Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Thank you to everyone who has provided comments and submitted ideas so far under the umbrella topic of urbanization and rural transformation. The inputs which zero in on the food security and nutrition specific aspects of urbanization and rural transformation are particularly useful in helping consider how the Committee might add value to existing initiatives and facilitate policy convergence on this topic.

Thanks to those of you who have indicated specific studies or resources to draw from - that will assist us with elaborating the subsequent draft. I would like to encourage those who haven’t had the chance to comment yet to continue in this vein in highlighting key issues which may not have been addressed in the Zero draft and also directing us to useful studies or sources of data addressing the changing rural-urban dynamics.

In addition, we’d also love to hear more about what types of approaches have worked well, including those outlined in the Zero draft, but also any others and how you think these might be scaled-up across all regions and contexts to address challenges in achieving food security and nutrition for all.

Thank you again for taking the time to engage in the online discussion and in providing us your comments and input on the current Zero draft. We look forward to receiving further input.

Best,

Deborah Fulton

Urbanization, rural transformations and implications for food and nutritional security

The most conspicuous challenge is how to introduce rural areas to “development” without converting them into under-developed urban areas

I read through the Background Document and noted arising issues without indicating the section they relate to in the Zero Document. Below find my input:

Concepts do matter

o   Linkages, partnerships, interdependencies; which one works better for reciprocal relationships between rural and urban areas?

o   I am for rural-urban partnerships/interdependencies rather than linkages. Partnerships based on reciprocity encourage each (rural, urban) to be best at what they produce (food) in exchange for what the other produces, rather than linkages which result in rural linked to urban for the sake of supplying urban markets (to meet urban needs).

Access to information and communication technologies

o   Rural areas no longer isolated islands.

§  Transformations witnessed in markets and marketing. For example, in many countries of Africa, educated young people who have entered into agricultural production as a business are very conversant with communication technologies, markets and marketing. In a bid to satisfy urban profitable markets, rural households are left with less nutritious food items or cannot afford food as the pricing is uniform for rural, urban and international buyers – check out available websites for on-line food marketing.

§  Aggressive marketing of food markets in urban areas results in the cultivation of food items geared more towards the needs of the market than food and nutritional needs of people in rural areas.

Rural-urban linkages

o   Leads to marketing of “global” foods to rural people, especially over- processed food items with hard to comprehend food labels. The result is that rural households abandon familiar foods that previously provided for their nutritional security, for “modern” foods whose nutritional value they do not fully comprehend.

o   Available information indicates that more business people are moving to rural areas to purchase land, lease land or contract rural farmers for the production of “new” foods. The bargaining powers not being at par, rural land owners/users end up with a lower bargain – for example they lease out or sell their lands for mono-crops (biofuels, animal feeds) for outside markets.

o   Challenges in cases where rural areas increase production but lack the capability to market their products in urban settings = make losses to middle men.

o   Embracing of “half the technology; in cases where rural-based farmers in a bid to produce more for available markets, invest available resources on agricultural inputs and are left with limited resources for processing, value adding, packaging, etc. The result is food loss and waste at the different stages of production or to middlemen who offer a faster way to dispose of agricultural produce, especially perishables.

Loss of agricultural biodiversity/nutrition

o   When urban or international markets dictate the food varieties to be cultivated by rural farmers – the trend is more towards mono-cropping (economies of scale) than a diversity of food crops which previously provided for the nutritional needs of households.

Globalization

o   Contributes to high levels of malnutrition in both rural and urban areas. For example the emerging global market for “organic” foods resulted in situations where organic foods from rural areas by-pass national urban and rural consumers for global markets that pay more for the foods.

o   A current move towards globalization of practice results in more uniformity than context specific policies and governance structures. The result is that many national governments implement the international guidelines wholesome - cumbersome to contextualize into local realities.

o   Who represents the “rural” in discussions where policy and legislation are formulated?

Regards

English translation below

La creciente Urbanización y Transformación Rural que ocurre a nivel global, tanto en el mundo Desarrollado como En Desarrollo, constituye una amenaza y a la vez, un reto para el objetivo de alcanzar la Seguridad Alimentaria.

