Parallel and Side Events Contents Page

Agriculture and Food Security

Participation in implementing Chapter 14: the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Initiative

Presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Jacques Diouf, FAO, introduced the event as an opportunity to provide input into the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) Initiative. He explained that the SARD Initiative is a multistakeholder partnership to support transition from current agricultural practices to people-centered sustainable agriculture and rural development aimed at conserving, restoring and improving environmental, economic and social well-being while meeting the world's food needs.

Ango Abdullahi, Nigeria, welcomed the SARD Initiative and called for dedication by stakeholders, especially from developed countries, to concrete activities supporting SARD.

Delia Domingo Albert, the Philippines, said that the Philippine government promotes sustainable agriculture, including by implementing an integrated pest management programme. She welcomed cooperation with the FAO.

Jean-François Giovannini, Switzerland, outlined outcomes of a recent conference on sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountain regions, which concluded that the main factors of SARD include income generation, the need to improve productivity, market orientation, and multistakeholder cooperation. He expressed Switzerland's commitment to cooperating and contributing to the SARD Initiative.

Martin Khor, Third World Network, called for directing FAO resources toward: sustainable agriculture and ecological farming; removal of developed countries' unsustainable agricultural subsidies and tariffs on developing countries' exports; and ensuring farmers' access to land.

Eve Crowley, FAO, described the Initiative's objectives and priority themes, including secure access to resources, fair employment in the rural sector, and capacity building. She said that the Initiative's implementation mechanism includes: a resource center presenting the SARD experiences worldwide; funding and "seed" capital; and decision-making support tools, guidelines and training. She welcomed involvement in the Initiative by, inter alia: submitting case studies to the resource center; sponsoring and hosting workshops; supporting capacity building; offering expertise, knowledge and technologies; linking existing projects to SARD; and developing regional or local resource centers.

Discussion: A number of organizations and civil society representatives presented activities that can be linked to the SARD Initiative. A Canadian delegate expressed Canada's commitment to technology transfer and exchange of expertise, and cooperation with the SARD Initiative. Participants also discussed issues relating to: support for indigenous peoples' farming; the need for political commitment to SARD; small-scale farmers solidarity networks; needs of poor farmers in Bolivia; and the youth's contribution to the SARD Initiative.