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
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
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
Mr. Benone - Ion Pasarin
Dear HLPE-FSN members,
Below, please find my personal contribution to the consultation on ,,Conserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous peoples' food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems,,.
It is my hope that the perspectives covered and the experience held will join ideas on promoting sustainable and inclusive food systems.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important initiative.
Prof. university Dr. Benone Ion PASARIN
ROMANIA
Dear HLPE-FSN members,
To begin with, based on my teaching and managerial experience in the field of natural resources and their connection with food security and safety, in terms of the new concept of building "nations resistant to climate change", I want to congratulate you for initiating an analysis topic, as vast as it is important, my critical conviction being that the biocultural heritage of the peoples of the 3rd Millennium can also contribute to shaping some vital aspects of a future food system that to have sustainability as its central element. This, however, subject to the fact that the Global Food System is a follower of standardized and over-processed food, still turns to waste, and the principles of the notion of "food security" have moved away from the original FAO-UN creed, in many geographical areas of the world.
However, indigenous peoples, along with old local communities, are in dire need of assistance through popularization, agro-tourism, organized food markets, fiscal protection, conservation and practical maintenance of their food systems, both from the point of view of value their intrinsic value as well as a spiritual value for humanity, and humanity, the new food production systems, need landmarks of a new orientation and attitude towards the need for food security, sustainability and durability. With your consent, I pass on some personal ideas:
1. Do you agree with the guiding principles indicated above ? Yes, I agree with the guiding principles. I believe that the indigenous peoples, together with the old local communities, resilient in time, can generate good knowledge, necessary for a future Food System, based on the real management of natural and human resources, rethinking the production of food as well as their valorization.
2.Should the goals include the integration of indigenous peoples' food and knowledge systems and the lessons learned from them, for the benefit of all or only for the benefit of indigenous peoples as rights holders ? Indigenous civilizations and ancient local communities, with a few exceptions, do not think of their food systems as their own, secret, untouchable good. For them, it represents, in most cases, a chance for survival over the course of millennia. Of course, food systems and knowledge of these human entities will be distributed to the global community and applied for the benefit of all, where necessary and possible, and representatives of the global community have a duty to recognize innovative and proprietary rights material and intellectual belonging to these peoples, ensuring their full and effective participation in decision-making.In addition, indigenous civilizations and ancient local communities must benefit from knowledge exchanges with other similar entities, thereby multiplying the stock of technical and technological ideas and increasing the scope for innovation.
3. What are the challenges to free, prior and informed consent and access and benefit sharing when promoting and/or mainstreaming indigenous peoples' food and knowledge systems ? As it appears from the title of the forum, the general action involves "conserving, consolidating, promoting some food systems, from the point of view of traditional knowledge and practices, known and applied for millennia by different indigenous peoples", eliminating the distrust of indigenous peoples. From my point of view, a meritorious outcome of this very complex endeavor and the reduction of inherent challenges may lie in the manner and timing of the application of the action. Thus, it is important to respect the free consent of data provision for all actors involved, to create mechanisms to recognize, guarantee and respect the cultural paternity of the traditional food system, as well as to create a fair mechanism for distributing potential benefits, eliminating biopiracy .It must be recognized that some information and practical techniques may not be fully disclosed and made available to all, due to the sacred factor and related cult practices.
4. How can the Report ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups, sustainability and protection from the risks of commercialization of indigenous peoples' food and knowledge systems ? The report has the role of:- to facilitate the publication of data on the existence, role and value of traditional knowledge and practices, in order to be well understood and correctly applied; - to encourage and facilitate the development of elements of production and trade within indigenous communities, both to prove the viability of traditional practices and to record the geographical and human paternity of those practices;- facilitate the physical participation of indigenous populations in food systems policy-making processes. In addition, we must accept that much of the traditional knowledge is owned and transmitted by women, who ensure the daily food security of the family, a fact that requires special attention to the "gender" factor.