Frente a esta realidad resulta necesaria trazar estrategias y una de ellas la constituye la Agricultura Urbana. Existen países en América Latina y El Caribe, como son Brasil y Cuba que han logrado un desarrollo de la misma.

En el caso de Cuba, existe el muy exitoso movimiento de la Agricultura Urbana y Suburbana. La Agricultura Urbana se desarrolla en el entorno de cada población o ciudad, mientras que la Agricultura Suburbana, a partir del perímetro exterior de cada población y puede extenderse aproximadamente unos 10 Km.

El Programa Nacional de la Agricultura Urbana está dirigido a convertir y mantener toda el área disponible (terrenos baldíos e improductivos) en el perímetro urbano de pueblos y ciudades, en jardines hortofrutícolas y a la vez, la crianza animal compatible con el medio. Esto incluye el cultivo de flores, plantas medicinales, forestación urbana, desarrollo de raíces, tubérculos y bananos; utilizando tecnologías agroecológicas, uso exclusivo de abonos orgánicos y medios biológicos, reciclaje intensivo de los residuos y un sistema de comercialización directa a la población. Existen diferentes formas de producción que incluyen los patios, parcelas y huertos intensivos, pero sin lugar a dudas que la forma más popular, la constituye los denominados Organopónicos, construidos en terrenos baldíos que muchas veces no disponen de suelos fértiles. En este caso se levantan canteros conformados por 50% de suelo (en ocasiones transportado) y 50% de abono orgánico (puede ser compost). Su principal prioridad es el abastecimiento de Hortalizas y Condimentos Frescos a la población aledaña. Existen en el país más de 4600 unidades de Organopónicos que producen más de 15 Kg por m2 anuales de productos agrícolas frescos, debido al  elevado índice de rotación que se logra en los mismos.

Una importante función adicional de estas áreas es el desarrollo de la cultura y vocación agraria, nutricional y medioambiental de toda la población, con énfasis en la infantil.

Dr. Olegario Muñiz Ugarte

Instituto de Suelos

La Habana, Cuba

The increasing urbanization and rural transformation at global level, both in developed and developing countries, poses at the same time a threat and a challenge to the goal of achieving food security.

Faced with this reality, new strategies are required. Urban Agriculture is one of them. It has been successfully implemented in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as Brazil and Cuba.

In the case of Cuba, a very successful practice stands out: urban and suburban agriculture. Urban agriculture takes place within each town or city, while suburban agriculture is practiced beyond the city/town limits within a 10km radius.

The Urban Agriculture National Program aims to convert and maintain all the available wasteland and unproductive land within towns and cities in fruit and vegetable gardens, and, at the same time, enable animal breeding in an environmentally friendly way. This includes floriculture, cultivation of medicinal plants, urban afforestation, or cultivation of roots, tubers and bananas. It involves agroecological technologies, exclusive use of organic fertilizers and biological resources, intensive waste recycling and a direct marketing system. Gardens can be grown in backyards, plots and intensive orchards, but without doubt, organoponics is the most popular system: urban gardens built on wastelands usually lacking fertile soils.

In this case, flowerbeds beds containing equal parts of soil (sometimes brought from another source) and organic fertilizer (e.g. compost) are made. Its main priority is providing fresh vegetables and condiments to the surrounding population. In Cuba there more than 4600 organoponic units producing more than 15 kg per m2 per year of fresh agricultural products, due to their high turnover rate.

An important additional feature of these systems is the promotion of agricultural, nutritional and environmental culture and vocation among the entire population, especially among children.

Dr. Olegario Muñiz Ugarte

Soil Institute

Havana, Cuba

Unlike my more learned academic collegues I can only draw on my experience to provide input to the forum.  

While it may seem off topic I would like to draw attention in the discussion to pilotless farm equipment as a means of increasing efficiency. This is marketed to farmers and comsumers on the elimination of risk to operators of planting, application and harvesting equipment.

I am concerned on a number of levels.  We are replacing people with machines at an alarming rate and life is about people is it not?

No risks to the operator allows the use of crop protection products that are extremely leathal.

