UN Assessment calls for shift to small-scale, sustainable practices to meet global food, development and environmental crises
April 15, 2008 - Governments and scientists from around the world today announce their commitment to a radically different approach to global agricultural production.
"Business as usual is not an option," says Robert Watson Director of the UN’s International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which today releases its final report in Delhi, Nairobi, London, Paris and Washington, DC.
Recent reports of dramatic food shortages and riots underline the problems with the current food system and the urgency of finding solutions. The IAASTD report concludes that small-scale, agro-ecological farming will be more effective at meeting today’s challenges than the old energy- and chemical-intensive paradigm of industrial agricultural production.
"This is a wake-up call for governments and international agencies. The survival of the planet's food systems demands global action to support agroecological farming and fair and equitable trade," said Dr. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman of Pesticide Action Network North America, speaking from Johannesburg moments after the report was finalized on April 11.
Under the auspices of the UN agencies and the World Bank, scientists, food activists, corporate and government representatives met 7-12 April in South Africa to debate solutions to the thorny, intertwined problems of global agriculture, climate change, hunger, poverty, power and influence. The meeting is the culmination of four years' work by some 400 authors from around the globe.
On Friday, April 11, 55 world governments agreed on the IAASTD final report, overcoming difficult negotiations and a recent departure of agrichemical industry representatives. Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States requested additional time to consider whether or not to approve the final report. In Johannesburg, the US claimed the assessment was unbalanced, an allegation identical to one made some months earlier by the agrochemical and biotechnology industry.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, opened the plenary with these comments on April 7, 2008: "Agriculture is not just about putting things in the ground and then harvesting them. It is increasingly about the social and environmental variables that will in large part determine the future capacity of agriculture to provide for eight or nine billion people in a manner that is sustainable."
Also speaking from Johannesburg, civil society representative Erika Rosenthal from Pesticide Action Network concluded, “The IIASTD set out to be a precedent-setting experiment in multi-stakeholder participation in intergovernmental processes. Its success proved that civil society participation as full partners in intergovernmental processes is critical to face the challenges of the 21st century.”
Available for interviews
Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Senior Scientist, Pesticide Action Network North America, 415-981-1771; 510-289-4329, mie@panna.org <mailto:mie@panna.org>
Erika Rosenthal, attorney, Pesticide Action Network North America, phone in London, 14-16 April, +44-20-7839-9333; cell 415 812 2055, erosenthal@igc.org
Resources:
Official IAASTD website (news releases, final report, history, contacts)
http://www.agassessment.org/index.cfm?Page=Press_Materials&ItemID=11 <http://www.agassessment.org/index.cfm?Page=Press_Materials&ItemID=11>
Description of the IAASTD from NGO perspective with related news stories: http://www.panna.org/jt/agAssessment <http://www.panna.org/jt/agAssessment>
Case studies/stories (most two pages) illustrating key findings from the IAASTD report: http://www.panna.org/jt/caseStories <http://www.panna.org/jt/caseStories>
______________ Civil Society Statement from Johannesburg _
A new era of agriculture begins today
International agriculture assessment calls for immediate radical changes
Civil society statement on the outcome of the “International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD)” -- from AGENDA (Tanzania), Consumers International, Friends of the Earth International, Greenpeace, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, Pesticide Action Network, Practical Action, Third World Network, Uganda Environmental Education Fund and Vredeseilanden.
The report of the first international Agriculture Assessment, approved last week by 54 governments in Johannesburg, is a sobering account of the failure of industrial farming. It calls for a fundamental change in the way we do farming, to better address soaring food prices, hunger, social inequities and environmental disasters.
The report reflects a growing consensus among the global scientific community and most governments that the old paradigm of industrial, energy-intensive and toxic agriculture is a concept of the past. The key message of the report is that small-scale farmers and agro-ecological methods provide the way forward to avert the current food crisis and meet the needs of local communities. For the first time an independent, global assessment acknowledges that farming has a diversity of environmental and social functions and that nations and peoples have the right to democratically determine their best food and agricultural policies.
The IAASTD process itself was a path-breaking one, in which governments, major research institutions, industry and civil society shared equal responsibility in its governance and implementation. Its success proved that civil society participation as full partners in intergovernmental processes is critical to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. The global community’s widespread acceptance of this report is reflected in its approval by the vast majority of participating governments.
Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have as yet not signed on to the final report. After watering down the formulation of several key findings during the meeting in Johannesburg, the US still claimed the assessment was unbalanced. The exact same allegation came some months earlier from the agrochemical and biotech industry. However, the report’s lack of support for the further industrialization and globalization of agriculture as well as for genetically engineered plants in particular, was based on a rigorous and peer-reviewed analysis of the empirical evidence by hundreds of scientists and development experts. These experts had been selected, together with other stakeholders, by the very same governments and companies that are now calling the assessment “unbalanced.”
The civil society groups that have participated in the IAASTD process over the past six years may not fully agree with some of the government-negotiated conclusions of the report, but they respect the fact that this report reflects the current consensus within the scientific community. We call on all governments, civil society and international institutions to support the findings of this report, implement its progressive conclusions, and thereby jumpstart the revolution in agricultural policies and practices that is urgently needed to attain more equitable and sustainable food and farming systems in the future.
**Statements from civil society representatives present in Johannesburg, 7-12 April 2008**
“This is a wake-up call for governments and international agencies. The survival of the planet’s food systems demands global action to support agroecological farming and fair and equitable trade.
Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, USA, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA).
