Food crisis and the International Assessment of Agriculture knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (SSA) Dr Simplice Davo VODOUHE PAN International

Food crisis and the International Assessment of Agriculture knowledge, Science and Technology

for Development (SSA)

Dr Simplice Davo VODOUHE

PAN International

Washington Oct 2008: Global food crisis: time for a fresh look at

sustainable agriculture policy alternatives

Origins of the IAASTD

IAASTD : International Assessment of Agriculture, Science and Technology for Development

Main sponsors of the IAASTD: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO)



Central question addressed by IAASTD

What must we do differently to overcome persistent poverty and hunger, achieve equitable and sustainable development and sustain productive and resilient environment ?



How has IAASTD worked?

Independent: the assessment was different from the others as it claims its independence from a particular institution

Multistakeholder: NGO, Industry, academicians, Gouvernments are involved as equal partners

multidisciplinary process: different disciplines have been called upon this process

Respect of divergence the scale of the challenge of covering a broad range

of complex issues




The concept of an IAASTD was endorsed as a multi-thematic, multi-spatial, multi-temporal intergovernmental process with a multistakeholder Bureau cosponsored by the same organisations



How has IAASTD worked

The IAASTD’s governance structure is a unique hybrid of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the nongovernmental Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)

The stakeholder composition of the Bureau was agreed at the Intergovernmental Plenary meeting in Nairobi; it is geographically balanced and multistakeholder with 30 government and 30 civil society representatives (NGOs, producer and consumer groups, private sector entities and international organizations) in order to ensure ownership of the process and findings by a range of stakeholders.




About 400 of the world’s experts were selected to prepare the IAASTD Report

These experts worked in their own capacity and did not represent any particular stakeholder group.

Additional individuals, organizations and governments were involved in the peer review process.



Main results

There are diverse and conflicting interpretations of past and current events, which need to be acknowledged and respected

Agriculture involves more than yields: it has multiple social, political, cultural andenvironmental impacts and benefits



Main results

The future of agriculture lies in agroecological farming and “triple-bottom-line” business practices that meet social, environmental and economic goals.



Main results 2

Reliance on resource-extractive industrial

agriculture is dangerous and unsustainable

short-term technical fixes do not address

complex challenges and often exacerbate social and environmental harm.



Main results 3

Achieving food security and sustainable

livelihoods for people in chronic poverty depends on ensuring access to and control of resources by small-scale farmers

Fair local, regional and global trading regimes

can build local economies, reduce poverty and

improve livelihoods.



Main results 4

Strengthening the human and ecological resilience of agricultural systems improves our capacity to respond to changing environmental and social stresses. Indigenous knowledge and community-based innovations are an invaluable part of the solution. Good decision-making requires building better governance mechanisms and ensuring democratic participation by the full range of



Conclusion and options

The compelling options for confronting the food crisis by strengthening farmers’ organizations, creating more equitable transparent trade agreements, increasing local participation in policy-formation and other decision making processes, then we can begin to reverse structural inequities within and between countries, increase rural communities’ access to and control over resources, and pave the way towards local and national food sovereignty



Conclusion and options

The IAASTD concludes that ensuring food security and recognizing food sovereignty necessitates ending the institutional marginalization of the world’s small-scale producers.



IAASTD recognizes the importance of small scale farmers and traditional knowledge, therefore Aid that is targetting at integrating and improving the knowledge systems will be more effective



Thank you for your attention.

Documents

Food crisis and the International Assessment of Agriculture knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (SSA) Dr Simplice Davo VODOUHE PAN International