Ce membre a contribué à/au:
-
-
-
Mme Teresa Maisano
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security CFSItaliePlease direct your attentioon tpo following next to complete program to return youth to agriculture : Nutritional Diversity Revision III, 2020
To: FAO
From: Nutritional Diversity, Biodiverse Food Study, Panama
Our group has been long time contributors to the hope and push for a saving of the ecology, and alternative agriculture, better health through diverse organic systems.
Our groups passion is helping return young people to agriculture, and we are doing a great jonb, please come see it, and maybe you can help us grow it.
That's what this all about right!
Thank you
Kim Conely
Intern @ Nutritional Diversity S,A,
Republic of Panama
-
-
-
Mme Teresa Maisano
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security CFSItalieOn behalf of CSM
Proponent
Fred Wesonga, Haileselassie Gheberemariam
Main responsible entity
Terra Nuova, East Africa
Date/Timeframe
Survey conducted 10th - 20th March, 2016
Funding source
Terra Nuova, through EU-funded Development Education “Hands on the Land” project
Location
SOMALIA: Wajaale and Hargeisa - key marketing and production centres in Somaliland
Background/Context
The Somaliland dairy industry is plagued by a variety of problems such as: lack of commercial dairy farms, low productivity due to poor nutrition, weak infrastructure, lack of financial facilities, and the ready availability of raw milk to a poor and uneducated population. In urban areas, milk is available to consumers in two forms, either as loose/unprocessed milk or as packed/processed milk. Although, there is no reliable data on the proportion of household incomes spent on milk in Somaliland, milk is on average consumed twice a day and provides about 60% of the caloric intake for both rural and urban populations. Milk is highly valued in the Somali food tradition and is an integral part of the pastoral staple food.
Hargeisa is the main centre for milk trade in Somaliland. The bulk of the fresh raw milk consumed in Hargeisa originates from the agro-pastoral areas of the country. In Somaliland, milk is mainly produced in a traditional system based on nomadic or semi-nomadic low producing indigenous breeds of camels, zebu cattle and goats. The primary objective of the study was to explore opportunities and challenges that exist along the major urban (Hargeisa and Wajaale) milk value chains. The study was designed to provide information to understand how actors along the milk chain are interlinked to facilitate the conveyance of milk from the remote nomadic or semi-nomadic production areas to the consumers. The study also explored if social practices and traditions play a role in the sustenance of the milk marketing system particularly during production shock periods such as dry seasons or droughts.
Focus/Objectives
The broad objective of the study was to determine the role of the informal sector in the marketing of milk produced in a pastoral/ urban interphase.
Key characteristics of the experience/process
• Milk marketing in Somaliland is characterised by a unique efficient system that contributes to food security in a pastoral milk production environment.
• The players along the milking chain have developed a system that ensures members have access to milk during periods when there are fluctuations in milk supply.
• Trading along the milk chain in Somaliland largely operates on shared culture, values, and trust.
Key actors involved and their role
Milk marketing in Hargeisa urban and peri-urban areas is largely a woman’s domain, while transportation of the milk is male-dominated. The milk chain consists of primary rural producers, primary collectors, transporters, primary and secondary retailers. Women are key both as primary and secondary retailers and in milk production with regard to the management of small ruminants (goats), while men are central in milk collection and transportation to the markets.
Key changes observed with regards to food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture and food systems
The milk marketing system in Somaliland is efficient and sustainable. Trading along the milk chain in Somaliland largely operates on shared culture, values, and trust. This is highlighted by a unique system (known as “Hagbed”) that is in operation in Somaliland whereby producers organize themselves in groups of 10-15 with the objective of minimizing operational costs. Members of the group contribute towards the daily milk requirements of their customers. The milk is then sold to customers on behalf of one of the producers in the group at a time. The selected producer retains the money. Then s/he contributes milk to another producer in the group the following day. This is repeated until all members of the group have had a chance to sell milk. The system benefits the consumers in ensuring a relatively regular supply of milk. This indigenous system also ensures that all actors have equal opportunities of accessing customers and guaranteeing income. This “informal” marketing system plays an important role in food security and should therefore be supported by appropriate policies. This can be achieved through lobbying for policies and services that recognize and favour this kind of “invisible” trade.
