Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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Mr. Benone - Ion Pasarin

Member since
Organization: University of Agr.Sci. & Vet. Med. Iasi
Country: Romania
Field(s) of expertise:
I am working on:

* Professor PhD and Dean of Faculty of Animal Science Iasi, Departament :Management of Animal Productions, Fishery technology

* Member and expert of United Nations High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, FAO.

My main interest is Agrobiodiversity, preservation of animal biodiversity -wild and domestic-, food security;

* Water resources (management) and biodiversity;

* Management and Biotechnology Livestock and Farming Systems.

This member contributed to:

    • Dear Sir/Madam,



      In line with the theme of the 20th anniversary of the Right to Food Guidelines, associated with the call for contributions on realizing the Human Right to Adequate Food in the International Food Security Context (RTFG), please find attached the contribution personal.



      With best regards,



      Mr.Benone-Ion PASARIN



       ROMANIA

      See the attachments:

    • Dear Madam / Sir,



      Thank you very much for the opportunity offered to participate in detailing some elements related to a subject of great economic importance and public topicality, such as the issue of micro and nanoplastics and their impact on the environment, agricultural products and human health.



      With respect for the quality of the approach,



      Univ. Prof. Dr. Benone Ion Pasarin

      Romania

      See the attachments:

    • Hello !

      Let me commend the joint commitment of FAO - CSOs to campaign in the fight

      against hunger, poverty and food quality degradation.



      Univ. Prof. Dr. Benone PASARIN



      ROMANIA

      Starting from the practical and didactic experience that I have accumulated, I consider the FAO's approach as opportune, through which it is proposed to identify some of the opportunities and challenges necessary for a better collaboration between FAO and CSOs from various countries of the world.

      In this regard, I would like to join the forum members who wanted to give their input by answering the questions that have been suggested, namely:

      1. To date, efforts to achieve the SDGs have failed to reduce socio-economic inequality within and between countries. How can FAO and CSOs work together to regain lost momentum and work together to "not let nobody behind"?

      To enable FAO to consult meaningfully and constructively with CSOs in order to obtain sustainable economic and policy studies and to formulate common advice to provide to States, regions or groups in socio-economic conditions vulnerable, I believe that actions are needed, first of all, to identify those CSOs that meet the following criteria:

      a. The CSOs demonstrate that the activities undertaken by them refer exclusively to subsystems of productive activities in the food sector (rural or peri-urban) and not to other socio-political issues.

      b. The CSOs' actions have as beneficiaries, in particular, the local food producers and less the big end users and processors or the big chain stores.

      c. CSOs demonstrate that they promote and encourage the association of small producers in order to obtain food, their temporary storage, primary processing and the sale of food through cooperatives and professional associations.

      d. The leaders of these CSOs, belonging to both sexes, have specialized training in order to develop specific communication and training, planning and legislation, investment, management and decision-making activities, etc., which will allow them to participate to development dialogues and policy transfer at the local level, with the support of the community to which it is addressed.

      e. CSOs prove that they have been interacting for a long time with those organizations (local actors) that are directly associated with one or more of the subsystems or links of food production, of major importance to the population in the area where the CSOs operate activity (soil preparation and land sowing link, irrigation link, soil biodiversity preservation link, soil erosion control link, harvesting link, agricultural goods transport and circulation link, conservation and technological processing link , the chain of food trade and production valorization, etc.).

      f. CSOs promote and develop social entrepreneurship, with the aim of development and financial self-sustainability of the organization.

      Once the CSOs have been identified, analyzed and accepted in the collaboration, the next step should be how to engage FAO in the relationship with these CSOs, i.e. direct or indirect involvement.

      A direct engagement between FAO and relevant CSOs could entail the following:

      • The provision by FAO of some training and training programs for CSO members, depending on their basic training, with the aim of participating in joint projects.

      • FAO's provision of free advisory work to CSOs, both in private actions at the community level and in joint projects.

      • Supporting and guiding CSOs in promoting local productive activities that create added value (establishment of micro farms, purchase and breeding of purebred animals, cultivation of technical plants, development of agritourism and ecotourism, temporary food storage, primary food processing, etc. ).

      • FAO's provision of expertise in the collection and statistical analysis of agricultural, food security and safety data.

      • Supporting and mediating the relationship between CSOs and potential private donors of financial funds, necessary for starting and implementing joint projects.

      • Ensuring direct financial support for CSOs.

      An indirect engagement between FAO and CSOs could involve the following:

      • FAO interventions at the level of state authorities in order to provide logistical and financial support to local CSOs.

      • Mediation of lucrative meetings between CSOs with similar specifics, belonging to different countries.

      • Periodic information of CSOs regarding specific changes in legislation at European and global level.

      • Regularly informing CSOs on new technical achievements worldwide, obtaining genetic advances on management, marketing, plant varieties and animal breeds, food sustainability techniques, the status of social farms, etc.

      2. FAO seeks to accelerate the transformation of agri-food systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable as a means of achieving the 2030 Agenda.

      What and how can CSOs contribute to such a transformation to increase impact on the ground? Please suggest concrete actions.

      Considering that the effective collaboration between FAO and the EU will increase and diversify, this will also be reflected in the activity of CSOs, corresponding to their professional identity. In this context, I consider relevant the following contributions of CSOs, in order to increasing the impact of their activity within local agricultural communities:

      • CSOs can easily identify vulnerable or marginalized populations or human groups, advocating their causes at local and national government levels.

