Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Las desigualdades para la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición se pueden reducir en función del acceso al manejo de los recursos naturales, ejemplo: en comunidades que viven en áreas de amortiguamiento de las áreas protegidas no siempre son tomados en cuenta los pobladores para conocer las necesidades de tenencia de tierra para cultivar y del acceso a otros recursos del bosque (animales y plantas) para su alimentación, la veda de las especies no siempre están alineadas con las prácticas culturales de las personas ó no toma en cuenta los cambios en la disponibilidad de alimentos causados por el cambio climático.

Otro aspecto que podría ayudar a reducir las desigualdades es la participación social, cultural, político y económico que los pobladores tienen en organizaciones locales, regionales y nacionales, no siempre participan en estructuras organizativas en puestos de decisión y al no participar no tienen el acceso a defender su participación en el acceso de los recursos para mejorar su seguridad alimentaria y nutrición. Otro aspecto para tomar en cuenta es el escaso conocimiento de los pobladores en relación al valor nutritivo de los alimentos y a la conservación de los mismos, hay grandes carencias de infraestructura para el almacenamiento de productos y cuando hay cosecha a veces se desperdician los alimentos.

As a FAO-ESN team, we would like to contribute to the report with a reference to our first-hand data collection on 60 territorial markets in 8 countries, carried out over the past year. The initiative was done using FAO methodology for mapping of territorial markets, which was developed as a direct response to 2016 CFS policy recommendations "Connecting Smallholders to Markets", referring to the need to collect comprehensive data on formal and informal markets, rural and urban and linked to local, national and regional food systems. 

The initiative produced a valuable set of data on both retailers and consumers who attend these local, territorial markets, and the data can be disaggregated by gender, age, different food groups (and more). Gender inclusion is a key aspect in the methodology, because it also offers an interpretive tool - a synthetic indicator on Gender Inclusion. This indicator measures how inclusive a market is to women compared to men, by taking into consideration the gender income gap of the market retailers, and the gap between men and women retailers who do not have access to financial services. 

The whole methodology is designed to inform policy-making processes that seek strategic entry points in the food systems for improving local diets and nutrition. We strongly believe that territorial markets represent this crucial entry point for working on the systemic change for increasing availability, access and desirability of healthy and diversified foods for low-income consumers. 

In the attachment we are sharing a draft of a thematic brief titled “Territorial markets for women’s economic inclusion” (to be published soon by FAO) with gender-focused data analysis from the mapped markets in 3 countries. We do have more gender-specific data and can develop a more elaborative report if you consider this initiative as a valuable reference for the report.

Protein is an important part of a healthy diet, but an estimated one billion people worldwide suffer from protein deficiency. The problem is most severe in Central Africa and South Asia, where about 30 percent of children consume too little protein. Protein deficiency leads to malnutrition. Availability and accessibility of quality protein are two key factors in achieving ‘zero hunger’ in the world. In the WHO recommended healthy diet there are no guidelines on quality and quantity of protein. Many countries are yet to prepare their own guidelines. Statistics reveal that 93% of Indian population are unaware of ideal protein requirement per day with pregnant ladies on the top (97%), followed by lactating mothers (96%) and adolescents (95%). Situation in other countries is not much different.

Food security and nutrition plays a key role in Sustainable Development Goal1(SDG1) of UN: ‘zero hunger’ and elimination of all forms of malnutrition. Supplementing diet with Meal Maker Protein Powder (MMPP) is a cost- effective pathway to achieve zero hunger by 2030.

Meal maker is a by-product of soya bean oil extraction and refining process. Pulp remaining after extracting the oil from soya beans is converted into small chunks  looking like small meat pieces and are often referred as vegetable meat. Meal maker is rich in proteins, 100 grams of meal maker has about 52 grams proteins, four times that of a boiled egg costing much less than four eggs.

Soya bean is one of the major crops cultivated across the world. It is grown under several weather conditions. In 2019 global production of soya bean is 334million tonnes. Approximately 85% of the world's soybean crop is processed into soya bean oil and soya bean meal. More than 95% of soya bean meal is used as animal feed. That is, about 284 million tonnes soya meal is produced in 2019, and about 270 million tonnes is used as animal feed. Increasing human consumption of meal maker is a sustainable approach to reduce protein deficiency. A small fraction of produced soya meal, that is less than10 million tonnes can provide 25 grams soya meal per day per person to 1 billion undernourished people in the world for one year.