Another important aspect of the Somaliland milk trade is a service offered by cooperatives to ensure members have access to milk during periods when there are fluctuations in supply. For instance, if a milk trader fails to get milk from her /his regular suppliers, the trader can obtain milk from other cooperative members for sale to her/his customers. This system is important in creating strong social and economic bonds among members and in sustaining supply along the milk chain.
It is also important to note that there are no major multinational companies operating in the country. These companies are known to have a monopolistic approach that interferes with indigenous marketing systems. The unique attributes of the Somaliland marketing system would be ignored if multinational companies were operating in the country and it can be argued it could contribute to food insecurity and the marginalization of women who are the backbone of the milk supply chain.
There is rapid increase in the urban population of the country, mainly attributed to rural urban migration. Increasing and un-met demand for fresh/raw milk particularly in the rapidly growing urban centres is reported to be increasing the demand for packaged/processed milk particularly among the middle class. Although the changing pattern in milk consumption in urban areas has so far not had significant impact on the consumption of raw milk, the changing rural–urban population dynamics is likely to influence milk consumption patterns in the long run. This is an aspect that cannot be ignored when formulating milk trade regulation policies in the country.
Challenges faced
The challenges include poor milk hygiene, under-developed transportation infrastructure, inadequate credit facilities, lack of cooling facilities along the milk chain, poor market infrastructure and nascent milk trade regulation policies.
Lessons/Key messages
In spite of absence of a strong lobby movement on consumption of locally produced products, the community using the platform of a growing co-operative movement is able to sensitize the population on the benefits of consuming raw milk, especially the economic benefits which trickle down to household level. Milk marketing in Somaliland plays an important role in food security and provision of balanced and nutritious food. Investing in milk production and trade will therefore improve food provision, social and environmental sustainability and safeguard livelihoods for the majority of the population, as livestock is the country’s main source of livelihood. -
Mme Teresa Maisano
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security CFSItalieOn behalf of CSM
Proponente
CHIRAPAQ Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú
Principal entidad responsable
CHIRAPAQ Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú
Fecha/periodo
El proceso abarca los 1999 -2017, dentro del cual hay diferentes etapas.
Fuente de financiación
Pan para elmundo
Lugar
Perú, departamento de Ayacucho, periferia urbana de la ciudad de Huamanga y comunidades de la cuenca del río Pomatambo, en especial del distrito de Vilcashuamán.
Antecedentes/Contexto
La propuesta de alimentación basada en productos indígenas se inició hacia 1986 en la ciudad de Huamanga, Ayacucho, durante el conflicto armado interno que atravesó el Perú entre 1980 y el año 2000.
Las comunidades indígenas estaban siendo desplazadas hacia las periferias de las ciudades tanto en Huamanga en los Andes como en la ciudad de Lima, capital del Perú, ubicada en la zona costera. Al desarraigo, se unía la pobreza, discriminación y desnutrición, siendo los principales afectados la niñez y adultos mayores, quedando la responsabilidad de la sostenibilidad de los hogares en las mujeres indígenas.
En este panorama, CHIRAPAQ inicia su propuesta de alimentación, basado en productos nativos de probada calidad alimenticia, pero socialmente despreciados por ser “comida de indios”. Los resultados inmediatos, fueron motivo de reconocimiento y estudio por parte de diferentes entidades quienes vieron una sostenida recuperación anímica y física entre la niñez y población adulto-mayor indígena. Esta iniciativa se diversificó en diferentes programas de educación alimenticia para aprovechar la producción local originaria.
En 1999 se inicia una segunda etapa basada en la producción agrícola a partir de conocimientos indígenas sobre tecnologías agrícolas, biodiversidad, abonos orgánicos y recuperación de la flora y fauna local. Es esta segunda etapa la que se encuentra en proceso dentro de una perspectiva de soberanía alimentaria en contextos de cambio climático con cultivo de plantas resistentes a los extremos climáticos.
Enfoque/Objetivos
El enfoque es el del derecho a la alimentación con identidad, con reconocimiento de los derechos territoriales y la visibilización del aporte cultural, económico y social de las mujeres indígenas para su empoderamiento económico e incidencia en diferentes espacios de decisión.
