- Do you have any general comments on the draft political declaration and its vision (paragraphs 1-3 of the zero draft)?
I would like to request inclusion of the following points under praragraph 2:
- reduction in undernourishment has gone to wealthiest section of population while the prevalence among poorer sections has gone up, thus illustrating strong connections between economic and nutritional disparities;
- processed foods and drinks of questionable quality are marketed aggressively often using unsubstantiated health claims and misleading advertisement tactics; [comment: many of these tactics resemble those employed by the tobacco industry until recently]
- agricultural lands are being abused for construction and other commercial purposes, further disparities in land ownership and use continues to widen;
- agricultural workforce is diverted to other occupations owing to shrinking economic returns of labour
- Do you have any comments on the commitments proposed in the political declaration? In this connection, do you have any suggestions to contribute to a more technical elaboration to guide action and implementation on these commitments (paragraphs 21-23 of the zero draft)?
Please provide your comments in the appropriate fields relating to these commitments:
I would like to request inclusion of the following commitments under praragraph 21:
- protecting people from unethical marketing of processed foods and drinks, infant formula, and other forms of packaged products of questionable quality and safety;
- integrating food and nutrition programmes into larger efforts on addressing the causes of inequalities in social, economic and political structures and processes;
- ensuring people’s right to land and seed sovereignty thereby enabling an environment conducive for food sovereignty;
- protecting food and agricultural systems from corporate activities associated with creating dependence on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and technologies that farmers cannot sustains on their own;
- ensuring nutritional interventions are designed and implemented in the spirit of local self-reliance and sustainability so as to prevent any dependence on external aid
- ensuring quality and safety of nutritional interventions on matters related to health consequences; food culture, and acceptability;
I would like to make the following comment:
Overall, integrating the objectives and directions of the Ten Year Framework for Action in the approaches outlined in the Alma-Ata declaration, 1978, and the recommendations made by the Commission on Social Determinants, 2008 will enhance the likelihood of achieving sustainable improvement in nutrition by addressing causes that produce the determinants of nutritional outcomes.
Ashok Bhurtyal