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Demand for Radical Changes in Agricultural Research
International
Institute for Environment and Development
Farmers and other citizens involved in a major
effort to radically change the way the world thinks about food and agriculture will gather
this month at an international conference in Mali.
The progress of this growing
movement could have profound implications for scientific research, politics, trade and the
fight against the twin curses of poverty and environmental degradation. At its centre is a
fledgling concept in international policy debates: 'food sovereignty'.
But
according to a report written for the meeting, food sovereignty will not be achieved unless
there is a fundamental change in the way that knowledge is produced and used in policymaking.
"'Food sovereignty' is all about ensuring that farmers are in control of what they
farm and how they farm it," says the report's author, Dr Michel Pimbert of the International
Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
"It is about supporting domestic
markets and small-scale agricultural production, and it is about conserving agricultural
biodiversity and resilient farming systems. At the heart of 'food sovereignty' is the idea
that communities have the right to define their own agricultural, pastoral, labour, fishing,
food and land policies to suit their own ecological, social, economic and cultural
circumstances."
"We need a radical shift away from the existing top-down and
increasingly corporate controlled research systems to an approach which devolves more
responsibility and decision-making power to farmers, indigenous peoples, food workers,
consumers and citizens."
Pimbert says the "liberating potential" of science and
technology can enhance agricultural production, reduce the environmental impacts of farming,
ensure public health and improve livelihoods for the poor. But he says local people and
citizens should be the ones who decide which new policies and technologies are needed when,
where and under what conditions. He also stresses the need to transform knowledge - using
ecology as the basis for sustainable agriculture and 'decolonialising' economics from narrow
definitions of wealth.
"This will require more direct citizen participation in
decisions about new technologies, research priorities and policies for food and farming," he
says.
"Conventional agricultural research must be reorganised for greater democratic
oversight and priority setting to combine the strengths of farmers and scientists in the
search for fair, sustainable and locally adapted food systems. Transforming agricultural
research is also increasingly necessary to ensure that the food we eat keeps us healthy."
Representatives of farmers' groups will be among the 500 delegates who gather in
Sélingué in Mali, for the International Forum on Food Sovereignty on 23-27 February. The
meeting, organised by an alliance that includes Friends of the Earth International, the World
Forum of Fisher Peoples and Via Campesina, is intended to advance work on a global strategy to
ensure that food sovereignty is considered and applied at international and local policy
levels.
On 17-21 February, in advance of the Sélingué meeting, Pimbert and IIED
partners from India, Indonesia, Iran and Peru will be facilitating an international workshop
in Bamako for farmers' groups from across West Africa and the CNOP, which is an umbrella
organisation representing Malian farmers, and one of the organisers of the Bamako workshop and
the meeting in Sélingué.
"The workshop will bring farmers together from around the
world for mutual learning," says Pimbert. "It will focus on the privatisation of farmers'
knowledge and genetic resources, and on alternative ways of democratising research and the
governance of food systems. West African farmers want to learn more about these issues so that
they can better claim and realise their rights to food sovereignty."
"Both the
Bamako workshop and the Sélingué meeting will be discussing food and farming very differently
to the way that mainstream organisations such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
do," says Malamine Coulibaly of the CNOP.
"Agricultural policies imposed by the
World Trade Organisation, World Bank and International Monetary Fund have failed to sustain
biodiversity important for food and agriculture. Their policies have also marginalised
peoples' knowledge and their customary institutions, thereby undermining rural livelihoods
and food security," says Coulibaly. "Neoliberal policies have sidelined the needs and
concerns of the world's farmers, many of whom live in stark and deepening poverty. Their
voices must be heard to realize every person's right to food."
NOTES
The
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an
independent,
non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in
London, IIED provides expertise
and leadership in researching and achieving
sustainable development.
The
Convention on Biological Diversity calls for the "mobilization of farming communities,
including indigenous and local communities, for the development, maintenance and use of their
knowledge and practices in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the
agricultural sector" and encourage countries "to set up and maintain local level forums for
farmers, researchers, extension workers and other stakeholders to evolve genuine
partnerships".
