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Food For Life: Food campaign bulletin no. 1 / 2009

10. November 2009

World conferences focus on the food crisis Partnering for Food Security
United Nations’ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton co-hosted a conference on Partnering for Food Security during the UN General Assembly on September 26, 2009. The meeting was to reaffirm their support and commitment to the G8 L’Aquila Declaration in July 2009 and move this agenda forward. In support of the L’Aquila Declaration the parties agreed to undertake the following:

 

• Intensify support for ongoing efforts to advance effective country-led and re- gional strategies; develop country investment plans and programs to achieve the goals of these strategies; ensure mutual accountability through public benchmarks, indicators, and a peer review framework to measure progress; and develop a flexible financing architecture that includes well-coordinated bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to support these integrated countryled strategies and investment plans.
• Support and expand North-South, South-South and Trilateral cooperation for the development and implementation of country-led, comprehensive plans.
• Work with regional economic communities, associations, organizations and agencies to strengthen their mechanisms for financial and technical cooperation with donors and other stakeholders to support country-led strategies and investment plans and to facilitate regional economic integration.
• Support the on-going reform processes aimed at improved efficiency and effectiveness of existing international organizations and agencies, including the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• Strengthen international coordination on financing and joint actions in global processes, including through the framework of the UN High Level Task Force.
• Adhere to the commitment of $20 billion over three years through a coordi- nated, comprehensive strategy “focused on sustainable agriculture development, while keeping a strong commitment to ensure adequate emergency food aid assistance,” in accordance with the L’Aquila statement.


These proposals will be recommended to the ECOWAS donor meeting to be held
in Abuja on the 11-12 November and the Comprehensive African Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP) Africa Forum in Nairobi on 30 November-4
December 2009. EAA is following up on this initiative and is preparing advocacy
letters in cooperation with regional partners to the UN Secretary General,

FAO Conferences
With the background of its report on the State of World Food Insecurity, the
United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is organizing a series of
high level meetings to address the tragic reality of over 1 billion hungry people
in the world today.

Currently, global projections show that in addition to projected investments in
agriculture, further significant investment will be needed to enhance access to
food, otherwise some 370 million people could still be hungry in 2050, almost 5
percent of the global population. According to the latest UN projections, world
population will rise from 6.8 billion today to 9.1 billion in 2050 - a third more
mouths to feed than there are today. Nearly all of the population growth will occur
in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is expected to grow
the fastest (up 108 percent, 910 million people), and East and South East Asia’s
the slowest (up 11 percent, 228 million).

How to Feed the World in 2050
On 12-13 October, the FAO organized a High-Level Expert Forum in Rome
to discuss strategies on “How to Feed the World in 2050”. The Forum brought
together around 300 leading experts from academic, nongovernmental and private
sector institutions from developing and developed countries. The EAA was
represented by Stuart Clark, the Senior Policy Advisor for Canadian Foodgrains
Bank. Representatives from EAA members The Lutheran World Federation, ICCO
and Brot fur die Welt also attended.

In advance of the forum, leading civil society organizations initiated a letter addressed
to the FAO Director General about the need to include the International
Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development
(IAASTD) recommendations on the agenda. The EAA and some of our members
and partners (EED, Bread for the World, United Church of Christ, USA and
the Presbyterian Church USA) signed the letter. See www.e-alliance.ch
fileadmin/user_upload/docs/IAASTD_letter_to_FAO_01.doc

The letter received a favorable response from Mr Hafez Ghanem, the Assistant
Director General, FAO, and the IAASTD recommendations indeed were put on
the agenda. FAO established a link from the Forum website to the IAASTD site.
Unfortunately, the Forum did not have any representative from IAASTD on the
panel as was promised by the FAO secretariat and the document was only referred
to during the discussions. Civil society was also poorly represented. See
The Forum prepared the ground for the World Summit on Food Security, to take
place in Rome 16-18 November 2009. See www.e-alliance.ch/fileadmin/
user_upload/docs/Response_ from_FAO_on_IAASTD_01.doc.
Committee for World Food Security