Soya meal has a long shelf life, it can be transported from anywhere in the world to remote regions through inexpensive transport. There is no need for cold storage and rapid transport. It costs much less than other animal-based protein requiring rapid transport and cold storage facilities.

MMPP is ready to use in combination with several other food items. For example, MMPP can be added  to butter or jam and used as spread, can be added to porridge ,mixed with idli/dosa batter in making protein rich breakfast, can be added to wheat flour in making protein rich bread. MMPP can be made to suit local food habits and culture of the region. MMPP can be included in various Public Distribution System (PDS) schemes including school lunch programs.

MMPP is made by powdering soya meal maker first and then dry roasting the powder. It is necssary to remove residual chemical (Hexane) used in the soyabean oil extraction process. Removal of Hexane residue from different sizes meal maker chunks requires extensive cooking.  Powdering before dry roasting ensures uniform heating of meal maker.

Currently, soya meal maker is not popular amongst the house holds for two reasons. 1) Preparation of food items using meal maker are time consuming, not suitable for working days. 2) Removal of residual chemicals in the meal maker production requires extensive cooking process.                                                       

The proposed idea is tried as proof-of-concept with limited number of volunteers. Availability, accessibility and sustainability are considered in idea formation but scalability needs to be evaluated. FAO team review and FSN forum members feedback will be used in refining the idea.

Dr. C V Kameswara Rao, M. Tech, Ph.D

Information Practitioner (voluntary), 70+age group Electronics engineer with systems engineering specialisation. 

Inequalities

Women and youths in this region have the following challenges as inequality:

- inaccessibility to land

- lack of finance

- lack of agricultural support tools from government agencies

- no place in decision making

- lack of access to information and training

- cultural barriers

Best practices

My recommendation for best practices so far include:

Most lands in our communities should be shared equally with women given the right to access and own lands. With this, women and youths who constitutes the main labour force working tirelessly to produce food will be able to cultivate and increase production due to access to land.

Women like men should be given access to loans. This can be done through the creation of cooperatives by bringing together women in rural communities to come as one under a single plateform to manage their own finance and resources and create institituitions where they can be able to take loan and credits with little or no collateral.

Government agencies should assist rural women and youths in supplying them with agricultural tools, such as hoes, machets, improved seeds and even organic fertilisers, lives birds, ruminants and feed and vaccines. This will boost production in the agricultural sector thereby increasing resilience and food availability and security.

Women and youths, especially girl children, should be given an oppurtunity to play a role in community leadership and decision making especially on issues of agriculture and environmental management. Women are natural managers and thus if given a role they are going to take credible decisions that will build trust and confidence amongst them.

Women and youths should be offered free informal training courses to assist them in gaining modern knowledge on agricultural practices. This is a great stem in helping the local women and youths to understand the environmental effects of conventional agriculture and thereby being encouraged or motivated to be more involved in sustainable agriculture practices.

Generally, our African culture affects and limits women in aspects of land ownership, decision making and ownership of natural resources. I think working with community leaders to uplift some of these barries can go a long way to reduce inequality and give women the opportunity to take charge in their activities and communities.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33502362/

Thank you.

Eyongetta Njieassam

I hope to use the Three Sisters Companion Gardening Technology to increase the income and food security of families working in the Ugandan rock quarries. The Three Sisters Gardening technique requires that participants understand the Three Sisters Gardening planting strategy as well as corn and squash "hand pollination" procedures. It is my understanding that a lack of pollinators is causing a lot of agriculture productivity problems for small Ugandan farmers. You can look at their corn or watermelons and in 5 seconds determine if the corn or watermelon is being pollinated properly. Hand pollination procedures can help solve the pollination problems. Hand pollination may be "new technology" to extremely poor Ugandan farmers.

It took me awhile, but I now understand why I can't get the seed supplies I need to help small farmers stop starvation in Uganda. Initially I noted that most African countries have a very limited number of seed suppliers and that these seed suppliers sold a very limited number of products. I also was told by Ugandan personnel that they wanted to use only non-GMO seeds.