Farmers and other citizens involved in a major effort to radically
change the way the world thinks about food and agriculture will gather this month at an
international conference in Mali.
The progress of this growing movement could have
profound implications for scientific research, politics, trade and the fight against the twin
curses of poverty and environmental degradation. At its centre is a fledgling concept in
international policy debates: 'food sovereignty'.
But according to a report written
for the meeting, food sovereignty will not be achieved unless there is a fundamental change in
the way that knowledge is produced and used in policymaking.
"'Food sovereignty' is
all about ensuring that farmers are in control of what they farm and how they farm it," says
the report's author, Dr Miche Pimbert of the International Institute for Environment and
Development (IIED).
"It is about supporting domestic markets and small-scale
agricultural production, and it is about conserving agricultural biodiversity and resilient
farming systems. At the heart of 'food sovereignty' is the idea that communities have the
right to define their own agricultural, pastoral, labour, fishing, food and land policies to
suit their own ecological, social, economic and cultural circumstances."
"We need a
radical shift away from the existing top-down and increasingly corporate controlled research
systems to an approach which devolves more responsibility and decision-making power to
farmers, indigenous peoples, food workers, consumers and citizens."
Pimbert says the
"liberating potential" of science and technology can enhance agricultural production, reduce
the environmental impacts of farming, ensure public health and improve livelihoods for the
poor. But he says local people and citizens should be the ones who decide which new policies
and technologies are needed when, where and under what conditions. He also stresses the need
to transform knowledge - using ecology as the basis for sustainable agriculture and
'decolonialising' economics from narrow definitions of wealth.
"This will require
more direct citizen participation in decisions about new technologies, research priorities and
policies for food and farming," he says.
"Conventional agricultural research must be
reorganised for greater democratic oversight and priority setting to combine the strengths of
farmers and scientists in the search for fair, sustainable and locally adapted food systems.
Transforming agricultural research is also increasingly necessary to ensure that the food we
eat keeps us healthy."
Representatives of farmers' groups will be among the 500
delegates who gather in Sélingué in Mali, for the International Forum on Food Sovereignty on
23-27 February. The meeting, organised by an alliance that includes Friends of the Earth
International, the World Forum of Fisher Peoples and Via Campesina, is intended to advance
work on a global strategy to ensure that food sovereignty is considered and applied at
international and local policy levels.
On 17-21 February, in advance of the Sélingué
meeting, Pimbert and IIED partners from India, Indonesia, Iran and Peru will be facilitating
an international workshop in Bamako for farmers' groups from across West Africa and the CNOP,
which is an umbrella organisation representing Malian farmers, and one of the organisers of
the Bamako workshop and the meeting in Selingue.
"The workshop will bring farmers
together from around the world for mutual learning," says Pimbert. "It will focus on the
privatisation of farmers' knowledge and genetic resources, and on alternative ways of
democratising research and the governance of food systems. West African farmers want to learn
more about these issues so that they can better claim and realise their rights to food
sovereignty."
"Both the Bamako workshop and the Sélingué meeting will be discussing
food and farming very differently to the way that mainstream organisations such as the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization do," says Malamine Coulibaly of the CNOP.
"Agricultural
policies imposed by the World Trade Organisation, World Bank and International Monetary Fund
have failed to sustain biodiversity important for food and agriculture. Their policies have
also marginalised peoples' knowledge and their customary institutions, thereby undermining
rural livelihoods and food security," says Coulibaly. "Neoliberal policies have sidelined
the needs and concerns of the world's farmers, many of whom live in stark and deepening
poverty. Their voices must be heard to realize every person's right to food."
NOTES
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an
independent,
non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in
London, IIED provides expertise
and leadership in researching and achieving
sustainable development.
The
Convention on Biological Diversity calls for the "mobilization of
farming communities,
including indigenous and local communities, for the
development, maintenance and use of
their knowledge and practices in the
conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity in the agricultural
sector" and encourage countries "to set up and maintain
local level forums
for farmers, researchers, extension workers and other stakeholders to
evolve
genuine partnerships".
 Print | 24-03-2007, 20:17:00
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