Entre los objetivos de la presente propuesta de soberanía alimentaria tenemos:
1. Recuperación de la diversidad de semillas y sus variedades.
2. Recuperación, registro y utilización de los conocimientos indígenas, en cuanto a tecnologías agrícolas, para una producción orgánica.
3. Fortalecimiento de la producción agrícola familiar-comunal.
4. Mejoramiento del uso de suelos de acuerdo a las tecnologías ancestrales indígenas.
5. Recuperación de la flora y fauna nativas.
6. Visibilizar, fortalecer y valorar el aporte de las mujeres indígenas en cuanto a los conocimientos agrícolas, desarrollo de actividades productivas complementarias etc.
Características principales de la experiencia/proceso
1. Se parte de los conocimientos y experiencias de las comunidades, este conocimiento muchas veces se encuentra fragmentado, la labor consiste en recuperarlo desde las diferentes localidades y articularlo como un conocimiento común.
2. La relación es horizontal, pues no se trata de “enseñar” sino de avanzar juntos.
3. Se afirma la “complementariedad” es decir, el intercambio entre diferentes zonas, obteniendo de unas lo que falta en otras y viceversa.
4. No se busca la autarquía, sino la autonomía, es decir la capacidad de desarrollar las propias capacidades y hacer la propuesta sostenible.
5. Se busca preservar el mayor número de tierras frente al avance de las industrias extractivas, en especial la minería, la agroindustria y la sobreexplotación sin rotación en el uso de las tierras debido a la demanda de productos nativos por mercados externos.
6. Revaloración de los productos indígenas, como alimentos altamente nutritivos y con capacidad de revertir la desnutrición.
7. Ver el medio geográfico como una unidad, en donde cada elemento forma parte de un todo y en ese sentido, se hace necesario recuperar las “geografías indígenas” o el medio natural con la flora y fauna originaria.
8. Incorporación de nuevas tecnologías que potencien los conocimientos tradicionales pero que no los desvirtúen.
9. Enfocar la experiencia como un proceso continuo, de mejora e investigación permanente, de ahí que el impacto del cambio climático en la modificación de las estaciones sirve de escenario para identificar y experimentar con variedades de plantas que se adapten mejor a las cambiantes situaciones climáticas.
En cuanto al proceso, no ha sido continuo y la demanda del marcado empuja a la disponibilidad inmediata de productos para la venta que no permite una mayor aplicación de la producción orgánica que demanda mayor tiempo, mayor dedicación y no existe una cultura alimenticia que valore la producción saludable, solo la disponibilidad inmediata de alimentos, su rápida circulación y su mayor rentabilidad.
Actores clave involucrados y su función
Las comunidades, como espacio de conocimiento y producción.
Las mujeres indígenas, como organizadoras de la economía familiar y depositarias del conocimiento en cuando a diversidad y selección de semillas.
Los Yachaq (denominación quechua para los especialistas o sabios en algún conocimiento, conocimientos y manejo de tecnologías), quienes se encargan de guiar y capacitar a los miembros de la comunidad en la construcción de canales de regadío, construcción de terrazas, preparación de abonos, elaboración de insecticidas naturales, etcétera.
Autoridades, con quienes se viene incidiendo para que puedan apoyar iniciativas de transformación de alimentos por parte de las mujeres indígenas, construcción de invernaderos y fitotoldos, su participación, si bien importante aún no se traduce en apoyo concreto.
Principales cambios observados que suponen una mejora de la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición
1. Mayor rendimiento de las tierras de cultivo, con mayor capacidad de almacenar y transformar alimentos.
2. Incremento de cultivos asociados, como es el caso del maíz con los frejoles.
3. Mayor diversificación en la disponibilidad de alimentos mediante el complemento de la producción agrícola con la de huertos familiares.
4. Incorporación de más practicas alimentarias, mediante educación alimentaria para dosificar adecuadamente los alimentos de acuerdo a edad.
5. Mejoramiento en talla y peso de niños y niñas indígenas. No se ha podido verificar si esto se ha traducido en mejor rendimiento escolar.
