institutions; inadequate coordination; 

      e) Cultural: Inequality (gender, age, religion, caste, status); negative teaching; abandonment of positive customs; 

      2. Addressing the numerous barriers: Agriculture is valuable because of the products and services that accrue from it. The factors of production are land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship or management, etc;

      When management is characterized by innovation and inclusion, then empowerment occurs. Empowerment is "enabling people to participate in development."  The pillars of empowerment are knowledge, technology and cooperation or collaboration. In an agrarian economy, empowering sector participants (stakeholders) is very important. When stakeholders are empowered, the role of ICTs in addressing the root causes of inadequate agricultural production and productivity is tremendously enhanced. 

      Specifically, the following should be done:

      1. Be inclusive. 

      2. Be innovative. 

      3. Be (digital) technology-driven.

      4. Be efficient. 

      5. Be effective. 

      6. Be adaptive. 

      7. Be sensitive. 

       

      3. Roles identified for the Digital Council :

      YES. However, the roles should be based on:

      a. Supply and/or value chain analysis. 

      b. Participatory assessment, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. 

      4. Governance structure: As mentioned earlier, inclusion, innovation and technology are the pillars of empowerment. Apparently, the goal of the Digital Council is to uphold these pillars. The proposed governance structure looks good enough. But, it should be considered an experiment. 

      See the attachments:

    • Global sustainable development is daunting because the socio-economic and bio-physical factors are varied across the globe. Within that context, the root causes and/or drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are complex and intricate. Therefore, an agreeable balance between the need to reduce the reporting burden and applying a relevant set of SMART indicators can and must be achieved.

      Please note the following about the current set of indicators:

      1. It is not based on any principles and criteria. As a result, it is arbitrary, subjective and technically unsound.
      2. Several of the indicators negate the need to lessen the reporting burden. They include indicators 5, 8, 12 and 15.
      3. Indicator 14 is a criterion.
      4. Indicator 17 is ambiguous and should be combined with 11.

      The entire set of indicators is critically flawed and must be overhauled.

      My suggestions are based on internationally agreed common thematic areas of sustainable forest management (SFM). The thematic areas are:

      1. extent of forest resources
      2. biological diversity
      3. forest health and vitality
      4. production functions of forest resources
      5. protective functions of forest resources
      6. socio-economic functions
      7. legal, policy and institutional framework

      The respective criteria and indicators are shown in the table below:

      Criterion 1: Enabling conditions for SFM (legal, policy and institutional framework)

      Indicator 1.1: Existence and implementation of policies, laws and regulations to govern forest management.

      Indicator 1.2: Amount of funding in forest management, administration, research and human resource development.

      Indicator 1.3: Structure and staffing of institutions responsible for sustainable forest management.

      Indicator 1.4: Forest area (ha.) under long-term forest management plans

      Criterion 2: Extent and condition of forests (Extent of forest resources)

      Indicator 2.1: Area (ha.) of forests committed to production and protection

      Indicator 2.2: Area (ha.) and percentage of total land area under each forest type.

      Criterion 3: Forest ecosystem health (forest health and vitality)

      Indicator 3.1: Extent (ha.) and nature of forest encroachment, degradation and disturbance caused by humans, and the control measures applied.

      Criterion 4: Forest production (production functions of forest resources)

      Indicator 4.1: Extent (ha.) and percentage of forest for which inventory and survey procedures have been used.

      Indicator 4.2: Total amount of carbon stored in forest stands.

      Indicator 4.3: Existence of a log and/or forest product tracking system, or similar control mechanisms.

      Criterion 5: Biological diversity (biological diversity)

      Indicator 5.1: Forest area (ha.) within protected areas.

      Indicator 5.2: Existence and implementation of procedures to identify and protect endangered, rare and threatened species of forest dependent flora and fauna

      Indicator 5.3: Extent (ha.) and percentage of production forest that has been set aside for biodiversity conservation

      Criterion 6: Soil and water conservation protection (protective functions)

      Indicator 6.1: Extent (ha.) and percentage of total forest area managed exclusively for the protection of soil and water.

