Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Dear All,

Season's Greetings!

A great effort by HLPE. I feel the following point should get emphasis:

Agro-ecological zoning separates areas into the region at the apex level and agro-eco unit at the bottom. The agro-ecological region identifies the natural resources in terms of problems, potentialities and constraints and their extent with respect to land utilization types and groups them in uniform units. Digital database in GIS and application of logic through decision support system (DSS) further enhance the process and precession of agro-ecological delineation. The sub agro ecological regions are further subdivided into agro-ecological zones based on landforms, soil association and land use. The agro ecological zones have further taken down to sub zones depending on terrain characteristics, parent materials, soil texture, depth, salinity, surface and ground water potentiality and cropping pattern.

In solidarity and wIth warm regards,

Pradip Dey

This comment supersedes the contribution dated 05.11.2018, Ed.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the HLPE Version-Zero Draft of the report, “Agroecological and Other Innovations for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems.”

Thank you for allowing a comment period. In summary, I am struck by 3 glaring omissions:

(1. PICS bags for inexpensive, protective grain storage-developed by Perdue and embraced by the Gates Foundation are omitted. Why not use this report to showcase them? 2. Barely a nod to global warming/climate change/carbon sequestration---when the ink from the ominous IPCC report is barely dry. Again, why this gap in what helps reduce atmospheric carbon, and most importantly--3. The omission of Inga Alley Cropping---and in particular the 7-year, 100% successful "Land for Life" program of Mike Hands in Honduras is not mentioned at all). It may be a small, but it has planet-changing results which apply to the entire humid tropics.



I am not an expert or scientist...so it is likely my remarks will not be taken as seriously as others---BUT you are blatantly sucking up to industrial agriculture--and most egregiously to GMO technology. Is Monsanto funding you? Apps/gene editing/drones and technology should not be part of this report--unless you only wish to consider business as usual.

From www.osce.org/what/environmental -"Once only considered as an environmental issue, climate change is increasingly being included as an inherent element of national and international security agendas. It is seen as a “threat multiplier” exacerbating existing threats to security and increasing environmental stress, adding to pressures that can push the responsive capacities of governments to their limits."

Figure 7-Evolution of the agroforestry paradigm—suggest  an EXAMPLE BOX be added to include Inga Alley Cropping as a strong example of an agroforestry system which addresses all 17 of the SDGs, which can be provided by Dr. Mike Hands. His 20+ years as a tropical ecologist allowed him understand the inter-related problems of food security, slash and burn agriculture, rainforest, rural poverty, and ecosystem devastation--and working with Cambridge and Royal Botanic Garden, Kew established a scientifically-proven, bottom-up model (Inga Alley Cropping) for economic & environmental sustainability that is replicable and scalable to the entire tropics with 300+ Inga species or native, analogous species.

 

Figure 8-Add--Major ways in which agroforestry impacts smallholder livelihoods—sequestering carbon/biological weed control with no pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers--again, all these benefits should be mentioned generally about many systems and from one agroforestry system in particular--Inga Alley Cropping.

Page 80-Line 54- Should genetically modified organisms be used for improving FSN? There is no consensus on this. Proponents of GM technology assert that there is a place for GM technology in SFS for FSN---WHY WOULD YOU KEEP THIS PROPOGANDA IN THIS REPORT? You do not even mention watershed protection, health of users (you say "possible" when a 40 million dollar lawsuit against Monsanto says otherwise), local plants and pollinators--why are you so biased here in favor of BIG AG? Do you not see you are biased?

Page 81-Lines 3 and 4 continue your bias when the industry fights labelling world-wide and litigates to silence those who seeks transparency:

3 introduced. They indicate that education about the effects of GM and transparency in labelling will

4 need to accompany introduction to allow consumers to make their own decisions about purchases.

 

Consider a section of simple economics (with your recommendations for policy inclusion to benefit smallholders):

A new report by the international network More and Better presents a global overview of investments in agriculture, revealing that more investment in small-scale sustainable agriculture is needed. The report gives an overview of some of the most important financial institutions involved in agriculture and the benefits and implications of different investment models. It also provides recommendations for inclusive and equitable future investments in small-scale sustainable farming.

“Farmers have the most important occupation in the world,” says Aksel Nærstad, International Co-coordinator of the More and Better Network.

“The U.N. Global Compact states that small-scale food producers—peasants, artisanal fisherfolks, pastoralists, hunters, and gatherers—produce 40 percent of the food which is traded and 70 percent of all food in the world. But peasants are also the largest group of the poor people in the world and of the about 800 million people who are starving. More focus on and support to improve the condition for peasants is therefore crucial.”

The report details several studies from the World Bank and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) demonstrating how investments in small-scale sustainable agriculture is an effective and proven way to reduce hunger and poverty in low-income countries. Despite this, public investment in agriculture has decreased considerably, with governments allocating less than two percent of their central government expenditures to agriculture between 2001 and 2015. Official Development Assistance (ODA) has increased since 2005, but is still very low, at approximately 6-8% of total ODA.

“Several reports show that support to and investments in small-scale sustainable agriculture in developing countries are by far the most efficient ways to reduce hunger and poverty,” says Nærstad. “Despite [this], very few investments are made with and for peasants. Most of the commercial and public investments in agriculture go to large-scale unsustainable farming.”

 

Hands, M. R.  2004.

El uso de Inga en Cultivo en Callejones; una alternativa sostenible comprobada a la agricultura migratoria en el Bosque Lluvioso.  Invited co-author in  :  Cordero, J. and Boshier, D. H., (eds.)  :  Árboles de Centroamérica  :  Un manual para extensionistas.  OFI/CATIE.  Oxford.  UK.