6. Identificación de variedades de plantas denominados “alimentos del futuro” por su capacidad de adaptarse al cambio climático y su menor demanda de agua para su cultivo.
Desafíos a los que hubo que enfrentarse y cómo se superaron
Los desafíos son constantes y permanentes. Al ser una propuesta que involucra a contadas comunidades y no un programa completo que articule regiones o cuencas hidrográficas, la necesidad de dinero para la compra de productos, empuja al uso frecuente de abonos químicos.
Esta situación se viene afrontando mediante el valor que se da en las ferias nacionales de productos alimenticios, en donde se ha podido comprobar la mayor demanda de productos orgánicos y libres de agroquímicos. Sin embargo estos mercados y ferias no se dan de manera constante y no son una alternativa constante para los productores indígenas.
Otro desafío constante es el del racismo y la discriminación, que trata a los productos y sistemas de vida y producción indígenas como inferiores y de menor valía. En el caso de los alimentos, los productos industriales gozan de mayor prestigio, y se ha comprobado diversos casos en donde se destina la producción orgánica para la venta y la utilización del dinero para adquirir alimentos industriales.
En este sentido, un desafío importante es construir o contar con un mercado interno para los productos indígenas y la incorporación de estos alimentos dentro de las políticas de apoyo alimentario que se da desde el Estado a los centros educativos y programas sociales.
Otro desafío es la presión para una mayor producción de alimentos debido al rápido y sostenido crecimiento urbano, el área de la Costa del Perú viene perdiendo sus campos de cultivo y la presión es sobre las áreas de la sierra y selva, que también vienen experimentando un crecimiento urbanístico pero con mayores tierras para el cultivo, cuya producción se está orientando ya sea para el mercado exterior o para la demanda de alimentos desde los gustos y perspectiva urbana, perdiéndose en este proceso diversos productos originarios altamente nutritivos.
Enseñanzas/mensajes clave
1. Los conocimientos y productos existen, solo se requiere de políticas de apoyo y de priorización de la producción local-familiar y comunal.
2. La biodiversidad es el mejor laboratorio para dar respuesta a los desafíos del cambio climático.
3. Se requiere de transformar los productos indígenas a gran escala de acuerdo a las prácticas tradicionales indígenas. -
Mme Teresa Maisano
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security CFSItalieOn behalf of CSM
Proponent
The Cumberland County Food Security Council is currently conducting research to identify where and how “local food” is getting into the hands of food insecure people in Cumberland County. We are calling this research “ Closing the Hunger Gap with Local Food. ”
The primary purpose of this research is to collect data on the various food access programs currently utilizing “local food” in efforts to reduce food insecurity for persons experiencing hunger in Cumberland County.
For our research purposes, we have generally defined “local food” as Maine-grown food.
Our Hypotheses:
1. “Local food” in access programs can increase food security for hungry people in Cumberland County while also contributing to creating a more robust and resilient food system in our County and in Maine.
2. Agriculture and Gardening programs provide food insecure people with opportunities to learn and grow food for themselves and their families. We believe putting the means of food production into the hands of food insecure people is the most effective strategy for eliminating food insecurity. This can happen on a scale ranging from mid-size farming to backyard gardening.
3. Consumer incentive programs support people experiencing low income in Cumberland County accessing healthy and fresh “local food” that otherwise would be restricted to those with higher income.
Main responsible entity
The Cumberland County Food Security Council's mission is to advocate, educate and take action toward increasing food access for food-insecure people in Cumberland County. We do this by working together to initiate, strategize, and innovate solutions to our community's hunger problem.
The Food Security Council itself is made up of engaged citizens, community leaders, and representatives from local organizations that are leading the efforts to build food security in Cumberland County and across Maine.
Our efforts focus on educating our community about why our neighbors are food insecure and what can be done to create greater food security in Cumberland County.
We advocate for policy changes and decision-making that support systemic change and ground level action relevant to alleviating hunger.
We believe that we can accomplish more together and that collaborative advocacy and collective action can result in a hunger-free Maine.
Date/Timeframe
From January - June 2017 we will gather the data to establish baselines of where local food is already helping to close the hunger gap in Cumberland County.