      Criterion 7: Economic, social and cultural aspects

      Indicator 7.1: Value and percentage contribution of the forestry sector to gross domestic product (GDP)

      Indicator 7.2: Existence and implementation of mechanisms for the equitable sharing of the costs and benefits of forest management

      Indicator 7.3: Extent to which tenure and user rights of communities and indigenous peoples over publicly owned forests are recognized and practiced

      I hope my suggestions are useful.

      Reference: International Tropical Timber Organization, 2005. Revised ITTO Criteria and Indicators for the sustainable management of tropical forest, including reporting format. ITTO Policy development series No. 15

      1. If you were designing an agricultural investment programme, what are the top 5 things you would do to maximize its impact on nutrition

      Nutrition is enhanced when food production and distribution are efficient. The following factors maximize impact on food production and distribution, as well as nutrition:

      1. Basic infrastructure: Roads, transportation, communication, energy, irrigation, etc. Such infrastructure enables farmers to produce, market their products and capture value (earn a living). For example, Buyambi Parish, Kibiga Sub-county, Kiboga District, Uganda is partly not covered by a mobile telephone network, the roads are poor, there is no grid electricity, and agriculture is rain-fed. This adversely affects production, marketing and productivity.
      2. Production and storage support: Input supply, farm machinery, extension services, weather forecasting, producer associations and cooperatives, etc. The vast majority of farmers in the above-named sub-county have no access to improved seeds, extension services, up-to-date weather services; practice digging and farmer cooperatives are not present. Production is much less than it would have been if the services were available and farmers were organized. Also, productivity has drastically reduced.
      3. Marketing and business support: Structural services, information services, intelligence, chambers of commerce, etc. Farmers need information on policies, markets and supportive institutions so that they can identify opportunities for profitable farming, and/or engage in farming as a business. As stated earlier, farmers should be able to market their products and make a profit. This is the ultimate purpose of farming.
      4. Financial support: Credit services, banking services, crop/farm insurance schemes, trading exchanges, etc. Financial services can tremendously enhance farmer entrepreneurship. However, there is not a single financial institution specifically for farmers in Buyambi Parish, for instance.
      5. Policy and regulatory framework: Security, land tenure, investment grants, safety net functions, etc. It is a framework which fosters innovation, transportation, storage, access to markets, collective action, risk reduction, etc. Including climate change considerations in all plans and programmes. The cumulative effect should be increased commercial agriculture, incomes and sustainable development.
      1. To support the design and implementation of this programme, where would you like to see more research done, and why?

      Research should be done in all the areas, because they complement each other in enhancing food production and distribution; and nutrition.

      1. What can our institutions do to help country governments commit to action around your recommendations, and to help ensure implementation will be effective?

      Institutions should disseminate research findings and foster dialogue. In addition, they should carry out lobbying and advocacy on the factors below:

      1. Addressing institutional weaknesses: Often, the institutions in the agricultural sector are fragmented, inappropriate and under-funded. This has led to duplication, redundancy, losses and wastage of valuable resources. An appraisal of the institutional framework should be done, in order to ascertain corrective action.
      2. Transparency and accountability: There is widespread corruption and mismanagement in the sector due to various reasons, including inadequate remuneration. The causes of corruption and mismanagement should be addressed.
      3. Developing and implementation of quick alert systems: These would enable quick reaction to extreme events such as droughts, famine, pestilences, landslides, etc. Certainly, sustainability (and productivity) would be greatly enhanced.
      4. Certification of products: Products from sources which abide by policies and regulations should be certified, with assurance of access to markets.
      5. Monitoring of market and value chains: Chains should be constantly assessed, with the aim of improving efficacy and efficiency of marketing. For example, there is tremendous potential for value addition and export of raw and dry beans. That potential is not utilized because monitoring is insufficient. Such monitoring should include impacts on the environment.
      6. Adequate remuneration for responsible persons (as mentioned earlier): This should attract and retain skilled and experienced persons in the agricultural sector.
      7. Incentives for public and private sectors: Farmers should be provided with subsidies to purchase improved inputs (seeds, organic fertilizers, etc) and they should have access to index-based insurance schemes. Extension workers should be adequately facilitated and remunerated (even given bonuses) to work at the grassroots.

      Litigation could be resorted to.