Feeding the one billion hungry. Where shall we start?

On the list of 2009 weak declarations, Copenhagen does not stand alone. The third World Food Summit that happened in Rome on November 16th-18th, seeking solutions to hunger, is also leaving the poor empty handed. But despite the disappointment of the Climate summit, the hope remains high that the fight against global warming will eventually bring results. This is less the case with the older fight against hunger, where the political will is missing (Northern heads of states did not attend the Food Summit), the public is less informed and mobilized, the media coverage weak. Yet, if hunger is less visible to the eyes, it nevertheless kills 17.000 kids every day.

The lack of progresses in the fight against hunger can partially be explained by a debate in which symptoms and root causes of hunger keep being confused. In consequence, solutions remain largely technical and this for decades. They are mostly about increasing productivity and yield per hectare (through the use of genetically modified plant varieties for instance). While it is not wrong to seek improving productivity, it is the marginalized communities, rather than the agricultural land that need more attention. Most common assumptions on the causes of hunger and malnutrition are related to environmental factors or conflicts. While these explanations are in some cases indeed relevant, they address the symptoms rather than the root causes. The reason why people are most affected by disasters is due to their lack of reserves and control over resources, their lack of power.

The starting point to eradicate hunger is therefore to start working closely with the poor and marginalized, a point still timidly recognized and under-applied by national governments and international donors. We highlighted in last Garp edition a positive step in that direction with the revived FAO Committee on Food Security making space for civil society. But there is still a long way to go.

A recent report of the European Court of Auditors showed that the European Commission did not generally meet the objective of involving civil society in European policies. As regards agricultural support, European programmes and most international programmes attempted to carry out action without involving a central actor in the implementation of agricultural policies: local farmers' organisations. Many developing countries however, particularly in Africa, count agricultural actors who have acquired experience, legitimacy and have taken part in debates regarding agricultural policies in a responsible way. By-passing them is therefore counter-productive and irresponsible if we aim at eradicating hunger for good.

To act on this, Glopolis has, in December, supported the initiative of 7 other European NGOs, asking Eva Joly, chair of the Development Committee of the European Parliament, to demand the new European Commissioner for Development to guarantee that farmers organizations from developing countries are involved in the definition, implementation and evaluation of the European support to agricultural policies. In support of their demand, they handed in a petition to Eva Joly signed by almost 5,000 Belgian citizens during a summer mobilisation campaign organised by the Belgian NGO SOS Faim. Ms Joly asserted that she was committed to taking this initiative up with members of the development committee and proposed that a joint approach be taken with the new commissioner and that the latter take the necessary measures within his administration. A first small but sustainable step in addressing hunger.