Our last news article discussed the 39th Session for the Committee on World Food Security. The first day, October 15th, International Day of Rural Women, was held at the FAO headquarters in Rome. The day addressed the progress needed towards the realisation of economic empowerment for rural women so that they can live lives that are food secure, sustainable and fair. Click here for more.
The second day, October 16th, was International World Food Day. The day consisted of a series of meetings which heavily involved civil society groups, their hopes for CFS 39, and their visions for 2013/14.
Our UN Representative for Rome, Cinzia Palmi is heavily involved with the Adhoc Group, a civil society group that brings together a number of voices from organisations working towards the same objectives. This group combines forces to allow for a stronger platform from which to voice matters of importance to the FAO. SI is involved in this combined effort, along with other NGO’s, such as the International Alliance for Women, and meets regularly with the group members to develop joint positions and coordinate activities.
An Adhoc meeting was attended that day, and what was discussed was the Zero Hunger Programme. One of the authors of ‘How to End Hunger in Times of Crises’
Andrew Macmillan was on hand to chat about the programme and answer any questions that the group had. Soroptimist International’s concerns were that rural women need to be addressed more in policy-making and attention given to them in all areas of decision making because they have the least rights and are the worst affected in terms of climate change.
Zero Hunger
In an effort to reduce poverty and hunger in Brazil, Graziano da Silva (now Director General of the FAO) launched something called the Fome Zero programme in 2004. The initiative, concentrating on agro-ecology, was launched and ran for 4 years. In that time it succeeded in lifting millions of people out of
poverty by supporting local farmers and community kitchens and
introducing social welfare policies such as the Bolsa Familia scheme.
Graziano da Silva realised that a supply driven approach didn’t work, instead he gave the poor purchasing power then put in place policies so the demand then came. An electronic card was given to women in households which gave them the economic power to purchase food within their family unit. Its first launch was in 2003, it ran for 4 years and has decreased hunger by 7%. Programmes like this are now being started in Malawi, Zambia and Kenya. It will be interesting to monitor these countries’ progress. If it works there too – this programme, if used on a global scale, could seriously alter the world in which we live.
The success of this programme has been acknowledged by the International Community and since then Ban Ki-moon has launched what is called ‘The Zero Hunger Campaign’. This campaign has five
objectives: 100% access to food for all, all year round; an end to
stunting among children under two because of a lack of nutrients during
pregnancy and in the early days of life; ensuring food systems are
sustainable (although there is no reference to how this could be
achieved); doubling smallholder productivity and income; and a reduction
in food waste, at the farmer level, through lack of suitable storage
and among consumers.
Cooperatives
The next meeting attended was entitled ‘Agricultural Cooperatives – Key to Feeding the World’. It opened with a statement from Ban Ki-moon. He said "870 million people going hungry is unacceptable in a world so filled with food; cooperatives give inspiration and provide a vital role for food security; they empower marginalised groups, especially women, to drive their destinies. Cooperatives are vital to reaching the objectives of the Zero Hunger Challenge". Discussions on climate change ensued and how this will have such a big impact on food security. Biodiversity International stressed that there are two components to climate change – biological vulnerability to changes in temperature and social vulnerability to households and communities. Produce such as potatoes and rice will not be able to grow with increased temperatures. Women, who generally collect the water may have to walk so much further.
Ms. Elizabeth Atangana from the Pan African Farmers Organisation in Cameroon was a guest speaker and described how she lives in a small village in a forest – the day to day needs of her family being water, energy and education. With the climate upheavals she describes that they are seeing more and more irregularities in crop growing and so farmers are losing the ability to know when the best times are to sow. Women and children she says are the most affected. "There is a scarcity and sometimes complete absence of rain, there are foodbourne diseases, and disease of livestock and plants. Climate change deprives our communities of human dignity, and it deprives our young people of hope". She states 60% of rural people in Cameroon are women so they are best placed to make decisions about rural development. Ms. Atangana believes that the CFS need to work to increase the resilience of women and young people and increase the investment in family farms. "Women are not an issue to be addressed in policy simply to appease us or quieten us down, we are an integral part of the world and we should be given a fair platform from which we can show our dynamism and effectiveness".
Kanayo Nwanze, President of IFAD expressed ‘It’s about people coming together for a common goal. Up to now, self-centred activity has shaped the world we live in. If we start to think differently, if farmers join together they have better weight and bargaining power. There is great power in collective action – we see examples of it in Guatemala, the Philippines and India".
Ertharin Cousin, Director of the WFP says we can learn a key thing from cooperatives. Farmers will provide quality food if they know there is a secure market for that food and if they receive enough support. We need on the ground NGO’s to provide us with examples of success in this area so we can push forward with more knowledge and fight.
Various countries took to the floor to address the new HLPE (High Level Panel of Experts) report on food security and climate change. Some addressed the issue of gender. Finland stated that more gender specific responses are needed. Canada said that gender equality should be made explicit in the report. For SI the session ended on a particularly high note! Our very own International Programme Director took to the floor to deliver an inspired speech.
Hilary Ratcliffe expressed that the answer to food security for women must be to build their capacity. She talked of the projects of which SI are involved in – Milk Fish marketing in the Philippines; Fair Trade Production in the Caribbean; Tree planting with grants for solar lanterns in Kenya. All these projects she expressed empower women and enable them to become more food secure and to cope more effectively with climate change. She urged the CFS to pay attention to the education and empowerment of women, and to make it their priority.
