Are proposed UN-SDG on Food and Agriculture sustainable?

Are these UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) or Un-sustainable Goals on Food Security Sustainable?

Are these Goals Sustainable?

Pl. read below to develop your own opinion.

Why proposed UN SDGs on food security and nutrition are unsustainable?

By:

Vijay Sardana

President of the General Assembly of United Nations has submitted draft outcome document of the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda and proposed 17 Sustainability Development Goals. World leaders will endorse and sign this charter in September 2015 in New York.

Let me share my views on one Sustainable Development Goal i.e. SDG 2. It  says, End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.

It says many good things but the way global political system works I have doubt whether these Goals can be achieved in the provided time frame with the available resources. 

According to UN Sustainable Development Goal (UN-SDG) 2.1, it says, by 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.

No doubt it is good intention, we all should support this. The biggest question is where are the resources with developing and under developed countries to take this agenda forward. They are already suffering from resource crunch and struggling to meet their existing targets, how they will generate resources to meet these targets is not clear. Growing Population and spending on security threats are draining resources at faster pace than earlier times.

According to UN-SDG 2.2, by 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons

Once again it is good intention; we all must support the same. The biggest challenge in meeting these targets is how to ensure nutritional food to all. On one end countries are forced to dilute the food laws to promote the junk foods around the world and on the other in the name of trade facilitation, subsidized food with poor nutritional value is dumped in many countries which are suffering from stunting and wasting in the children. Unless we have comprehensive treaty to promote nutritional food in trade and promote nutrition rich crops as part of trade policies in affordable price, this proposed sustainable development goal will be difficult to achieve within given time limit and within available resources.

According to UN-SDG 2.3, By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.

My Concern is without access to technology and without water and knowledge based extension services, how it is going to be possible? Take an example: India needs technology and water for 146 million hectare to double its productivity in the same land to meet the UN-SDG target and to ensure sustainable food supplies. In last 10 years, growing food inflation and reduced par capital availability of protein and oils is clearly indicating that there are supply side problems and with every passing year it will be more complex.

Current drought situation has already reduced the food output in India. Who will provide the technology and resources to double the output from the same land? Another problem is today agriculture is no more profitable for farmers. Will young generation of farmers continue to grow the crops?

What about distortion due to subsidy? SDG should support and promote fair markets to address poverty and malnutrition in developing economies. Why certain subsidies cannot be declared inhuman and hurting respectable livelihood for farmers in developing countries and against sustainability of the global population.

According to UN-SDG 2.4, By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.

Idea proposed in this SGD is good, but will it be possible to achieve when farmers are already suffering from debt trap. Will these proposed approaches provide income and welfare to farmers in short term? Today, farmers are struggling on daily basis and giving them lectures on sustainability on long term basis benefit is like cruel joke for them. Urban consumers are destroying climate and hurting farmers’ interest. But responsibility to correct the environmental damages is on resource poor farmers. Is this logical or sensible?

Is it possible for the farmers to adopt sustainable practices when markets are distorted and when every country is trying to distort the market for better market share?

I propose there must be environmental tax on consumers and societies those who are adopting bad products and creating emissions more than per capita limits. These should be pooled up at UN level and given to farmers those who need technological up-gradation to conserve climate in a time bound manner. This is a radical thought but somewhere we have to fix the accountability around the world.

According to UN-SDG 2.5, By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.

This is truly a serious issue and classic case of irresponsible exploitation of natural resources. Is this possible to ensure sustainable biodiversity under current food trade laws? When every food law is promoting uniform food quality system around the world including defining physical parameters of natural produce food, where is the incentive to maintain biodiversity by the farmers? Look at standards set-up by Codex Alimentarius under UN Charter. They are not supporting bio-diversity in trade. Unfortunately, in today’s world bio-diversity is restricted to zoos and botanical gardens on in underdeveloped and resource poor societies. Why poor farmers should preserve biodiversity when markets are not willing to pay for efforts and cost to preserve these biodiversity?

On the other hand, TRIPs regime which is restricting access to technology. Without economic sense, where is the incentive to maintain biodiversity. How many types of cotton, soybean and vegetable seeds are in demand by trade? How may poultry breeds and in use by trade. This analysis will expose that this SDG is not possible as long as current trade regime will operate.

How UN-SDG forum will address these challenges is not clear from any document or discussions.

According to UN-SDG 2.a, Increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries.

This is also an important wish list.  Are companies willing to pay for gene pool of developing world used for research in developed world by large corporations?

How resources and profits should be allocated from the gains of the gene pools from developing and under-developed world is not clear. There are many formula how to share the trade and tariff rates, but no incentive plan is ever discussed how to provide share of trade gains to societies whose genetic pool is used for products used in trade.

Without this clarity why societies should share their traditional knowledge base and gene pool without any cost with corporations exploiting them commercially for their own gain. Why no discussion is happening to address these vital issues?

According to UN-SDG 2.b, Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round.

This is another goal which is close to impossible to achieve. Even after 20 years, WTO failed to implement its own guidelines and unable to prevent distortions due to subsidies, what is the mechanism proposed by SDG to address this distortion in world trade. If there is any approach suggested by SDG, this should be made public and why it was not adopted under WTO negotiations?

According to UN-SDG 2.c, Adopt measures to ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and facilitate timely access to market information, including on food reserves, in order to help limit extreme food price volatility.

This seems to be little out of place in SDG agenda. Use of derivatives market to ensure suitable development means we are willing to put the products in short supply into highly speculative markets.

Let me share some examples, derivative markets are fully functional in sugar, cotton, corn, soybean, beef, milk powder, etc. Have farmers of these crops in developed world adopted sustainable agriculture practices? What was the role of these markets in in fully developed and functional derivatives market on sustainability?

How sustainability is benefiting from these derivative markets in highly polluting and subsidized markets.

Real issue is providing nutritious food for consumption, not speculative trade. Is this means developing countries should allow dumping of surplus of developed world to control inflation at the cost of local farmers and local agro-economy. This needs to be clarified.

Sustainable food security is foundation for sustainability of any society. Hungry people and hungry society will remain challenge for sustainability mandate around the world. Ensuring affordable food security to all is the only guarantee for sustainable world.

As of today, UN Sustainable Development Goals are politically correct and socially acceptable agenda. 

How UN members will ensure that goals are achieved, will be an interesting process. So far, WTO and other international treaties have not delivered as per expectations.

'Might is Right' is the rule of the game in international forums so far. Now, in the war against climate change, mighty people will suffer the most, if sustainable agenda will fail.

Poor and Hungry has nothing to loose, except life.

It will interesting to see, who bends and how much in the name of 'Win-Win' situation.

 

Now bigger question is, what is your opinion of SDG proposals. Are they workable and if yes, how? Pl. share your thoughts on these issues.

Do write your views and follow on twitter @vijaysardana.