Funding source
USDA Community Food Project Grant and Local Private Foundations
Location
The scope of our research is Cumberland County and the Council itself is based out of Portland, Maine.
Background/Context
Many Maine households are having a difficult time putting food on their tables. People are not deprived of food because food is unavailable in the market, but rather because the ability to get that food is restricted, most often by limited income.
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) defines food security as “access, at all times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.” Current research ranks Maine third in the nation for people experiencing very low food security.
“Very low food insecurity” is when eating patterns of one or more household members are disrupted and food intake is reduced because the household lacks sufficient income and other resources necessary to acquire food.
Approximately 14.2% Cumberland County’s residents are food insecure.
Fresh, nutritious, local food is not just for the affluent. If you work each day to create a community where no one goes hungry, local food must be a tool.
Local food supports nutritious diets, stimulates regional economies, sustains healthy environments and creates strong social connections.
As a result of this research, we hope to illuminate the various ways local food is and can further be used as a tool to reduce hunger in Cumberland County, Maine.
Focus/Objectives
CCFSC’s strategic framework for this research prioritizes activities according to their effectiveness in improving access to local food for people vulnerable to food insecurity.
Results we intend to achieve and measure in order of priority:
1. Farming and Gardening Programs: Food Insecure People Producing Food; Increase the number of limited resource farmers and gardeners, the quantities of food these growers produce for their families and distribute to people vulnerable to food insecurity and the amount of income these producers are able to generate through selling food.
2. Farm Direct to Food Insecure Consumer; Increase the numbers of farmers markets that accept and process SNAP EBT payments. Increase consumer use of SNAP to purchase local food at farmers markets and other local produce sellers. Increase direct access to local food by seniors through farm shares and meal programs. Increase farmer awareness and participation in local food access and incentive programs.
3. Farm to Institutions Serving Low Income People; Increase the amount of local food purchased by schools, meals programs and hospitals.
Key characteristics of the experience/process
We recognize that many of the ways that individuals and organizations try to take care of people by supporting food access is not truly solving the underlying systemic problem that perpetuates the existence of food insecurity. In order to effectively solve the problem, people must have access to the resources necessary to solve the problem themselves. There are systemic interventions that can point to more holistic solutions, e.g. local food procurement at institutions, consumer incentive programs, local whole foods replacing processed foods in banks and pantries, and more.
Key actors involved and their role
Jim Hanna, Executive Director, CCFSC
Ali Mediate, Research Assistant, CCFSC
Key changes observed with regards to food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture and food systems
Thus far in our research, it is clear that local food has already played a role in closing the hunger gap in Cumberland County. However, the numbers are small in comparison to the scope of food insecurity in our communities. With this research, we hope to illuminate ways to measure and further guide collective progress toward connecting food insecure individuals with healthy and nutritious local food in our communities.
We are currently establishing baselines based on the assumption that there is more local food available to support hunger alleviation in Cumberland County.
Challenges faced
Farmers are aging. Farmland is available. People either don’t want to farm or don’t have the resources to farm in a financially feasible way. Urban land is contaminated. There are not enough urban community garden plots.
Lessons/Key messages
Collaborative and strategic efforts can increase and broaden positive impact in hunger relief while empowering people as producers and strengthening our local food system. -
Mme Teresa Maisano
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security CFSItalieOn behalf of CSM
Proponent
Valerie Dantoin – faculty, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Main responsible entity
Wisconsin State Technical College System – Northeast Wis. Technical College
Date/Timeframe
2008-2017 and beyond
Funding source
Wisconsin Tech College System
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. A regional-center city of about 100,000 people with a strong interface between its rural (mostly dairy farm) area and its urban (not very wealthy) working-class citizens.
Background/Context
In 2008 a federal grant was received to create a Sustainable Agriculture credential (a certificate) at our regional college. A process was developed to a) interview the emerging Sustainable Agriculture & Food System “industry” members, b) outline and develop College courses, c) recruit students and begin teaching courses. This occurred from 2009 – 2012. In 2013 a two-year Associate Degree in Sustainable Agriculture grew out of the original certificate, due to its popularity. The intent of the program is to create more small scale farmers.