      • CSOs have the capacity to identify and report existing inequalities regarding child labor exploitation, exclusion of women from professional activities, sale of agricultural land, food security, access to resources, agricultural land and food markets.

      • CSOs can coagulate the efforts of marginalized groups with a view to their active participation in the initiation of reforms and policies to overcome their state of social vulnerability.

      • CSOs can lobby local and national political decision-makers for the generation and enforcement of regulations on sustainable agricultural practices, short food supply chains, the transformation of agricultural micro-farms into agro-tourism micro-farms, the creation of fair market opportunities for small agricultural producers etc.

      • CSOs can monitor government actions undertaken nationally and internationally regarding commitments related to disadvantaged areas or subject to risk factors.

      • CSOs can collaborate with governments, relevant ministries, with other national and international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, to initiate or generate significant legislative changes in vulnerable and risk areas.

       

      3. Climate change threatens our ability to ensure global food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development.

      How could FAO and CSOs maximize collective impact for climate change adaptation and/or mitigation?

      Maximizing the collective impact of FAO and CSOs for climate change adaptation and/or mitigation requires several approaches, such as establishing the type of FAO-CSO involvement (direct or indirect) and the form of engagement between them, so that the results should be optimal in terms of solving specific problems of vulnerable populations or regions. Subsequently, the collaboration can be of a complementary or synergistic type, as for example:

      • FAO, due to its international recognition in agriculture and food security, can deploy adequate human and financial resources to guide CSOs in their data collection and interpretation efforts, as well as to provide the necessary tools to adapt populations to climate change.

      • FAO, based on feedback generated by CSOs, can influence the development and implementation of national and global policies, with priority reference to climate-resistant agriculture, sustainable land management, building nations adaptable to climate change, etc.

      • FAO has the opportunity to provide tools for the dissemination of relevant knowledge and practical skills, based on which CSOs can fulfill the objectives of climate-specific projects (conferences, round tables, workshops, printed materials, etc.).

      • FAO can help inform CSOs of national and international funding opportunities, and CSOs can use their local networks to access financial resources for specific climate change and adaptation projects.

      4. I have no comments

      5. Currently, what are the most significant challenges facing CSOs in their involvement with FAO? What could FAO do to address some of these challenges? Please provide concrete examples.

      From my point of view, some of the current challenges relate to the following:

      • The difference in image and recognition of the involvement/funding of CSOs versus NGOs, which is to the disadvantage of CSOs, in terms of the possibility of funding and effective participation in national and international policies and processes.

      • Lack of leaders within CSOs and their national and international representativeness.

      • The lack of online platforms dedicated to simplifying the submission of project proposals and progress reports, which generates elements of bureaucracy and slows down the flow of information.

      • Lack of presence and representation of regional CSOs at the international level, compared to NGOs and large or corporate organizations, which reduces the involvement of women's groups, small farmers, local cooperatives and indigenous communities.

    • Barriers, like opportunities, have different and diverse connotations

      depending on the country, political regime, degree of development, soil

      and subsoil resources, geographical and geopolitical position, etc. So:



      a) In countries where there are large agricultural enterprises, very

      strong groups, mostly international, which coagulate new classes of

      financial investors, until recently not traditionally involved in the

      agricultural sector, namely banking groups, investment funds, individual

      traders and private equity companies , "land transaction brokers" etc.,

      they professionally and efficiently manage the production mechanisms and

      method, imposing their own industrial strategies and defining, in the last

      resort, even the taste and quality of the food products we consume.

      These groups possess technologies and laboratories for the production of

      germplasm of the highest quality (varieties and hybrids of plants and

      animals, Genetically Modified Organisms, etc.), are in a relationship with

      or govern the large markets, ensuring the possibility of selling the food

      products obtained , benefit from subsidies and preferential political

      "treatments", far surpassing as "applied artificial intelligence" the

      holders of knowledge, respectively the actors in the domestic agri-food

      systems, including the university type.



      b) In countries where there are, for the most part, small and

      medium-sized owners, usually not organized in Cooperatives or other forms

      of association and extension, the phenomenon of land grabbing occurs, that

      is, of selling/buying land at minimum prices, as a consequence of the lack

      of the constant access to specialized consulting, to the domestic

      manufacturer's sales market, the lack of access to stimulating financing

      to develop the business, the lack of access to large retail chains, which

      have very high procurement standards from the point of view of this

      category by producers (including in terms of labeling and packaging),

      often requesting certifications issued by international and independent

      bodies, for certain categories of products, all of which presuppose

      knowledge as well as significant financial costs.

      In addition, local producers do not have a developed production and

      distribution process, which is why other difficulties arise, such as

      effective access to retailer representatives, storage of goods,

      organization of transport at local or national level or ensuring a

      continuous annual flow of products to meet the needs of retailers.

      Conclusively, small and medium producers, those who should be the basis of

      agro-food production, cannot build and do not have an organized system of

      the market for the produced food, through which they can also benefit from

      the introduction and rapid absorption of new knowledge, in order to the

      adoption of new technologies and the correct fulfillment of business

      obligations.

      Also, these producers do not have adequate knowledge regarding the

      importance of digitizing their work, nor do they invest in acquiring

      managerial skills, do not consistently participate in the provision of

      data and do not technically exploit their scientific interpretation.

      As a specialist in Food Security and Safety, I believe that any national

      agri-food system, based on knowledge, requires a synergistic support of

      national and community policies, including financial ones, for better

      functioning, for a coherent implementation of governance and resilience

      systems existing or future.



      Univ. Prof. Dr. Benone Ion PASARIN

      Romania