On 14-17 October FAO organized a conference to discuss the reform of the Committee
on World Food Security. The conference yielded positive results and FAO’s
191 member governments adopted, by acclamation, a proposed reform of the
CFS. The new committee now has very strong roles for civil society, who can actually
be participants not just observers at their meetings. The ground gained has
to be defended. The FAO World Summit on Food Security and the parallel civil
society forum to be held in Rome in mid November will provide an important
occasion for further reflection and action. This is a very good opportunity which
EAA and its members are following up.

For the history of the CFS negotiations and the final documents see www.
fao.org/economic/cfs09/en/. The positions of small-scale food producers and
NGOs and plans for the November civil society forum are available on www.
foodsovereignty.org. For the full story of civil society interaction with the United
Nations system on food and agriculture issues see Nora McKeon, The United
Nations and Civil Society : Legitimating Global Governance- Whose Voice ? (ZED
Books/UNRISD: 2009).

World Food Summit
The 2009 World Food Summit will take place in Rome, Italy, 16-18 November
2009. The decision to convene the summit was taken by the Council of the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in June 2009, at the
proposal of FAO Director-General Dr Jacques Diouf. Heads of State and Government
are expected to attend.

The main aim of the Summit is to eradicate hunger. To achieve this, FAO says the
event aims to put into place a more coherent and effective system of governanceof food security, including rules and mechanisms to ensure adequate incomes for
farmers, mobilizing investments into agricultural infrastructure and access to inputs,
and a mechanism for early reaction to food crises. Governments have been
invited around the world to negotiate a declaration for adoption by the Summit.
It is up to us to hold our governments accountable to the commitments they
make on food and to affirm the recommendations of the Comprehensive Framework
of Action (CFA) in particular the right to food, but also the integration of
IAASTD recommendations. The report calls for fundamental change in farming
practices, in order to address soaring food prices, hunger, social inequities and
environmental disasters. There is need to move away from destructive and chemically-
dependent industrial agriculture and to adopt environmentally sound modern
farming methods that champion biodiversity and benefit local communities.
More and better food can be produced without destroying rural livelihoods or
our natural resources. Local, socially and environmentally responsible methods
are the solution especially in the midst of climate change.

The gravity of the current food crisis is the result of 20 years of under-investment
in agriculture and neglect of the sector. Directly or indirectly, agriculture provides
the livelihood for 70 percent of the world’s poor. If we do not take action,
the current state of affairs will continue for decades with people, who are the
Creation of God, dying of hunger because the world’s plentiful resources are
unequally distributed.

Right to Food and Nutrition WATCH 2009
On the occasion of the Churches Week of Action on Food and World Food Week
2009, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance in collaboration with the World Organization
against Torture, Bread for All and FIAN Switzerland launched the 2009
Right to Food and Nutrition Watch in Geneva on 12 October. Ms Ester Wolf from
Bread for All in Switzerland and a member of the Food Strategy Group and EAA
Board of Directors represented EAA and spoke about the Food for Life campaign
and how it relates to the WATCH.

The WATCH aims to put public pressure on policy makers at national and international
levels to take the human right to food seriously. It provides a systematic
compilation of best practices for the realization of the right to food, while documenting
where violations take place.