5. How should oral knowledge and traditions be documented and referenced in the preparation of the report ? As with any legal, professional and constructive documentation, it is necessary to know the cultural practices of indigenous peoples, so that the data collected has the free consent of those interviewed, filmed or recorded. After this step, modern techniques of retrieving and storing data of this kind can be applied, namely audio recordings, interviews, photographs, leaflets, documentary films, geo-ethnographic maps, etc. And in this case, the sensitive element regarding the sacred factor and related cult practices must be specified, which is why a careful management of documentation techniques is required. It is essential to follow the protocols on the cultural practices of indigenous peoples, so that good information management is initiated, guaranteeing, where necessary, the confidentiality of certain practices, traditional knowledge or cultural preferences.
6. What dimensions related to the agency of indigenous peoples, for example in matters of governance, could be addressed ? In order to foster the involvement of indigenous peoples' agency in matters of governance, it is vitally necessary that these peoples own the geographical territories inherited from the past and their natural resources, benefiting from the recognition and protection of their inalienable rights. Associated with this fact, local and national government institutions and systems can be strengthened, through which any misunderstandings and conflicts regarding the management of territories and resources can be resolved and, last but not least, to store and process own data related to the systems traditional foods, ensuring that they are consistent with their priorities, forming part of what is called the "national dowry".
7. Are there important/relevant policy papers and instruments missing from the foundational documents list ? I think the presentation is enough. Maybe I would just add The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) or Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol. 8.Could you indicate relevant references that should be considered? In my personal documentation practice, I have come across sufficiently valuable and relevant references with reference to the topic addressed. In this sense, I allow myself to quote FAO-UN sources, such as the "White Book/Wiphala" or the "Action Guide for the Promotion of Biodiversity and Indigenous Food Systems", including "HLPE-FSN, Agroecology and other innovative approaches for sustainable agriculture and food systems (2019-2020)", but valuable documents from specialists from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia or Latin America can also be added, s.a. Such documents address defining policy elements and perspectives for recognizing the existential circumstances of indigenous peoples, describe threats to indigenous and local knowledge systems, while also identifying measures for the good governance of food systems of this profile.
9. What good practices, ethical standards and strategies for addressing climate change should be highlighted in the report? Good practices, ethical standards and strategies adopted in response to what we call today "climate change" depend, in my opinion, not so much on the ability of various human groups to react and adapt to these changes, but above all on the ability to anticipation and preventive action of these groups, the so-called pro-active actions. Climate change and in particular the phenomenon of global warming have a direct effect on the conduct of human actions in a complex employment environment, and mankind has already been involved in the struggle to secure basic needs such as water, food, fuel and the shelter, simultaneously with the fight against diseases. What remains to be done, I believe, is the identification of resilient agro-ecological practices of indigenous peoples and the analysis of the possibilities and the proportion of assimilation and use of these traditional production systems resistant to climate change. These steps, sufficiently extensive and expensive, must be carried out in full consultation with the real holders of the respective practices, and this must be recognized in the documentation of all projects.
10. What good practices or strategies for promoting intercultural understanding should be highlighted in the report? I believe that the report should contain elements that refer to mutual respect, inclusive education, the promotion of gender equality, etc., but above all elements to identify and recognize traditional knowledge, to promote common culinary experiences and to consolidate of forms of indigenous agrotourism. Such approaches can lead to the establishment of forums, necessary for the promotion/reception of practical traditional knowledge, which can compare or coexist with scientific knowledge related to modern food systems. The final success of such efforts would mean finding indigenous foods, originating from traditional systems, on the shelves of large profile stores.
11. Are previous legal documents such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent sufficient in light of this evolution in thinking about Indigenous knowledge, or do they need to be revised? Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), as it is known, is a fundamental, well-established principle, but national governments should create their own flexible methodologies for regulating and implementing FPIC, embedded in their own regional and national development policies , which respects the rights and cultural diversity of indigenous peoples.In conclusion, the preservation and promotion of indigenous peoples' food and knowledge systems will be instrumental in defining and operating sustainable food systems and resilience. In addition, considering the increasing annual number of meteorological and hydrological disasters, which affect the food of millions of people, it is imperative to develop with priority some interdisciplinary models of evolution and prediction of such manifestations.Thank you for the opportunity to address such an important topic.