Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

Este miembro contribuyó a:

    • FiBL- Research Institute of Organic Agriculture

      The FiBL research team submits hereby its contribution to the V.0 draft.

       

      FiBL welcomes this consultation process on agroecology and food and nutrition security, as the further clarification of the related terms, concepts and processes provides a unique opportunity to better understand the current agrarian and food crises and better find strategies to overcome them. We believe that the current world society, hence both the global South and global North are united by this process, and that farmers, rural and urban dwellers, researchers, activists and policy influencers will need to find a common language as far as possible. We all need a better understanding of the way to transform the current unsustainable systems in both agriculture and food.

      The V0 provides an impressive collection of updated literature on the issue and interesting thoughts. However, already the title suggests inconsistencies, which we discuss in more detail below in the attached document. We expect the term “agroecology” to serve as an umbrella for different concepts and hence including as well organic agriculture, permaculture, and agroforestry to name. This report shall not be used to further divide and confuse but rather serve for finding approaches, strategies and principles to overcome industrial agriculture in its destructive forms. For example in Africa, FiBL works since six year with the approach of “Ecological Organic Agriculture”.

      We propose to restructure the report, by starting with a more rigid historic narrative on the current problems we are in (food and agrarian crises, environmental stress, inequality etc), in which the drivers and barriers, but as well social structures are better analyzed using the large knowledge from social sciences including political economy and sociology. The key terms need a proper definition in order to prevent confusion. For example, the distinction between food and agriculture is not always consistent, leading to comparisons of unrelated issues or systems (like agroecology and nutrition). The urban dimension incl. urban farming needs more recognition as well as urban-rural linkages.

      The term “innovation” is overstretched. Why should agroecology be an approach and organic farming an innovation? Generally, the chapters on organic agriculture need revision and we focus here on more general comments, as they seem at this stage more pertinent to address. However, we consider organic as based in ancient practices or paradigm based on regenerative agriculture, reemerging in its science-based form as a reaction against industrial agriculture and unsustainable socio-cultural patterns.

      In case you require any clarifications related to our input, or if you would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

      Yours faithfully,

      Gian Nicolay and Miguel DePorras, FiBL