This year’s edition focuses on the question of “Who controls the governance of the world food system?” – a burning issue in the light of the current World Food Crisis – through contributions from Olivier De Schutter, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food; David Nabarro, Coordinator of the UN High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis; Flavio Valente, FIAN International General Secretary, and others. Reports are also included on the state of the implementation of the right to food and nutrition in nine countries: Benin, Brazil, Cambodia, India, Guatemala, Kenya, Nicaragua, Uganda and Zambia. The country reports highlight how the right to food and nutrition are connected to such issues as agro-fuel production, poverty or the right to land.The WATCH is a joint effort of a consortium of human rights organizations, social movements and development agencies. The Consortium for the WATCH 2009 is composed of Brot für die Welt, the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO) and FIAN International as publishers, and World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), People’s Health Movement (PHM), Habitat International Coalition (HIC), World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), DanChurchAid, Rights and Democracy, Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos Democracily Desarrollo (PIDHDD), and African Right to Food Network as partners. Consortium
partners launched the report in a number of cities during the week.
EAA has joined the consortium, effective also on 12 October 2009.
The report was published by Brot für die Welt, ICCO, and FIAN International and
is available in English, Spanish, French, 72 pages, at: www.e-alliance.ch
en/s/food/ (under latest resources)

Churches active during Food Week of Action 2009
Calling for alternatives to address the food crisis and promoting just and sustainable
production and consumption, churches and church-related organizations
world-wide participated in the first Churches Week of Action on Food, 11-18 October
2009, under the Food for Life Campaign slogan.

The week of 11-18 October was a key time for action:

• 12-13 October was the High Level Conference on How to Feed the World to 2050, sponsored by the FAO in Rome, Italy
• 16 October was World Food Day
• 17 October was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.


Some of actions during the week included:
In South Africa, the Economic Justice Network in collaboration with members of
COSATU protested outside the Parliament building over the high food prices and
the threat it poses to food security.

In Germany on World Food Day, Brot für die Welt handed over 33,000 signatures
of their petition “Woldwide Table Fellowship” to the Federal Government
as part of its campaign for food security. The signatures were collected by
churches, schools, during worships, church festivals or by information events.
The demands were signed onto cards in form of little figures which were put
together to form long “human” chains. Bread for the World also organized an
openair-stage on the day in front of the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. In a colorful
program that brought in the continents Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America,
participants were informed about food security, global trade in agriculture,
and sustainable agriculture. Members of the parliament, representatives from
partner organizations, co-operation partners and people from the campaign
participated in the program.

The United Church of Christ (USA) adapted and sent the EAA model letter on the
right to food to President Obama to call for just and sustainable food production
through practices that are participatory, environmentally friendly, socially sustainable
and support the right of all people to adequate, healthy and culturally
appropriate food. The action alert can be viewed at: https://secure3.convio.net/
ucc/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=467

In addition, promoted by the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) and supported
by EAA, the Protestant Federation in Italy signed and sent a letter on the right to
food to its government.

In lieu of the planned activities for the Churches Week of Action, the National
Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) spearheaded relief delivery operations
to various parts of the regions affected by typhoons. The Philippines had
been in a state of calamity since 26 September when two successive typhoons-
Ketsana and Parma battered the country. The NCCP encouraged its members and
ecumenical partners to participate in resource mobilization and relief operations
to help affected people. Churches are now being encouraged to accompany the
people as they try to restore their economic activities, the majority of which is in
food production.

The theme for 2010 Food Week of Action will be on food and gender. For more information
on getting involved in the Churches’ Week of Action on Food, please visit
the website: www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/food/churches-week-of-action-on-food/

Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change: Time to Make a Difference
The Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change will take place 7-18 December
2009. This UN summit will set the agenda for the next stage of the fight against
climate change.

Please join Christian Aid and World Council of Churches in their campaign to
ensure world leaders deliver a fair and effective deal for the poor by signing the
Copenhagen International Pledge either online or offline.
It is simple to participate in this initiative. All you just need to do is to click on your
country to sign the Copenhagen pledge. All pledges will be handed to the leaders
in Copenhagen and delivered by Desmond Tutu on 13 December. Remember - the
more pledges we have the more chance of winning a fair climate deal.