A pilotless vehicle is not just a pilotless  vehicle - It could come to pass that it is ten's of thousands of pilotless vehicles at any given time.  Presumably they are programmed to all shut down when signals are lost or scrambled. What if they dont shut down and how do we accomplish the tasks required if they do need to be shut down for an extended period of time?

Farms operating as family farms will become extinct and replaced with corporate factory farms and with that we will lose the intense competition that drives improvement, the love of the land, the pride in accomplishment and innovation.

With the resulting lowerd demand for human labor the country side will soon empty, infrastructure will be difficult to remain, rural towns will die.  Cities will be greatly at risk in having to support a great many people with no jobs or low income jobs.

Food security and our entire social fabric may become wishful thinking.

best regards

Jim

Dear colleagues

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the lives and livelihoods of Asia's indigenous peoples and farmers as well as food safety and security in the region covers a larger group since it binds the 10-member ASEAN and six non-ASEAN countries - including China - with a combined population of over 3.5 billion while the well known 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) signed on 4 February this year only covers the region's 800 million people,

Represetatives of developing countries need to be aware that RCEP be made friendlier to their needs, as negotiations for the RCEP like the TPPA – are  also taking place behind closed doors and without the participation of all stakeholders (farmers, unions, indigenous peoples, health advocates, and other members of civil society, etc.) who must be invited and given a voice and full say in the deliberations for long term sustainability of rural urban communities.

Texts leaked from the RCEP negotiations indicate a strong push is being made to further increase the power of MNC seed companies, in contrast the rural poor needs:

·      criminalise seed saving and exchange also

·      restrictions on seed saving and exchange at a time when, under the extreme pressures of climate change, farmers need more diversity in their fields, not less;

·      increase farmers' dependence on external inputs and raise their risks and costs of production, as well as result in increased seed prices and non availability of locally adapted seeds

·      if seeds or traditional knowledge are compiled into databases and made available, MNCs like Monsanto and Syngenta could appropriate the knowledge and genetic resources of farming and indigenous communities.

The full GRAIN report can be read and downloaded here: https://www.grain.org/article/entries/5405-new-mega-treaty-in-the-pipeline-what-does-rcep-mean-for-farmers-seeds-in-asia,

also at: www.grain.org/e/5405

Dear Ms. Fulton,

Please find below my comment and answers to this new topic.

General Comment:

In my opinion the Draft (14 03 16) contains all the issues inherent to U-R transformation and it is a very good base for the forthcoming CFS 44 (2017). Having a medical background I am no prepared to answer all four questions. Only the following ones:

Q 1 Are the key challenges…

Yes, the changing urban-rural dynamics are well addressed. A new issue could be to demand that the processors of food to follow the high income countries’ rules. Probably some big companies have a double threshold depending of on the country’s status. Special attention should be paid to the sugary beverages and food. The problem of ‘Urbanization’ or U-R interlinkages merits special attention and care and perhaps the classical division between LM- and H-IC should include the interlinkage. Also from the beginning the concept of ‘malnutrition’ should be clear to avoid confusion with undernutrition/ underweight.

Q 4. Where /how do you think…

In my opinion voluntary rural organizations could contribute importantly to maintain the as yet not so contaminated  rural food patterns.

Manuel Moya

IPA TAG-Nutrition 

With my kindest regards

Manuel Moya

Catedrático E/ E Professor & Head

Editor in Chief of the Newsletter. International Pediatric Asociation (IPA)

Chair of the IPA Technical Advisory Group on Nutrition

Board of Directors of IPA Foundation

Academician of the Real Academia de Medicina

Hello,

Two points on the otherwise excellent zero draft Background Paper to CFS 43 Forum Discussion:

1. There remains a gap in facilitating proven resilient rural agricultural/food practices in peri- and urban settings. In particular, non-market practices of collective or common agriculture being displaced by corporate food regimes remains a powerful contributor to food security/ food sovereignty. See in particular: McMichael, P. (2005). GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE CORPORATE FOOD REGIME. Research in Rural Sociology and Development, 11, 269-303. Recognition of the role of non-market oriented, community food production practices in preventing or avoiding food insecurity remains limited.

