FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Call to the Summit on Food Security, Climate Change, and Biofuels

The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) had a meeting of coalitions in the Arab region from 30 May to 1 June in Amman, Jordan, to discuss civil society mobilisation and national level campaigns against poverty. There were 18 participants, representing the national coalitions of Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Libya, as well as ANND, the Arab NGO Network for Development and regional secretariat of GCAP.

The participants, taking note of the ongoing preparations for the FAO summit in Rome the 5 and 6 June, address this call to the Heads of State participating in the summit.

• 800 million people (70% of whom are women) are suffering from the effects of the food crisis.  They need urgent aid. 
• The FAO estimates that the price of food products has increased 57% since last year (vegetable oil : 97%, wheat : 87%, milk products : 58%, rice : 46%)
• The crisis is largely caused by the policies pursued by international financial institutions over the past 20 years, primarily the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as the injustice of the current trade system as perpetuated by the World Trade Organisation.  These have had a negative impact on the agricultural sector in developing countries, particularly in the Arab region. 
• It is time to find alternative policies that financial institutions, multinational corporations, and national governments can pursue to meet the needs of the millions of people in the developing world

The direct effects of this crisis in Arab countries has been manifested by an increase in the price of food products, particularly in countries already poor in natural resources and petrochemicals.  These countries are already characterised by difficult climatic conditions, and have a lack of water and arable land.  On top of this, there is a lack of technical skills and investment in the agricultural sector. 

Because of this, the GCAP members of the Arab region reaffirm the need to reform international structures, to limit the liberalisation of trade, and to encourage investment in agricultural production within the framework of regional integration to respond to the needs of citizens in Arab countries. 

Furthermore, debt constitutes a significant portion of the budgets of many Arab countries, and has a detrimental effect on their social and economic situations, including agricultural production and food security. 

Occupation and armed conflict drive poverty in the region, and remain an obstacle to human security in general, and food security in particular. 

It is necessary to take actions to reinforce global peace, and resolve conflicts in a way that limits the proliferation of nuclear arms and toxic waste, which diminish productivity, particularly in the agricultural sector.  Furthermore, the increasing price of petrol directly increases the price of food, and contributes to the food crisis, which is particularly acute in the Arab region. 

The Arab Region, which has the largest reserves of petrol   in the world, has recently seen significant environmental deterioration.  Petrochemicals and natural gas are important sources of energy throughout the world.  The energy sector has a number of threats, including increasing demand, and low use of alternative energies, particularly in rural areas and by the urban poor.  This is exacerbated by a lack of support for the development of renewable energies, and the lack of adequate tools and techniques to promote more sustainable energy use in the region. 

In spite of the in principle commitment to sustainable development by Arab countries, the policies followed remain inadequate.  18 countries in the Arab region have signed the United Nations Convention on Climate Change ; Egypt is the only country that has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, though 12 others have signed it. 

The members of GCAP in the Arab Region make the following recommendations to the Heads of State meeting in Rome:

1.    Insist on the right to food, including food sovereignty and security, and use this right as the basis for all political instruments and decision making, particularly in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. 

2.    Push for increasing international cooperation for development to help developing countries overcome the effects of poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals, and insist on the necessity of food security as an essential element of human security.  The issue of aid effectiveness must be part of the discussion, particularly at the upcoming summit in Accra, Ghana, next September, as well as the Summit on financing for developing in Doha, Qatar, in November.  There will be participants from the OECD, the World Bank and the IMF, UN agencies, developing countries, and civil society. 

3.    Reform the system of international trade that imposes structural adjustments on developing countries, and reduces their ability to protect local production.  These policies limit the capacity of developing countries to use their national and human resources towards the development of the country.  They also threaten national sovereignty, and consequently food sovereignty. 

4.    Promote regional integration in the Arab region, particularly around agriculture.  The Riyad Communiqué from the General Assembly of the Arab Organisation of Agricultural Development provides for the preparation of a time bound action plan to coordinate agricultural policies in Arab countries, and in the medium term, to develop a common agricultural strategy aimed at the sustainable development of Arab agriculture. 

5.    Reinforce national policies on food security as the heart of development strategies, considering them from a social, and not only economic angle, accompanying policies that encourage investment in local agricultural production. 

6.    Revisit the Doha round of talks that has destabilised the prices of agricultural products, and contributed to the import dependency of developing countries. The reduction of investment in agricultural production limits the capacity of Arab countries to make food products accessible to their populations. 

7.     Make structural reforms to economic policies.  Specifically, national governments must enact policies that encourage food sovereignty, and protect national production.  This also implies substantial agricultural reform, and a revision of customs taxes. 

8.    Create safety nets to protect the most vulnerable populations from hunger, and ensure government protection to the poorest consumers to ensure their basic needs. 

9.    Support the efforts of Arab countries to combat the effects of climate change, by building capacity, transferring environmental technology, supporting regional integration, and sharing strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  International donors are also requested to facilitate the transfer of technologies appropriate to environmental protection in the Arab region. 


For more information, please contact ANND:

Tel: +961 1 319 366
Fax: +961 1 815 636
Email: annd@annd.org
Site web: www.annd.org

Po Box 5792/14 Mazraa 1105 2070
Beirut - Lebanon

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