Participate directly online and sign the pledge by clicking onto:
www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/food/
or www.countdowntocopenhagen.org
You can also participate off-line by signing the Copenhagen International Postcard
which can be downloaded at:
www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/food/food-and-climate-change/ or
www.countdowntocopenhagen.org/international_ pledge.html
US-based nonprofits and faith groups unite around campaign to build a just and
sustainable food system

The global food crisis has motivated U.S-based progressive organizations and
 faith groups including the Presbyterian Church (USA) to join forces. In late
spring of 2008, a number of groups representing different areas of the food system
came together to form the U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis (www.
usfoodcrisisgroup.org). Their goal has been to bring attention to the underlying
causes of the crisis and to promote transformative solutions globally to fix the
broken food system. Through a year of activities and dialogues with diverse partners,
the group has established a committed network of organizations working
collaboratively on food justice and food systems change. Most of the organizations
in the Working Group have an international scope and work with international
partners.

The group has also identified the need for an inclusive and unifying campaign
to end the ongoing food crisis, which has become a daily reality for millions of
Americans and a billion people worldwide. On August 31 and September 1, 2009,
the Working Group met together with dozens of grassroots leaders of People of
Color and community-based organizations to find common ground on which to
collaborate to fix the food system.

The meeting was a success. Dialogues with representatives of 50 organizations
resulted in the affirmation of a unifying theme and specific strategy for the next
year that takes advantage of grassroots strengths and existing food justice movement
work. The theme which was chosen is ending poverty by rebuilding local
food economies with a focus on the injustices and impoverishment caused by
the dominant food system, and the potential for communities, regions, and nations
to build just and prosperous food economies from the ground up.

In breakout strategy sessions, corporate control of the food system was identified
as a primary cause of the damage to people, communities and the environment.
Accordingly, anti-trust (anti-monopoly) efforts are critically important. Taking advantage
of the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
listening sessions on anti-trust beginning in early 2010, this new coalition will
bring stories, research and analysis from the grassroots to these sessions. Those
hurt by the anti-competitive structure of the corporate food system will raise their
voices in the sessions and through creative street actions to highlight the damage,
as well as the positive alternatives that deserve support. Success in reducing the
monopoly power of the small number of transnational agri-food corporations
would have positive effects for food self-sufficiency initiatives around the world.
Washington DC-based groups will reinforce the call for anti-trust legislation.

The second prong of the common strategy is to strengthen local food systems
work with peer-to-peer training and support, and to use the U.S. Social Forum
( June 22-26, 2010) as a forum to highlight food issues and to strengthen the
connections between local food economy builders. Support for farmers, farm
workers and other local food systems leaders – who are creating the solutions to
the food crisis – is seen as critical to the movement.
For more information contact andrew.kangbartlett@pcusa.org.

Food Rights Alliance speaks out on the food crisis in Uganda
Members of the Food Rights Alliance (FRA) issued a joint statement on 19 August
2009 to the Ugandan Ministry of Agriculture and its Parliament on the food crisis
in Uganda and provided recommendations for possible solutions. They noted in
the statement that the proportion of the population unable to meet the recommended
food caloric intake in Uganda increased from 58.7% in 1999 to 68.5% in
20062. This situation has been worsened by the recent food crisis.

According to a report from the office of the Prime Minister ( July 2009), 66.67%
of the districts (52 Districts) are grappling with hunger with 21.79% (17 Districts)
experiencing famine and 39.74% (31 Districts) facing acute food shortage. The
most affected parts include Teso, Karamoja, Lango, Acholi, and West-Nile and
Sebei (Kapchorwa) sub-regions. In north and northeastern Uganda alone, 77% of
the population is severely affected and cannot access adequate food, with 83% of
the population relying on one meal or none a day3. Children, the elderly, women,
internally-displaced persons and people living with HIV have been hit hardest.
The food crisis has compromised the nutritional status of the population with
effects such as stunting and underweight especially among children. Nearly four
in ten Ugandan children under five years of age (38%) are stunted (short for their
age), 6% are wasted (thin for their height) and 16% are underweight4. The food
crisis in the country clearly underscores the urgent need by Government to ensure
food security as a fundamental prerequisite to general wellbeing.