Hands, M. R. June 2002.

Alley-Cropping as a Sustainable Alternative to Shifting Cultivation.  Final Report.  Project HND / B7-6201 / IB / 97 / 0533(08).  Tropical Forests Budgetary Line.  Commission of the European Communities.  DG I.  Brussels.

Dear HLPE Project Team and Steering Committee,

Please find below my review of the V0 draft of: “Agroecological approaches and other innovations for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and Nutrition.”

Overall, I appreciated and am encouraged by the intent and thoroughness of this report - as well as the opportunity to provide feedback at such an early stage.  My detailed comments include some ideas and concerns that I hope will be helpful.

Sincerely,

Marcia DeLonge, PhD

Senior Scientist, Agroecologist

Union of Concerned Scientists, Food & Environment Program

Great effort. However, its potential results will be minimal unless every single process is conducted within a truly participative democracy, thus becoming tropophilic. Further details can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078ZHSWWB

and here:

https://www.socialsciencethatactuallyworks.com/

Best regards and keep it up!

JC Wandemberg

http://sustainablesystemsinternational.org/

Dear  all



Please accept Urgenci's submission of comments on the draft zero version of the HLPE report, and apologies for sending it a day late: I was unable to do so yesterday.



In solidarity‌



Judith Hitchman, President

This is a fine document, very detailed and well- illustrated. Congratulations to the contributors. It would be interesting to know what the precise objectives, uses and targeted users of the document are.

My primary field is nutrition and not agriculture although food systems and food security are an integral part of nutrition. The few comments I have are therefore more directly connected with nutrition:

My Comments:

Recommendation 1, p. 9:

What are « small or medium farms »? Is it their size or their methods that are addressed? Please clarify.

Recommendation 2, p. 9:

I am not sure that SFS is to be introduced in primary schools. In contrast, it is important to emphasize the need for SFSs to be introduced in the public health training curriculum. Conversely, more attention should be paid to appropriate nutrition training in agriculture schools and universities.

Recommendation 5, p. 10:

Let’s not forget traditional and minor crops which contribute to food diversity hence security, and to better nutrition. I would also see mentioned here the importance of introducing the concept of nutrition value chains. Additionally, it may be useful to clarify here the concept of “nutrition sensitive” agriculture even if it is further discussed under 2.3.7.

Recommendation 7, p. 11:

Would it not be relevant to advertise for, or promote, locally produced foods as an additional means of linking rural producers and urban consumers? (See on this my discussion paper on urban food patterns for FAO http://www.fao.org/docrep/U3550t/u3550t05.htm#TopOfPage

Food security and nutrition, p. 14:

Under “access” is also included access to information about food outlets, about the nutritional value of food and about food and nutrition programs. Access to information is included in the FAO’s definition of food security.

P. 15: Does “approach to FSN” really need to be defined?

P. 25: It is interesting to read that one of the principles of agroecology is to “develop healthy, diversified, seasonally and culturally appropriate diets”.

P. 34, box 7: Other issues that could be considered is overfishing, as well as food processing, and the problem with ultra-processed foods.

P. 68, box 11: Adding the caloric requirements on a per capita basis would help understand this.

P. 73, Fig. 11: It is surprising not to see here wars and social unrest, as well as disease (such as HIV) as determinants of hunger. Other sources list these.

P. 77: GMOs: A major issue is that the risk is not taken by those who reap the benefits of GM... And that research is often proprietary.

Warmest regards,

Hélène Delisle, Ph.D.

Dear HLPE team,

The International Dairy Federation (IDF) welcomes the opportunity to submit comments to the Vo of the HLPE Report on Agroecological approaches and other innovations for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition.

Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires locally adapted agricultural approaches that foster productivity, maintain environmental sustainability, promote rural livelihoods, and ensure resilience.

In particular, meeting SDG 2 requires increased focus on the influence of local contexts on what constitutes ‘climate smart’ and sustainable agriculture practices, taking into account fragile farming communities and the specific needs of small holders. Today, many approaches have been developed that offer sustainable solutions while maintaining agricultural productivity and ‘usefulness’ to society over the long run.

However, we do believe that that sustainable agroecological practices are able to be implemented by all types of farms and are not scale dependent. This should be reflected in the report.

In addition, the report should reference the FAO document Agroecology: from advocacy to action (COAG/2018/5). The paper builds on prior work in this area, and includes 10 elements of agroecology as a guide to the transition to sustainable agriculture and food systems. We do feel that an 11th recommendation should be added to include the role of science/technology or innovation.

In conclusion to meet current and future demand for agricultural goods sustainably, we must not preclude any options and instead focus on what is most appropriate and scalable in any given context. All decisions must be grounded on scientific evidence and follow the development framework of the SDGs.

IDF advocates for a mix of practices, tools and technologies tailored to each situation. Many practices, such as precision agriculture, conservation farming (no- or reduced till practices), drip irrigation and integrated pest management, are supportive of and compatible with the goals of sustainable development and food security. Unilateral promotion of certain farming systems or the exclusion of some technologies does not reflect the notion of sustainable development and limits farmers’ choices.

Thanks a lot,

Kind regards,

María

Bonsoir,

Veuillez trouver ci-joint les commentaires de la France sur la V0 du Rapport « Approches agroécologiques et d’autres innovations pour une agriculture durable et des systèmes alimentaires qui améliorent la sécurité alimentaire et la nutrition » .

Bien cordialement,

Gemma Cornuau

Adviser