Civil Society Parallel Consultation Declarationin Luanda – 4 May 2010
We, representatives of organizations of farmers,fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, women’s groups, NGOs andother civil society organizations met on May 4 2010 here in Luanda todeliberate on issues affecting food security in Africa during the 26 FAORegional Conference for Africa. The objective of civil society’sengagement in this process is to contribute critically and provide ownperspectives informed by social organisations and communities experiences intheir efforts to achieve food security and food sovereignty. The agenda ofthis conference is indeed rich, and the issues to be discussed are both timelyand important, with some requiring immediate and urgent actions to put Africaback on growth and productivity curve.
Considering the on-going efforts both internationallyand regionally that aim to address hunger and chronic food insecurity;
Appreciating the renewal of and central role given tothe Committee on World Food Security (CFS) as a platform for the deliberationson global agriculture and food security policies;
Recognizing the strides already taken in somecountries to formulate national and regional food security policies and lawsthat have the potential to foster the use of rights based approaches to createan enabling environment;
Concerned that sub-Saharan Africa is the only regionin the world where per capita food production has been declining with risingnumbers of people that are chronically hungry and undernourished currentlyestimated at more than 265 million;
Recognizing that halving hunger in Africa requiresdrastic increase in both quality and quantity of public and donor investmentsto the agricultural sector;
Concerned that about 7 out of 53 countries have metthe minimum 10% budgetary target under the Maputo Declaration commitment, andthat the average total governments’ investment in agricultural sector is6.6% most of which constitutes the recurrent expenses;
Noting that some countries that have surpassed theMaputo Declaration budgetary target but have not been able to keep hunger andchronic food insecurity at bay;
Recalling that green revolution had negative effectson sustainable agriculture development in other regions of the world and notingfurther that increased food production in sub-Saharan Africa through the greenrevolution is not sufficient in eliminating chronic food insecurity;
Acknowledging the fisherfolk, indigenous people andwomen’s struggle to access, control and have ownership over land, waterand other natural resources for sustainable food production is central tohousehold food security;
Recognizing that achieving women’s rights toland and livelihood is key to achieving Africa’s overall food security;
Concerned that large tracks of African land have beenallocated to foreign governments and multinational companies for agrofuelproduction and,
Recognizing that achieving food sovereignty in Africashall require serious land reforms;
We wish to call upon FAO and African governmentspresent here today to consider the following specifically with regard to:
a) Committee on World Food Security:
· Appeal for greater accountability from Africanrepresentatives within the CFS structure.
· Call for greater involvement and commitment of Africangovernments to the CFS.
· Urge our governments to uphold a spirit of genuinepartnership and greater inclusivity of small-scale food producer organizationsin food security fora at regional level (CAADP process) and CFS national andregional discussions;
· Appeal for increased awareness on CFS to facilitatewider engagement by key stakeholders particularly producer organizations andtheir networks and, civil society organizations in Africa;
· Call for more resource allocation to supportactivities of the CFS.
b) Land reform. Land grabbing and Agrofuel
· Call on governments to fully implement theInternational Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD)recommendations that promote, among others, agrarian land reforms that empowerwomen and farming communities, to have full control, ownership and inclusivedecision making processes over land and land use policies.
· Recommend the government promotion of policies thatrespect the collective rights to land and protect communities against landgrabbing.
· Urge the African governments to place a moratorium onfurther expansion of industrial agrofuel production and investment in Africaand other regions.
· Further urge the governments and relevant UN agenciesto call for an end to agrofuel targets and financial incentives for industrialagrofuel in the developed countries.
· Urge governments to embrace genuine partnership withcivil society and more innovative ways to stem the rise in number of people whoare hungry and undernourished by respecting, protecting and promoting theirright to food.
c) Access, control and ownership of natural resources
· Appeal to the government to reinforce value of smallscale food producers, especially women, in achieving food security. Womenprovide the largest percentage of agricultural labor yet have limited accessto, control and ownership of land and other natural resources;
· Urge governments to promote the approval of nationallaws promoting biodiversity and regulate the commercialization and use ofGenetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
· Demand recognition of the role that indigenous peopleplay in the conservation of environment biodiversity
d) Requisite Infrastructure and investment
· Call on governments to put in place the necessaryrequisite infrastructure including storage, transportation, marketing and fairpricing mechanisms in support of sustainable agricultural production, food andlivelihood security;
· Urge the governments to embrace and implement therecommendations of International Agricultural Knowledge Science andTechnological Development (IAASTD);
· Call for increased channeling of investments intoresearch, rural extension, affordable rural credit, technical assistance andextension services to small-scale food producers;
Finally, we call on governments, UN agencies and all to promote foodsovereignty as an approach that recognizes the centrality of small scale foodproducers, women’s groups, family farming, fisherfolk and pastoralists inthe eradication of
chronic hunger and food insecurity.
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CSO Consultation parallel to the 26 FAO Regional Conference for Africa
Luanda, Angola,
4th of May 2010
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Composed by: ABN – Africa Biodiversity Network (Kenya); ACORD; ActionAid International; ADRA - Acção para o Desenvolvimento Rural e Ambiente; Africa Right to Food Network; CLUSA - Liga das Cooperativas dos Estados Unidos da América; CNOP-CAM - Concertation Nationale des Organisations Paysannes du Cameroun; Conferência Nacional da Sociedade Civil (Angola); COWFA ESAFF - East and Southem Africa Farmer's Federation (Zambia); IFSN - International Food Security Network (West Africa); Oxfam; PELUM Rede das Organizações do IFSN dos PALOPs; PROPAC - Plateforme sous-régionale des.Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale; Rede Terra; ROSA - Rede de Organizações da Sociedade Civil para a Soberania Alimentar; TWN - Third World Network; UNAC - União Nacional de Camponeses (Moçambique); UNACA - União Nacional das Associações de Camponeses de Angola; VECO (Uganda); Via Campesina África; WFF - World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fisher Workers;
Facilitated by: IPC - International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty
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For a United and ActiveAfrican Civil Society fighting for Food Sovereignty
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