The group monitors national legislation on the right to food as well as conventions
the government is party to. Interestingly, Uganda’s 1995 Constitution (particularly
National Objective XXII) requires that the government’s development
plans and programs ensure equitable socio-economic rights, including the right
to adequate food and nutrition.5 It has also signed to article 25 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right of everyone to the highest
attainable standard of living. In addition by virtue of article 11 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to which Uganda is a
party, the government pledged to respect “the right of everyone to an adequate
standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing
and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions” and recognize
“the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger”.6

Some of the recommendations proposed by the FRA to the government to ensure
the right to food include:

 

• Expeditiously undertake a comprehensive national assessment to establish the actual number of all people affected by the current food shortages, their dietary needs and locations.
• Mobilise sufficient resources for immediate delivery and distribution of adequate relief food, targeting specifically the most vulnerable groups like women, elderly, children, people living with HIV and remote communities.
• Put in place mechanisms of participatory monitoring of the effectiveness and efficiency of food delivery and distribution.
• Put mechanisms to regulate the haphazard sale of food to neighbouring countries when there are serious shortages within Uganda.
• Increase investment in agriculture to support small scale domestic agricul- ture in terms of seed supplies, small-scale irrigation projects and other rain harvesting and utilization projects. Some districts can no longer depend on rain-fed agriculture and therefore need to prioritise irrigation schemes.
• Government should review its programs to ensure that food security is an in- tegral part with clear and attainable deliverables. Sufficient budgetary provisions must be made available to relevant ministries (agriculture and disaster preparedness) and ensure these ministries establish robust crisis response structures at the sub-county, district and national levels.
• Government should urgently prioritize issues of climate change adaptation and mitigation at both policy and institutional levels.


Hungry people living with HIV abandon ARVs -Case of Uganda
(Story from IRIN/PlusNews, 19/08/2009) There is an interrelationship between food
and HIV and AIDS. The impact of HIV on nutrition and household food security is
great. Poor nutrition can damage the immune system and contribute to acceleration
of full blown AIDS. An adequate and well balanced diet is thus an essential element
of basic care for people living with HIV. Given the lack of medical care and drug
treatment in most AIDS-affected developing countries it is important that extensive
efforts to achieve and maintain good nutrition among people living with HIV are
undertaken as a matter of priority. This is the case in Uganda.

HIV-positive patients in drought-hit eastern Uganda are abandoning their anti-retroviral
regimens in droves, and leaders fear that unless more food becomes available,
they will soon be dealing with drug resistance and death. The assessment done in
Teso, a sub-region in eastern Uganda found that HIV and AIDS patients in the region
take their ARV drugs on the understanding of food [being available]. “In the absence
of food, many stop taking their ARVs and this risks their lives,” said Musa Ecweru, State
Minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, in her interview with IRIN/
PlusNews. This has been aggravated by a prolonged dry spell which has withered the
region’s traditional crops, leaving hundreds of thousands of people hungry; instead
of eating a balanced diet from their farms, they are surviving on a diet of bought maize
meal, with the most affected people being those on ARVs.

One testimony about the impact came from Julius Ochen, a resident of Amuria,
who told IRIN/PlusNews that he had stopped taking his HIV medication. “When
you take these drugs without eating, they make you weak and reduce your
strength - you feel like vomiting,” he said.
“If the government doesn’t address the food crisis, many of us who are on ARVs
are going to die,” said Rose Anyiat, another resident.
“It’s true that TB drugs and ARVs are very strong; if taken without food, they make
someone doze and feel weak, but we encourage our clients to take them,” said Beatrice
Okware, branch manager for the AIDS Support Organization in Soroti district.
“We are carrying out sensitization and encouraging our clients on ARVs to continue
taking the drugs because if they default, there are side effects,” she added.
Poor nutrition weakens the body’s defences against the virus, hastens progress
from HIV to AIDS, and makes it difficult to take ARVs, which can sometimes increase
a patient’s appetite. Sufficient food can help reduce some side-effects of
ARVs and promote adherence to drug regimens. What we can learn from this
story is the fact that people living with HIV need to be supported with supplementary
food to balance their diet.