After a little investigation I determined that African countries sell most of their vegetables in the European market and Europeans wanted to buy only non-GMO products. They noted that it is very difficult to distinguish between a GMO seed product and a non-GMO seed product. Most African countries limit the number of seed companies in their country and limit the import of seeds into their country to ensure that they are selling only non-GMO products.

It also is very difficult and expensive to get an Import Permit to import seeds into an African country even when you are importing seeds that have been declared to be non-GMO by a US grower such as those at Seed Saver Exchange. I must use only the seeds that are available in Uganda unless I want to spend more than two years to get the proper Import Permit and Phytosanitary certification. I may need to wait a few years to obtain non-GMO, non-Hybrid green pole bean seeds or non-GMO, non-Hybrid corn seeds with strong stalks in Uganda if I am lucky. These seeds are very common in other parts of the world including Europe.

To counter this lack of seed availability I am focusing on methods for increasing production of small Ugandan farmers that do not rely on improved seeds. I am focusing on the use of "Hand Pollination" of corn, squash, and watermelons. Hand pollination can significantly improve the small farmer production of corn, squash, and watermelons in regions that lack insect pollinators (bees) including parts of Uganda.

Ugandan women and children working in the Kampala rock quarries do not have the food security and income that they could have. Ugandan officials are implementing a seed policy that goes well beyond what European and International personnel are recommending. European and International personnel do not want to see Ugandan women and children suffer due to an over-the-top application of a seed policy that the international community has advocated.

I hope that the Uganda State Trade Association officials will work with Ugandan Government and Ugandan university personnel to solve this problem before poor Ugandan women and children suffer additional unnecessary food shortages

Here is an argument for not using GMO seeds

https://grain.org/article/entries/427-twelve-reasons-for-africa-to-reje…

Here is an argument for using GMO seeds

https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/10-things-everyone-should-know-a…

Here is my understanding of why African nations are reluctant to use GMO seeds

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/why-is-africa-reluctant-to-use-g…

In India under food security bill of 2013 included Rice, Wheat and millets [Sorghum, Pearl Millet & Finger Millet]. Local governments rarely supply millets to ration dealers. North India primarily wheat and south India primarily rice is supplied to public distribution outlets. Millets are considered as healthy diet as grains are unpolluted. Rice and wheat are unhealthy diet as grains are polluted. In south India, in ration shops poor quality rice is sold. Ration card holders sell the rice to ration shop and they in turn rice millers who in turn polish sell to Food Corporation of India that supplied to ration shops. In voluntary food supply use brocken rice.

Children diet: milk products, oil products are adulterated. Governments knowing fully well, come forward to take any action on such outlets [except once in a while]. Majority of water supplied for drinking is not clean. The air they breathe is also not pure.

In India central and states fight on procurement based on the political rivalry. The main suffers are farmers and farm labourers. In the case of Telangana State, during 2021-22 crop seasons, central and state governments are fighting till to date on purchase of rice from farmers. This is unusual in India for the first time it so happens that to in Telangana State. This resulted state chief minister asked not to grow paddy in Rabi [post-rainy season]. In fact this state received good rains during 2021 and thus helped rise in groundwater availability. Farmers have no seed to go for alternate crops. So, the lands were kept fallow. This affected the farmers, labour, animal and thus milk. This is basically because, in Kharif [rainy season] too much power was consumed for lifting water from ground water and canal water with poor planning. Also, they indiscriminately produced hydropower even far below the dead storage level. This affected Andhra Pradesh in terms of water availability for irrigation and drinking. This helped to cover up wasteful use of power in irrigation. Mishandling of irrigation projects with political agenda. Also, with regional political parties’ culture, wasting fertile agriculture lands for real estate ventures that create rural to urban migration and as a result they live under filthy-unhygienic conditions.

What I wanted to say here is, theoretical exercises are far from reality. They varied from country to country; and state to state within the country.  FAO/FSN must work at ground realities. NGOs may give poor quality feedback as their interest is to get funds.