2. Pertinent to point 1., an example of community oriented practices taking place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's informal settlements: (http://aryshkg.kloop.kg/2015/05/08/urban-greening/);  and (http://aryshkg.kloop.kg/2015/06/03/pervye-plody-proekta-po-biokulturnomu-raznoobraziyu-v-novostrojkah-goroda-bishkek/).

Again, overall a great document. I look forward to seeing future iterations of it. 

Best,

Bert Cramer

In most developing countries of Asia, smallholder agriculture and rural economy are in a state of severe stress due to continuous neglect of these sectors for over 20 years or more. Smallholder agriculture plays a crucial role in building rural economy and safeguarding rural livelihoods,  providing employment to rural youth, assuring food and nutritional security to expanding population, and supporting rural demand for industrial goods and services that are essential for national economic growth. With expanding population and jobless growth in industrial sector, unemployment among youth is becoming a serious challenge to government authorities in Asia. Farming in the present form is also not attractive to youth. As a consequence, young people are migrating to cities in search of better employment and livelihoods. This is a double whammy because it is creating more slums in cities and depleting farm labor in villages. Most of the migrating rural youth are poorly educated and skilled and thus cannot compete for jobs with sophisticated urban youth, so they get frustrated and are easily lured by antisocial elements for carrying out all kinds of illegal activities inside and outside the countries.

This growing rural distress must be addressed as a priority by investing in rural infrastructure; providing adequate technical, institutional and policy support to smallholder agriculture; and training and skill development of rural youth for both farm and non-farm jobs. As per the convicted view of ex-president late Dr. Abdul Kalam, providing urban amenities in rural areas is the only way to reverse the trend of rural to urban migration. It is important to encourage the rural youth undertake agriculture and related enterprises as a profession by making them attractive to them through proper training, skills development, provision of initial capital and inputs, and long-standing support for them to successfully develop their farming and related enterprises – precision farming, specialized crop production (e.g., organic farming), farm machine operation, repair and maintenance of tractors and other farm machines, input retailing, contract service providing, food processing, food transporting and retailing, dairy, backyard poultry, goats and sheep keeping, bee keeping, mushroom production, silk worm rearing, small-scale catering, etc. They can also be trained to develop skills on non-farm enterprises like plumbing, electrical wiring, masonry and construction works, medical attendants, rural health workers, teaching, tailoring, repair and maintenance of TVs, computers and other electronics, and so on to earn a decent living in villages and or nearby towns.

How to make agriculture attractive to rural youth? Here is a recipe for making agriculture attractive to youth: better irrigation, climate-smart technologies; appropriate mechanization; soil health and water quality management; rationalized subsidies and direct transfer of benefits to farmers; and full crop insurance to cover all crop losses and market volatility. Urban farming will enhance local food production, community building, greening of cities, and employment of urban youth. Last but not least, population control is critical for sustainable development. Finally, crop production in weather controlled poly-houses and hydroponic systems in urban and peri-urban areas will be technically sophisticated, more power intensive, and require large initial investment, but it will supply products year-round.

Last but not least, it is important to note that agricultural production cannot be increased forever to feed and support the uncontrolled population growth. According to spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev (Tamil Nadu, India), there is no way to cap human activities and aspirations, so we need to limit our numbers by reducing our reproductive rate. Nations including India must have the courage, and the world religions must have the sense to see that increasing the population is going to be a disaster for all of us – for every creature on earth, not just for humanity.

CFS can add the most value to current initiatives  addressing food security and nutrition in the context of urbanization and rural transformation by ensuring the active participation of those who have to live with the consequences of the decisions being made, however, this active participation is NOT possible or sustainable without proper knowledge or education. Hence, the need to link with local universities and/or research centers. 

A MAJOR drag on every development effort is the pervasive bureaucratic structure, this restrictive organizational structure can and must be transformed into an expansive organizational structure through the Search Conference and Participative Design Workshop.

Best regards,

JC Wandemberg Ph.D.

SustainableSystemsINternational.Org 

Typically smallholder production is assumed to require a large rural workforce.  Will this still be available as urbanization procedes and food prices necessarily increase with demand from growing cities?

This pair of economic and population forces drove consolidation of agriculture into larger farms in every (?) urbanized country to date - what reason(s) are there to believe this will not continue to happen in countries which currently have large rural populations and smallholder predominant production?