Advocacy Package on Military Spending Compared to Development Aid
As part of the Disarmament for Development Campaign, the Secretariat of Pax
Christi International prepared an advocacy package called Military Spending and
Development Aid or the Story of ‘the Elephant in the Room’.
The idiom ‘elephant in the room’ refers to the fact that in spite of being obvious
– or precisely because of it – it remains ignored by the majority of people.
Pax Christi International, a member of the EAA, considers the military spending
being such an elephant in the room, having in mind the failure of the world’s
richest countries to offer enough resources for the UN Millennium Development
Goals to be achieved by 2015 and the report particulary highlights how food issues
are under-funded.
The document can be used for educational purposes and be downloaded here:
storage.paxchristi.net/2009-0586-en-gl-SD.pdf

Jatropha! A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique
Bread for all (together with several other Swiss NGOs) supported the publication
of a study on the impact of agrofuel cultivation in Mozambique. The study
“Jatropha! A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique” was carried out by Justiçia
Ambiental and Uniao de Camponeses. This study evaluates Jatropha production
in Mozambique and the most common claims made in favor of Jatropha in order
to delineate the differences between the rhetoric and reality. These myths include
the following:

Myth No. 1: Jatropha grows well on marginal land and can produce high
yields on poor soils - Unfortunately, no cases from the literature or from any
of the communities, industry experts or individuals interviewed could even
mention a single example of this being true in Mozambique. On the contrary,
almost all of Jatropha planted in Mozambique has been on arable land, using
fertilizers and pesticides, but it has still fallen short of the claimed growth
rates and yields.

Myth No. 2: Jatropha requires low water use and minimal maintenance - In Mozambique
it was found that irrigation was required during the early development
phase, even in areas were the rainfall ranged between 800mm and 1400mm. In
the southern region of the country where the lower range is around 600mm,
constant irrigation was often required and even some areas that received around
800mm of rain still found it useful to irrigate their crops.

Myth No. 3: Jatropha is resistant to disease and pests - This study found extensive
evidence pointing to Jatropha’s vulnerability to diseases and problems with
fungi, viruses, and insect pests. In cases were the plants were heavily infested,
the plant would stop producing leaves and stay in a state of stress, which left the
farmer with no choice other than to remove the plant. The extensive use of fertilizers
and pesticides has still not solved these problems. Of even greater concern
in Mozambique is the growing evidence from both the subsistence farmers, and
experts, of Jatropha pest spreading to surrounding food crops.

Myth No 4: Jatropha does not present any risk to food security but is a development
opportunity for subsistence farmers - In Mozambique Jatropha is planted in
direct replacement of food crops by subsistence farmers, and given that around
87% of Mozambicans are subsistence farmers and produce 75% of what they consume,
major concerns arise when one considers the plan to encourage subsistence
farmers to plant large amounts of Jatropha. This concern is even further
exacerbated because subsistence farmers have very weak links to markets and
their lack of storage capacity, communication and information makes it difficult
to benefit from cash crops. As the lowest link in the agricultural value chain,
when food agricultural markets crash or slump in Mozambique, the price risks
are passed down to small farmers.

The report concludes that the dominant arguments about Jatropha as a food-security
safe biofuel crop, a source of additional farm income for rural farmers, and
a potential driver of rural development were misinformed at best and dangerous
at worst. While further independent research will give more detail, this investigation
seriously challenges Jatropha as providing for sustainable fuel and development
in Mozambique. A similar conclusion was reached by Mozambique’s civil
society, and subsistence farmers, in 2008, resulting in the emergence of a declaration
with specific recommendations that should be respected, including prioritizing
food production, greater support for subsistence farmers, increased support
for cooperatives, ensuring farmers’ rights, respecting community land rights, and
promoting food sovereignty.