Dr. Sazzala Jeevananda Reddy

Formerly Chief Technical Advisor-WMO/UN & Expert-FAO/UN

Fellow, Andhra Pradesh Akademy of Sciences

Fellow, Telangana Academy of Sciences

Convenor, Forum for a Sustainable Environment

Hyderabad, TS, India

Cómo afectan los factores que impulsan a los sistemas alimentarios a las desigualdades? Y de manera específica, ¿cuáles son los diferentes impactos de las tendencias en:

Promover el empoderamiento de las mujeres rurales, indígenas y afrodescendientes en la gestión y conservación sostenible de suelos implica que los indicadores críticos para garantizar sus derechos y seguridad a la tenencia a la tierra los países deben comprometerse a aplicar los ODS en su totalidad y en especial el Indicador 1.4.2. en derechos seguros de la tierra; objetivo 5.a. sobre los derechos sobre las tierras agrícolas, y el indicador 5.a.2 sobre los marcos legales, incluido el derecho consuetudinario, que garantiza la igualdad de derechos de las mujeres rurales, indígenas y afrodescendientes a la tierra y a su control.

Los datos que se levantes para el seguimiento y monitoreo de los indicadores arriba mencionados además de disgregarlos por sexo estos deben ser accesibles, oportunos, confiables y en lo posible estar desglosados por ingresos, sexo, edad, raza, etnia, situación migratoria, discapacidad y ubicación geográfica y otras características pertinentes en los contextos nacionales.

Los análisis intersecionales deben estar incluidos pues son herramientas para la justicia de género y la justicia económica Hay que considerar que las mujeres rurales ( y las urbanas tb) no son homogéneas y el análisis de la interseccionalidad ayuda a revelar las varias identidades, discriminación y desventajas como consecuencia de la combinación de identidades. Importante cuando se proponen planes de acción ya que hay diferencias entre países y en los mismos países.

¿Cómo pueden influir las desigualdades sociales en los resultados de la SAN?

Hay que incluir específicamente a los pueblos indígenas y sus sistemas alimentarios que además son los afectados frente al cambio climático y han generado un impacto en el medio ambiente. El cambio climático se muestra en sequías, inundaciones, incendios forestales; lo anterior produce destrucción de cultivos, desplazamientos forzados, afectaciones a la soberanía alimentaria. Hay que recordar que los pueblos indígenas han desarrollado conocimientos, prácticas y estrategias que deben ser reconocidas y tomadas en cuenta en el SAN y las las desigualdades sociales tiene resultados en la SAN. En este contexto, las la SAN debería integrar y entender los conocimientos, ciencias y prácticas ancestrales.

Contestando a la pregunta la SAN tendría que integrar las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes con sus propias características, necesidades La base de la vulnerabilidad de las mujeres, frente a una pobreza crónica encuentra su respuesta en mercados laborales discriminatorios y la exclusión social de las instituciones políticas y económicas. A esto hay que agregar que la división del trabajo remunerado y no remunerado aumenta su posición de inseguridad y de vulnerabilidad.

Compromisos para reducir la desigualdad (ODS), esfuerzos para mejorar la medición.

Promover el empoderamiento de las mujeres rurales, indígenas y afrodescendientes en la gestión y conservación sostenible de suelos implica que los indicadores críticos para garantizar sus derechos y seguridad a la tenencia a la tierra los países deben comprometerse a aplicar los ODS en su totalidad y en especial el Indicador 1.4.2. en derechos seguros de la tierra; objetivo 5.a. sobre los derechos sobre las tierras agrícolas, y el indicador 5.a.2 sobre los marcos legales, incluido el derecho consuetudinario, que garantiza la igualdad de derechos de las mujeres rurales, indígenas y afrodescendientes a la tierra y a su control.

Los datos que se levantes para el seguimiento y monitoreo de los indicadores arriba mencionados además de disgregarlos por sexo estos deben ser accesibles, oportunos, confiables y en lo posible estar desglosados por ingresos, sexo, edad, raza, etnia, situación migratoria, discapacidad y ubicación geográfica y otras características pertinentes en los contextos nacionales.

Los análisis intersecionales deben estar incluidos pues son herramientas para la justicia de género y la justicia económica Hay que considerar que las mujeres rurales (y las urbanas tb) no son homogéneas y el análisis de la interseccionalidad ayuda a revelar las varias identidades, discriminación y desventajas como consecuencia de la combinación de identidades. Importante cuando se proponen planes de acción ya que hay diferencias entre países y en los mismos países.

La datos desagregados en los países de la región deben permitir a las SAN planificar respuestas concretas e inclusivas bajo una perspectiva de interculturalidad, intergeneracionaldad, e interseccionalidad.

I think the education of nutrition knowledge for farmers, producers and consumers is also very important