“This report proves one thing: Yes, we can produce more and better food without destroying rural livelihoods and our natural resources,”
Kevin Akoyi, Uganda, for Vredeseilanden (Belgium)
“The IAASTD provides the evidence to show that locally-controlled, biologically-based intensification of farming is the only way forward. In short, it supports food sovereignty.”
Patrick Mulvany, UK, Practical Action
“This report clearly shows that small-scale farmers and the environment lose out under trade liberalization. Developing countries must exercise their right to stop the flood of cheap, subsidised products from the North.”
Lim Li Ching, Malaysia, Third World Network
“The Green Revolutionaries of the past, with all their expensive and toxic products, have left a trail of destruction. The IAASTD essentially says it's time to clean that up and move on.”
Romeo Quijano, Philippines, Pesticide Action Network
“This marks the beginning of a new, of a real Green Revolution. The modern way of farming is biodiverse and labour intensive and works with nature, not against it.”
Benny Haerlin, Germany, Greenpeace
“It is heartening to see that the scientists refuted the usual propaganda on genetically engineered (GE) crops. They focused on the real problems and saw very little role for GE crops in their solutions.”
Juan Lopez, Spain, Friends of the Earth International.
“The scientific evidence gives unequivocal support to organic agriculture. Organic Agriculture is a credible solution for the 21st century as a sustainable production method – social, economic and environmental sustainability put into practice.” Prabha Mahale, India, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. ( IFOAM)
Contact Information:
Kevin Akoyi, (IAASTD CSO Bureau Member from Uganda)
Vredeseilanden, Email: kevinakoyim@yahoo.co.uk <mailto:kevinakoyim@yahoo.co.uk> , mobile:
Benny Haerlin ((IAASTD CSO Bureau Member from Germany)
Greenpeace Intl., Email: haerlin@zs-l.de <mailto:haerlin@zs-l.de> , Phone: + 49 173 9997555
Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, PhD (Lead Author, Global Report)
Pesticide Action Network North America (in US)
Email: mie@panna.org <mailto:mie@panna.org> , Office: +1-415-981-1771, Mobile: 1-510-684-6860
Lim Li Ching (Lead Author, Asia report; note surname Lim)
Third World Network, Email: limliching@myjaring.net <mailto:limliching@myjaring.net> , mobile: +6012 2079744
Prabha Mahale, PhD (IAASTD CSO Bureau member from India)
IFOAM, Email: prabhamahale@vsnl.com <mailto:prabhamahale@vsnl.com> , Phone: + 91 124 2560886
Patrick Mulvaney
Senor Policy Advisor, Practical Action (UK)
Email: patrickmulvany@clara.co.uk <mailto:patrickmulvany@clara.co.uk> , mobile: +44 7949 575711, Web: practicalaction.org
Romeo Quijano, MD (IAASTD CSO Bureau member)
PAN Philippines, Email: romyquij@yahoo.com <mailto:romyquij@yahoo.com> , mobile: +63-9-27-602-4947
Erika Rosenthal, LLD (Lead Author, Global & Synthesis Report; Trade Theme)
Email: erosenthal@igc.org <mailto:erosenthal@igc.org> , Office: +1-202-742-5846, Mobile +1-415-812-2055.
April 14-16 in London: +44-20-7839-9333
Juan Lopez (IAASTD CSO Bureau from Spain)
Friends of the Earth International
Email: juanlopezvillar@gmail.com <mailto:juanlopezvillar@gmail.com> , Phone (Maputo): +258842420298
Jan Van Aken , Greenpeace Intl.
Email: jan.vanaken@int.greenpeace.org <mailto:jan.vanaken@int.greenpeace.org> , Phone: +49 40 306 18-389, Mobile: +49 151 1805 3415
SPANISH-Speaking:
Luis Gomero (Lead Author, Latin America Regional report)
RAAA, Peru, Email: lgomero@raaa.org <mailto:lgomero@raaa.org> , Tel: (51-1) 4257955
Additional Lead Authors (academic/research institutions)
Janice Jiggins, PhD (Lead Author, Global & Synthesis Report)
Wageningen University, Netherlands
Tel: ++ 31 (0) 488 451016, Mobile 06 53 933 863;
Email: janice.jiggins@inter.nl.net <mailto:janice.jiggins@inter.nl.net>
Stephen Biggs, PhD (Review Editor, Global Report)
Tel: (44) 1273 414449, Mobile: (44) 07908117974
Email: biggs.s@gmail.com <mailto:biggs.s@gmail.com>
Jack A. Heinemann, PhD (Lead Author, Global and Synthesis Reports, Biotech theme)
Director INBI, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Eml: jack.heinemann@canterbury.ac.nz <mailto:jack.heinemann@canterbury.ac.nz> , Office: +64 3 364 2926 (c/o +64 3 364 2500)
Ivette Perfecto, PhD (Coordinating Lead Author, Latin America Report)
University of Michigan, School of Nat Resources/Envir, Tel: +1 (734) 764-1433, ivette@umich.edu <mailto:ivette@umich.edu>
Rajeswari Raina, PhD (Lead Author, Asia report)
Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research,
New Delhi , India (but currently in Berlin)
Email: rajeswari_raina@yahoo.com <mailto:rajeswari_raina@yahoo.com> , Tel: ++30 -89001312
Niels Roling, PhD (Review Editor, Global Report)
Wageningen University, Netherlands
Tel: ++ 31 (0) 488 451016, Mobile: 06 20 25 0080
Eml: n.roling@inter.nl.net <mailto:n.roling@inter.nl.net>
More information at http://www.agassessment-watch.org <http://www.agassessment-watch.org> and http://www.panna.org/jt/agAssessment <http://www.panna.org/jt/agAssessment>
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