Local food and agriculture system members recognized that it is irresponsible and impractical to graduate new farmers and “release them into the wild” without collaborative efforts to support crop prices and the sustainability of their new businesses. For that reason, we chose to form the SLO (Sustainable, Local, Organic) Farmers Cooperative. The Cooperative is an attempt to work together, rather than compete, for the customers in our region. Without Cooperation, we will do what farmers (especially the inexperienced) have always done; we will compete on price until we drive each other out of business. We then abandon the growing local food movement in our working class region to only a few strong players or to national scale businesses. This is a new model for not only getting new farmers started, but also supporting their success.
Focus/Objectives
Objective 1) Create an Associate Degree in Sustainable Farming & Food Systems that is accessible and affordable. (about 20 students have enrolled in each of the first four years)
2) Graduate 15 people each year to work in the regional food system. About ¼ will create their own small farms. Help them network and grow.
3) Support students beyond the classroom by creating internships and apprenticeships where they can learn to grow food while working with an experienced local farmer.
4) Properly introduce new farmers into the local food eco-system so that they do not disrupt the current small scale farmers currently in the marketplace.
Key characteristics of the experience/process
Accredited adult education and use of the Cooperative model are keys to the process.
Key actors involved and their role
Valerie Dantoin – Curriculum developer, Lead Instructor
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Leadership Team – Amy Kox, Associate Dean
SLO Farmers Cooperative
Wisconsin Farmers Union Cooperative
Key changes observed with regards to food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture and food systems
We grow the capacity of local farmers to successfully supply our region with high quality, sustainable food. SLO food is become more widely available at prices that are fair to both producers and consumers.
Challenges faced
The biggest challenge is funding to operate the SLO Farmers Cooperative until sales volume is large enough to make it self-sustaining. The Co-op is run by individual farmers and does not have a supporting agency. Also, there is never enough “people power” to provide adequate follow-up and support for graduates of the associate degree program.
Lessons/Key messages
It does not make sense to create new farmers unless we have a mechanism to support their successful entry and integration into the marketplace. A fisheries example is analogous. If we hatch a bunch of small fry and invest in growing them up to fingerling size, we should be careful to release them into the wild in an estuary first – a protected place where they can learn to swim strongly and evade predators. Likewise, we can continue to grow new farmers in a classroom relatively easily; but we will have a high failure rate until we provide proper habitat when we re-introduce them into the wild. In our programming, let’s remember to include care and support for newly minted farmers rather than just throwing them into the rough waters of a competitive marketplace. -
Mme Teresa Maisano
Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security CFSItalieDear CFS Secretariat,
on behalf of the CSM please find uploaded an overview of positive civil society experiences in addressing food security and nutrition in the context of changing urban-rural dynamics. Attached you will also find annexed 8 concrete experiences.
Kind Regards
Teresa Maisano
CSM Secretariat
-
Mme Teresa Maisano
The Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) for relations with the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is the largest international space of civil society organisations (CSOs) working to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition. All participating organizations in the CSIPM belong to one of the following 11 constituencies: smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, agricultural and food workers, landless, women, youth, consumers, urban food insecure and NGOs. This collective written contribution has been prepared by participants from the CSIPM Urban and Peri-Urban Working Group which was constituted in January 2024 to follow this CFS workstream.
GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE V0 DRAFT OF THE HLPE-FSN REPORT
The Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism (CSIPM) welcomes the V0 Draft of the HLPE-FSN report on "Strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems to achieve food security and nutrition in the context of urbanisation and rural transformation". The CFS had a policy workstream on Urbanization and Rural Transformation and Implications for Food Security and Nutrition but despite many efforts and resources dedicated to this workstream, and although there was a consultation process, it did not result in a final negotiated policy document. For this reason, the CSIPM welcomes an HLPE report on this topic and sees the opportunity to raise awareness of the priorities of the most affected constituencies in urban and peri-urban contexts through this work stream.
This six-chapter report provides a definition of urban and peri-urban food systems in the first chapter, followed by a historical perspective on the process of urbanization, the current context of urban growth and the number of people living in urban areas in food insecurity. The third chapter examines the nutritional transition and food security, and how the human right to food can be guaranteed. The fourth chapter analyses urban and peri-urban food systems, addressing the different processes, actors, and how people access food, such as through reliance on supermarkets and the proliferation of convenience stores. The fifth chapter discusses urban food governance, laws, an urban food policy, the different regional actors, and how participation in urban policy takes place. Chapter six discusses policy partnerships, and the different actors involved in these responses, as well as international issues and the international market.