You can download the report in English from Bread for All website:
www.greengrants.org/pdf/Study_biofuels.pdf

Food Strategy Group sets 2010 actions
The EAA’s Food Strategy Group met 14-16 September in Geneva and set out
guidelines for actions in 2010. Included among them are a Food for Life Campaign
Consultation for EAA members in March 2009 and a focus on gender for
the 2010 Churches Week of Action on Food. The group together with representatives
from the HIV and AIDS Strategy Group also discussed how to raise more
awareness on the link between Food and HIV.

“Food for Life” chosen as the winning slogan of the 2009-2012 campaign

Over 130 slogans were suggested during our “Name the Campaign” slogan contest.
Thank you to everyone for your creativity, interest and involvement!
The strategy group chose “Food for Life” as the slogan for our campaign through
2012. This slogan was suggested separately by two participants, Mary Craig and
Marion Koch.

Marion is a geography student at the University of Tübingen who recently completed
a four month internship at EAA member Brot für die Welt (Bread for the
World) where she worked in the food security team. She says during her time she
learned not only a lot about hunger in the world but about the campaign work of
Bread for the World and the EAA.

Mary is from Dundas, Ontario in Canada and is doing a Master’s in Religious
Education at St. Augustine’s Seminary at the Toronto School of Theology (Roman
Catholic). She thought of “Food for Life” when her priest did a homily series on
the “Bread of Life”, and, aware of EAA members with “bread” in their names,
chose a broader term for the EAA campaign.

As the strategy group discussed the slogan, it was suggested that some EAA members
may wish to use it with a tag line, for instance, Food for Life – a matter of
justice.

You can link to the Food for Life Campaign by putting the web banner below on
your webpage. See www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/food/our-winning-campaign-slogan/
for the html code to place on your website.

Resources


Unless otherwise noted, resources can be found in the EAA’s online resource library:
www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/resources/library/

The State of Food Insecurity in the World, Economic crises – impacts and lessons learned. FAO, 2009
The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2009 presents the latest statistics on global undernourishment and concludes that structural problems of underinvestment have impeded progress toward the World Food Summit goal and the first Millennium Development Goal hunger reduction target. This disappointing state of affairs has been exacerbated by first the food crisis and now the global economic crisis that, together, have increased the number of undernourished people in the world to more than one billion for the first time since 1970.
The report can be downloaded at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/i0876e/i0876e.pdf

The Right to Food in the Context of HIV/AIDS, FAO, 2009
The United Nations Member States resolve to integrate food and nutritional support, with the goal that all people at all times will have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, for an active and healthy life, as part of a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS. Research on the vicious circle of HIV and food and nutrition security has changed the focus of HIV and food-security programs: food-security aspects are now included in treatment programs and vice versa. But there has been little attention to prevention and treatment through the right to food, though it is now acknowledged that a rights-based approach to the epidemic is fundamental. This paper aims to clarify the relevance of the right to food in combating HIV/AIDS. Agriculture in the Context of Global Food Security: Synopsis of Seven Recent International Documents on Rural Development Strategies, 2009
This publication by EED, APRODEV, Brot fur die Welt and the German Watch analyses seven recent international documents on rural development strategies: The IAASTD; The Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA); Comprehensive African Agriculture
Development Programme (NEPAD); The Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) (2003); Global Donor Platform on Rural Development, GDPRD (2006); World Bank World Development Report 2008, WDR 08 (2007); The European Union’s Advancing African Agriculture, AAA (2007); and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, AGRA (2007).

The thematic focus of this synopsis is on the issues of (1) the fight against hunger and poverty; (2) marginalized groups (smallholder farmers, indigenous, women, etc.); (3) the importance placed upon technology and local knowledge; (4) the relevance of trade and market aspects; as well as (5) the role of the public sector, the private sector and civil society.

