TBD
Food Summit addresses global governance of food security
Young rural farmers
INTRO: As we heard in the news, the global food crisis has not gone away. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, says the food summit in Rome from the 16th to the 18th of November is important because it will address the issue of global governance of food security. Mr. De Schutter spoke to UN Radio's Patrick Maigua:
De Schutter: And I think that in the past, the problem has been a lack of accountability, a lack of monitoring compliance with promises, pledges, made by States and that this summit is an opportunity to revisit the issue of global governance and insure that we work together in a multilateral setting much more effectively. My hope is that we will increase accountability in the future and that the promises that are made are promises that are kept.
Maigua: But how do you increase accountability among governments? They are the same governments that are attending this conference yet they do know that the number of people who are going hungry each day is rising globally.
De Schutter: The main reason why we have failed to make significant progress in fighting against hunger is because the pledges that have been made in the past have not been respected and that we have put too much emphasis on increasing the levels of production and far to litlle on reducing inequalities and increasing the incomes of the poorest. And I think there is a realization 1:36 that we need both to improve accountability and to redirect policies toward small scale family agriculture.
Maigua: There has been a lot of criticism that agovernemnts are very quick to send food aid or food assistance to those who are hungry but really failing to provide them with technology that could help them increase food production. What is your comment on this?
De Schutter: It has been recognized that we should not help by providing food except in situations of emergency where there is no other way to support populations in need. We have to help primarily by boosting the capacity of countries to feed themselves, which is by providing them the means to produce and to serve the local market.
Maigua: Do you think these UN summits need to be held probably in a country where there really is hunger, so that the delegates could come face-to-face with what they are discussing?
De Schutter: I think you are absolutely correct in saying that a direct confrontation with the real issues of poverty, hunger, malnutrition would be beneficial to many policy-makers. I am struck in many of the discussion I have that many people do not understand where hunger comes from and what's the daily lives of those who are hungry resemble and as a result, the policies they prescribe are based on abstract considerations and not informed by the views of the poorest. And, I really think that we cannot implement policies which have a chance of succeeding without these policies being developed in a participative fashion with the people who are to be supported.
MAIGUA: And how can we move from policy to implementation, because that appears to be where people are stuck? We need to see policies on the ground.
De Schutter: Accountability is key to having efforts translated into reality in the every day lives of the poorest.
Narrator: Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.
(duration: 2'50)
