Global Food System Choices and Consequences OnePlanet Food, Herriot Watt, Edinburgh 21 January 2010 Patrick Mulvany

1. Global Food SystemChoices and ConsequencesOnePlanet Food, Herriot Watt, Edinburgh21 January 2010Patrick Mulvany

2. UK Food GroupAfrican Smallholders in Focus

3. UK Food GroupAfrican Smallholders in Focuswww.ukfg.org.uk/smallholders

4. Who will feed us?

5. Status of Agriculture: • Characterized by Disconnects, both in the developed and developing world • Disconnects between agriculture and • the environment; • Disconnects between consumers and • farmers or land and cities; • Disconnects between policies and • expectations.

6. “Business as usual is not an option…. continuing to focus on production alone will undermine our agricultural capital and leave us with an increasingly degraded and divided planet.” Prof. Bob Watson, Director IAASTD and DEFRA Chief Scientist, March 2008

7. 1.02Bn HUNGER MAP

8. Who has the Power?

9. Policy and Institutional Failurehas limited the use of sustainable practices and has allowed Concentration of Power “There is a risk that, in a context dominated by the fear of food shortages, opportunities will be mistaken for solutions, and that, in the name of raising production, the need for both social and environmental sustainability of the solutions devised will be underestimated.” Olivier de Schutter UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

10. CORPORATE CONTROLFOOD CHAIN Top 3 Corporations control 47% seed market (2007)

11. GM for drought tolerance - poor returns? Drought-tolerant maize (Budget $47 million) Drought-proofed farms(Farmer knowledge) OR • Increase in total farm yields • Drought no longer a problem • Better soil fertility/biodiversity • More water for people and livestock • Variable maize yields but fewer empty cobs IAASTD found GM crops did not help eradicate hunger

12. Low Carbon, BiodiverseEcological Food Provision Develop culturally appropriate technology Improve food security and food sovereignty Improve livelihood security and local markets Improve gender equity SOCIAL ECONOMIC ENVIRON- MENTAL Sustain Agroecosystem Functions and Agricultural Biodiversity Strengthen institutional capacity Diversify production systems – resilience to Climate Change Conserve and regenerate natural resources

13. April 1996 Nov 1996 August 2001 May 2002 ‘Tlaxcala Declaration of La Via Campesina, Tlaxcala, Mexico ‘The right to produce and access to land. Food Sovereignty: A Future without Hunger’. La Via Campesina ‘Profit for a few or food for all’ ‘WTO – Shrink or Sink!’ Our World is Not for Sale ‘World Forum on Food Sovereignty’ Havana, Cuba ‘Food Sovereignty: A Right for All’. Political Statement of the NGO/CSO Forum for Food Sovereignty’ Rome, Italy Adopting Soberanía Alimentariathe Food Sovereignty Framework

14. Sept 2004 March 2006 Feb 2007 Sept 2007 Oct 2008 Nov 2009 People’s Caravan for Food Sovereignty, Asia Land, Territory and Dignity forum, Porto Alegre, Brazil (held in parallel to FAO agrarian reform conference ICARRD) Nyéléni 2007: Forum for Food Sovereignty, Sélingué, Mali Wilderswil Declaration on Livestock Diversity: Defending Food Sovereignty and the Rights of Livestock Keepers, Interlaken, Switzerland World Forum of Fisher People statement on food sovereignty, Bangkok, Thailand  Forum for People’s Food Sovereignty Now!, Rome, Italy Adopting Soberanía Alimentariathe Food Sovereignty Framework

15. FOOD SOVEREIGNTY ‘Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.’ (Declaration of Nyéléni, 2007)

16. SIX PRINCIPLES Food Sovereignty 1. Focuses on Food for People and Right to Food, rather than export commodities 2. Values Food Providers and respects their Rights, rather than squeezing them off the land 3. Localises Food Systems,rather than promoting unfair global trade 4. Puts Control Locally,rather than remote TNCs 5. Builds Knowledge and Skills, rather than depending on alien technologies such as GM 6. Works with Nature, rather than using methods that harm beneficial ecosystem functions, such as energy intensive monocultures and livestock factories.

17. Food Sovereignty, including the Human Right to adequate Food, devolves power to the people vs Food Security, which keeps control in the hands of existing powerholders It is silent on Provenance Quality Control Decision FOOD SECURITY a co-opted concept?

18. Raising Productivity through Food Sovereignty Food Provision per unit Land/Water C C = agroecological, diverse, low external input production A = industrial, simplified, high external input production A B B = current productivity levels X Low-----------------------DIVERSITY / RESILIENCE ---------------------- High High-----------------------------------CARBON COST-----------------------------Low High------------------------CORPORATE CONTROL---------------------Low Low--------------------------FOOD SOVEREIGNTY--------------------High Low-------------------------------------PEOPLE ---------------------------------High IAASTD finds need to increase and strengthen AKST towards agroecological sciences to address environmental and productivity issues(IAATSD) Finding # 7. See www.iaastd.net

19. Focus on food; Equity, social justice, ecological sustainability; Healthy eating – more plants less meat; More local, seasonal, quality products; Fair prices; Access to land; Protect soil, water, agricultural biodiversity free from GMOs; No agrofuels; Shorten distances between and ‘reconnect’ producer and consumer; Transparency in food chain; Reduce concentration of power; Develop skills and knowledge of children. The new Common Food and Agriculture Policy12 Principles based on Food Sovereignty

20. Thank YouFurther info:www.ukfg.org.ukfoodsovereignty.orgetcgroup.orgukabc.orgpracticalaction.orgPatrick Mulvanypatrickmulvany@clara.co.uk