A Sustainability Challenge Food Security for All: Report of Two Workshops (2012) / Chapter Skim
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[Part II]: 3 POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND INSTITUTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS
[Part II]: 3 POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND INSTITUTIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS
Pages 195-212
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From page 195... ...
The session began with discussions on environmental externalities and the costs of natural resource degradation; political economy issues, priorities and political will; and incentives and limitations to action by civil society and private sector. The last panel session considered ways to confront trade-offs, remove national and international externalities, seek multiple wins, and establish coalitions as well as partnerships to ensure sustainable food security for all.
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From page 196... ...
Perhaps, given that we are currently consuming resources on a finite planet faster than they can regenerate, unsustainable products should perhaps cost more than sustainable ones. From our experience dealing with subsidies in agriculture, we know that when producers are subsidized, there is less incentive to be more efficient, and innovation comes only when farmers are forced to survive and even thrive without external support.
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From page 197... ...
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Addressing environmental externalities will increase the price of food.
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From page 198... ...
These NGOs have little influence over African spending decisions; the rural services delivered by NGOs can even give governments an excuse to do less, rather than more. In the end, the job of encouraging national governments in Africa to make larger public investments in the farming sector falls heavily on the bilateral and multilateral donor community.
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From page 199... ...
INCENTIVES AND LIMITATIONS TO ACTION BY CIVIL SOCIETY3 Brian Greenberg, InterAction Brian Greenberg began his presentation with an overview of the civil society sector and the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as it relates to agricultural development and food security.
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From page 200... ...
Characteristic strengths and capabilities of NGOs include sustained community engagement, the use of predominantly local staff, and a reliance on partnerships with other civil society organizations, governments and the private sector. Productivity gains and market participation that serve the interests of smallholders are important to the NGO agricultural development community.
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From page 201... ...
Food price rises, for example, are a product of complex contributing factors rooted in imperfect markets, rising energy costs, tariff and trade rules, biofuel demand and commodity speculation. Most agricultural development programs do not address or lack the mandate to tackle this sort of complex challenge.
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From page 202... ...
It is imperative that thought leaders such as the National Academies -- the nation's preeminent source of high-quality, objective advice on science, engineering, and health matters -- balance the dialogue and shape sound policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of sustainable food production. Dennis Treacy provided an overview of Smithfield's experience in sustainable intensification, with examples of existing barriers and limitations to sustainable food production, as well as opportunities that may enhance sustainable practices.
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From page 203... ...
In 2002, the company produced its first Corporate Social Responsibility Report, detailing early improvements in the environmental arena and, through stakeholder input, now uses the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) metrics as the basis for documenting the environmental, social and economic impacts of its operations.6 Market Demand for Protein The United Nations projects that world population will reach at least 9 billion people by 2050 and has called for an increase in world food production by 100 percent within the same timeframe.
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From page 204... ...
Food productivity gains from intensive production are also threatened by poorly conceived government policy. For example, in the United States, ethanol policies have driven nearly 40 percent of the annual corn crop into ethanol production for fuel, directly and substantially driving up feed costs for livestock and jeopardizing the economic viability of meat producers (USDA, 2011)
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From page 205... ...
Of particular concern are provisions that would cause use of marketing agreements between producers and packers to be severely reduced or to disappear, and provisions that would prohibit packers who own livestock from selling those animals to another packer -- all of which actually aim to discourage more efficient, intensive animal agriculture. Incentives and Opportunities On the other hand, government incentives aimed at reducing key impacts of food production have the potential to encourage sustainable practices.
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From page 206... ...
Treacy stated that NAS can help balance the debate through science-based examination and by providing a hard look at the sacred assumptions in so much popular writing about modern production practices. PANEL: CONFRONT TRADE-OFFS, REMOVE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXTERNALITIES, SEEK MULTIPLE WINS, AND ESTABLISH COALITIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS Emmy Simmons, U.S.
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From page 207... ...
Melinda Kimble's presentation7 focused on the institutions required to manage the global commons and to meet the challenges of achieving global food security. She highlighted the work of the UN High Level Task Force on Food Security, which was modeled on the World Economic Forum's (WEF)
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From page 208... ...
This new governance effort also incorporated the UN reforms embedded in recommendations of the 2006 Coherence Panel -- to improve interagency coordination and delivery at the field level -- and we see the beginnings of the institutional response to the 2008 crisis and the establishment of the High Level Task Force on Food Security to track the issues, define problems and recommend action. As the global financial crisis unfolded, the international community continued to move on reforming and strengthening the management of global food security.
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From page 209... ...
Marco Ferroni said that one of the main messages coming from the workshop was the importance of productivity enhancements as a means to assuring sustainable food security. He said that productivity and sustainability go hand in hand and questioned whether the global management institutions discussed by Jason Clay and Melinda Kimble were adequately focused on the productivity paradigm.
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From page 210... ...
Regulations.gov. Comments of the National Pork Producers Counsel on USDA's Proposed GIPSA Rule (see GIPSA-2010-PSP-0001-RULEMAKING)
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From page 211... ...
2011. Corporate Social Responsibility Report: 2010/11.
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