World Food Day: changing the future of migration by investing in food security and rural development

At the 2017 World Food Day celebration in New York, the Director of the FAO Liaison Office to the United Nations, Carla Mucavi, emphasized the need to create opportunities for rural people in their home communities.

“By responding to the root causes such as poverty, lack of jobs, food insecurity, natural resources degradation, and political instability and conflict, we can create conditions for people to choose. And migration should always be a choice and not a last resort,” said Mucavi.

2017 World Food Day (16 October) discussed the theme “Change the future of migration: invest in food security and rural development” and was co-hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Permanent Missions of Mexico, Italy and the Philippines.

This year, World Food Day took place in the midst of general alarm at the rise in global hunger: In 2016, an estimated 815 million people or 11 per cent of the global population was chronically undernourished, 38 million more than 2015. The increase is largely due to conflict, often exacerbated by climate-related shocks, which are also major drivers of migration. 

Speaking at the event, the President of the Seventy-Second General Assembly, Miroslav Lajčák, highlighted that rural underdevelopment and food insecurity force people to urban areas and, sometimes, across borders.

“Migration from rural agricultural communities, especially by young people, may also threaten the sustainability of food production,” Lajčák said. “Our efforts to create decent jobs, especially for youth, would be bolstered by investing in agriculture as an employment generation industry.”

Lajčák added that regular migration presents opportunities for both communities of origin and destination.

African Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Victor Harrison, recalled the complex root causes of migration and food insecurity while also noting the potential of migration to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and modernize agriculture for increased productivity in Africa.

The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations urged all governments and partners to take collective action for zero hunger and safe orderly and regular migration.

“No one should feel compelled to leave their home for lack of food or opportunity. […] Let us commit to act together to achieve these goals by 2030 so the people can feel secure in their own homes and homelands and look forward to life peace and prosperity, dignity and opportunity on a really healthy planet,” Mohammed said in a World Food Day video message.

The Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN and co-facilitator of the process on the Global Compact on Migration, Ambassador Juan Jose Gomez Camacho, pointed out that agriculture absorbs 22 percent of the losses and damages caused by natural disasters. He added that during the thematic sessions being held in the context of the preparatory process of the Global Compact on Migration, hunger was recognized as one of the key factors driving people from their homes. He called on a 360 degree approach to tackle migration, so as to make migration a choice and harness the contribution of migrants to development, addressing the needs of migrants and countries of origin, transit and destination.

The Permanent Representative of Philippines to the UN. Ambassador Teodoro Locsin, recalled that Philippines was a well-known migrant country but noted that movement from rural to urban areas within the country was higher than that of international migration. He expressed concern with impacts on food security, in particular regarding higher vulnerability to international food prices.

“The government continues efforts towards poverty alleviation, job creation, nurturing entrepreneurship and attracting investments to produce higher-paying, more skilled jobs so that Filipinos will no longer feel the need to leave the country,” he explained.

 The Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN, Ambassador Inigo Lambertini, urged that we could not be indifferent to distress migration.

“We cannot afford to watch people migrate because of food insecurity, two years into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he said. Lambertini added that, for Italy, changing the future of migration means strengthening cooperation with Africa, forging new partnerships to manage migration, protecting the rights of the vulnerable, and creating more prosperous societies in all countries.

Lee Sorensen, an expert in linkages between diaspora investments and agriculture, highlighted the potential of remittances to promote rural development in countries of origin. He pointed out that 5 per cent of migrant diaspora remittances go to agriculture, a total of approximately US$21 billion, or four times the global Official Development Assistance (ODA). He also suggested that Member States could consider developing Formal Investment Mechanisms that facilitate diaspora and migrant investment in agriculture and supporting programmes that encourage migrants to share knowledge acquired in host countries.

Ashraf El Nour, Director of the IOM UN Office, noted the importance of bringing a migration perspective into the discussion on food security and rural development. “It is extremely important to recognize the positive elements of migration. Migration is a human reality of great relevance, as acknowledged in the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development,” noted El Nour.

 The participants converged in calling for inclusive and sustainable rural development that will help address the symptoms and the root causes of migration so as to make it a choice rather than a necessity.

In 2018, FAO and IOM will co-chair the Global Migration Group (GMG), which brings together heads of international organizations to promote the wider application of all relevant international and regional instruments and norms relating to migration, as well as to encourage the adoption of more coherent, comprehensive and better coordinated approaches to international migration.