A new online clearinghouse to share information on and promote alternatives to the new green revolution in Africa
The Oakland Institute has launched Voices from Africa, a new online clearinghouse to share information on and promote alternatives to the New Green Revolution in Africa. Featuring articles, press releases, commentary, and reports from African NGOs and partner organizations and individuals around the world, Voices from Africa is set up as an interactive web community and will also serve as a resource for media and policy makers to hear the perspective of the African civil society groups on plans for a New Green Revolution in Africa. It is hoped that the community aspect of the website will enable activists from across the globe to link up and share news and updates from the latest campaigns against GMOs and will also function as a “home base” where stakeholders can forge coordinated strategy for fostering food sovereignty and influencing policy discussions.

Visit Voices from Africa at: www.oaklandinstitute.org/voicesfromafrica

Seeds of hunger: intellectual property rights on seeds and the human rights response, 3D, 2009
The importance of the agricultural sector in developing countries cannot be overstated. Agriculture provides food and jobs and is often the basis of community life. Around 70 percent of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas and are dependent on farming. A resilient agricultural sector requires a highly diverse range of plants and animals in order to keep breeding varieties that can cope with disease, changes in climate and other challenges that farmers, fishers and herders face. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) jeopardize agricultural diversity essential to present and future food supplies. To learn more on the impacts of IPRs on seed security of small holder farmers read full article from 3D THREAD on www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/resources/library/

Using Human Rights as a Practical Framework for Country - Level Assessment and Programming to End Hunger, Rights and Democracy, Case Study Reflection, 2009
The tool highlights three case studies on the implementation of the right to food. The countries selected for the initiative – Malawi, Nepal and Haiti - share common criteria: all are least-developed countries (LDCs) with similar levels of poverty; all have high levels of hunger with a majority of hungry people earning their living from agriculture; all are emerging or transitional democracies; all have highly-liberalized economies. The assessments sought to effect change
at the national level through common objectives: to encourage state accountability with respect to human rights obligations; to empower individuals and communities (rights-holders) to claim their entitlements; and to encourage dialogue between stakeholders.
For a detailed report see: www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/publications/globalization/food/Case%20study%20reflection.pdf
Additional resources can be found on: Guide to Conducting a Right to Food Assessment, Annex 2-Indicators, UN FAO, 2009. www.fao.org/righttofood/publi08/assessment_ guide.pdf

Tugon: An Ecumenical Journal of Discussion and Opinion, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, 2008 Volume 14 Number 2
This ecumenical journal of discussion and opinion seeks to provide a venue for Filipino theologians to put down their treatises and articulate experience at the grassroots and elevate it to theological discourse. This volume has a specific focus on hunger. It also seeks to provide a resource for continuing study and education for churches and church people, as well as the wider community about the varied aspects of the life and mission, witness and service of the Church in the Philippine context. Climate Change, Food Security and the Right to Adequate Food Climate change threatens to make the already difficult situation of food security in the world even worse. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – based on the evaluation of many scientific studies – has made a critical assessment of the possible impacts of climate change on agriculture, livestock and fishing, particularly in the
countries of the tropics and sub-tropics. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also warns about the negative consequences, in particular for smallholder subsistence farmers in what are in any case marginalized regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
To learn about the linkages of climate, food security and the right to adequate food read the full article from Brit fur die Welt et al on: www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/resources/library/

Genetic Engineering and Food Sovereignty: Sustainable Agriculture is the Only Option to Feed the World, EED, 2009.
The publication is a collection of experiences of EED partners in the global south and it looks into the question of whether or not genetic engineering is necessary in agriculture and nutrition, in order to fight rural poverty and hunger. Case studies of some of the problems with rural development if it relies too much on genetic engineering are documented. The experiences also show that this genetic engineering has not only been pretty ineffective thus far, but actually puts other forms of agriculture, especially agroecological approaches, at risk.

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