More investments for smallholder food producers

MANILA, Philippines—To address food insecurity, more investments must be made in sustainable smallholder agriculture, said more than 60 representatives of organizations of small farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, rural youth and women, and rural development NGOs from 13 countries in Asia and the Pacific.

In a press conference Tuesday, the groups who participated in a two-day conference, dubbed “Investment for Whom and for What,” held here said that investments on agriculture in the region are “problematic” and “inadequate.”

The conference was a civil society preparatory event to the “Investment Forum on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific” organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Fund for Agriculture and Development (Ifad), and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to be held on July 7 to 9 at the ADB Headquarters in Manila.

Civil society representatives said that sustainable, integrated, diversified, ecological, and organic agriculture, aquaculture systems which are owned and managed by and with small-scale women and men farmers, fishers, and indigenous peoples is a key strategy to increase productivity, enhance food security, mitigate climate change, and build climate resilience.

Unfortunately, the groups said that many of the investments of ADB, Ifad, and other international financial institutions, national governments, and big agri-business companies are “problematic, even causing increased food insecurity in the region.”

They argued that instead of promoting domestic food self-sufficiency, many investments promote export crops production, push the withdrawal of governments from providing essential services for small farmers, and promote unsustainable and environmentally damaging farming technologies.

Esther Penunia of the Asian Farmers Association said that small agricultural producers constitute the bulk of the food producers in Asia and the Pacific, providing food not only for the region but also for other parts of the world.

“Yet, it is unfortunate that it is also the small farmers, fishers, indigenous people, rural women and youth who are the hungriest and the poorest in the region,” Penunia stressed.

She added that the investment of national governments and international financial institutions on agriculture and food is “inadequate and give too little focus on sustainable agriculture for small agricultural producers.”

Aftab Khan from Action Aid International explained that that in order to reverse the dire situation of small agricultural producers and bring the region closer to reducing the number of poor people, 10 percent of national budgets with support from donors should be allocated for smallholder agriculture.

“Public investments should be directed to the improvement of ownership of land, access to water and other natural resources of small farmers, indigenous peoples, rural women and youth and fishers; agricultural research and development to upscale sustainable and farmers-led pilot projects; production, post-harvest, and marketing support for small farmers; and promotion of ecologically sound farming and fishing systems,” Khan pointed out.

The groups also explained that women farmers constitute majority of the hungry people, despite their 60- to 80-percent contribution in food production.

“International organizations and governments should design and implement women-specific sustainable agricultural programs, including development of national systems for collecting sex-disaggregated data in agriculture, fishery, and forestry sectors,” they said.

Investments that promote chemical-based farming, the production of agro-fuel crops, divert land and water resources away from food production and displace poor farmers, fishers, and indigenous peoples are counterproductive and must be discouraged, they pointed out.

Instead, states should allocate 10 percent of their national income—by 2012—in promoting smallholder sustainable agriculture, fishery, and forestry. With support from donors, such investment should focus on ensuring land rights particularly for women together with access to all productive resources and research and development to scale up success stories of sustainable agriculture. –INQUIRER.net