The CSIPM recognises that one of the important aspects of the HLPE-FSN report is that it builds its conceptualisation on the six dimensions of food security: availability, access, utilisation, stability, agency and sustainability.
Furthermore, we also find it positive how the report differentiates between the urban and peri-urban concept for the global north and the global south to recognise the different ways in which poverty, migration and internal inequalities have increased in each country. We also welcome the fact that the report talks about malnutrition, given the impact of the penetration of ultra-processed products in urban and peri-urban contexts.
However, we also see some weaknesses and spaces for improvement, such as the fact that the report does not look at the human right to food and the different dimensions of human rights in a holistic way. The report should elaborate more on the indivisibility and interconnection between the right to and the right to the city, or to housing, or the right to work and social protection, or the right to a healthy, clean, safe and sustainable environment. There is a very limited section on addressing gender or inequalities that could be expanded, and which could benefit from previous CFS policy outcomes as a reference, especially the “Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition”. The report should also focus more on youth as agents of transformation in urban and peri-urban food systems. Young people are vital to achieving economies of wellbeing defined by food sovereignty, dignified livelihoods, and healthy environments in rural and urban areas. Food systems transformations are urgently needed to ensure that youth can live well in the countryside and cities, restore ecological harmony, and receive fair remuneration for their work in food systems. Young people are often forced to migrate to cities because life in rural areas is made impossible by structural constraints. Systemic shifts in food systems should centre the core principles of rights, equity, agency, and recognition of the role of youth as collective and individual protagonists of social change.
The report could also benefit from an additional section in chapter 4 looking at existing alternatives to supermarkets and convenience stores, such as territorial markets, community supported agriculture, food buying groups and cooperatives. There must also be an examination of the proliferation of charitable food aid provision in a variety of settings from food banks to schools and religious spaces.
While urban and peri-urban agriculture is addressed, the report does not consider agroecology as a transformative approach for urban and peri urban systems. Among the CFS documents we have a basis for moving forward on urban and peri-urban agriculture based on agroecology and the report should refer to the FAO 10 principles of Agroecology and the CFS Policy Recommendations. There is also an increasing body of research on Urban Agroecology and recognition of its practices and values, that address power and injustice, provide social and wellbeing benefits beyond the production of food and embraces a variety of holistic low impact, low input sustainable food production methods. Some references are provided below.
Moreover, there is no systemic and connected vision between political systems and public procurement services, for example with regard to procurement programmes, there is nothing about a public procurement network. With regard to governance, the report does not touch on urban planning and management instruments, it only calls on social participation councils, but not with the objective to put the food perspective as transversal in the design of urban planning instruments, such as the budget, the urban infrastructure and the different existing public services.
For the CSIPM, social participation is key to create urban and peri-urban food systems that can impact malnutrition and food insecurity. The most affected people and constituencies -such as gypsy, Roma and traveller communities, youth, refugees, migrants, pastoralists, peasants, homeless people, low income groups, including women, racialised people and ethnic groups, persons with disabilities, older people and children among others living in urban and peri- urban areas- should be included in policy making spaces through transparent, democratic and effective processes that respect the autonomy and self-organizations of social movements, feminist movements and civic movements. For example, there is an absence of the workers' perspective, and the perspective of the social and solidarity economy and social protection that consider the conditions for providing quality of life.
ASSUMPTIONS THAT SHOULD BE CHALLENGED (SHIFTING THE PARADIGM)
WHAT IS MISSING OR COULD BE STRENGTHENED
We need to emphasize the alternatives that do exist are in many cases deeply anchored, and whose resilience during the pandemic was shown to be invaluable, such as in Brazil, where small scale food producers gave food to people free of charge. As documented in the CSIPM report (2022) Voices from the ground 2: transformative solutions to the global systemic food crises.
OTHER REFERENCES WHICH COULD BE CONSIDERED
URBAN AGROECOLOGY REFERENCES