CFS: Biofuel development should not endanger food security

The Committee on World Food Security also highlighted policy and investment support for smallholder farmers and producers.

The Committee on World Food Security promotes policy convergence to better address food security issues.

2013 rome, 11 October-After a week of intense discussion, committee on World Food Security emphasizing the link between biofuels and food security, the Committee stated that the "progressive realization of the right to adequate food for all" should be a priority concern in the development of biofuels.

According to CFS, the world's foremost intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder platform on food security and nutrition, the development of biofuels "should not affect food security and should give special consideration to the interests of women and smallholder farmers."

the CFS meeting on 7-11 October attracted nearly 750 participants, including 130 government delegations, 100 civil society groups and 50 private sector organizations. Following consultations, the Committee also agreed on the need to integrate smallholder agriculture into national policies, strategies and research aimed at promoting investment and sustainable development.

According to a recent UN hunger report the State of Food Insecurity in the World most of the world's 0.84 billion chronically hungry people are farmers, fishers and others in developing countries who make a living from small-scale production.

opportunities and risks

the CFS received information on biofuels and food security from a report of the High-level Panel of Experts on Biofuels and Food Security (OHCHR) and recognized that biofuel development "presents economic, social and environmental opportunities and risks," depending on the context and approach. It also argues that "in some cases, current biofuel production creates competition between biofuel crops and food crops."

the Committee encouraged FAO and other stakeholders to examine ways to help countries strengthen their capacity to assess their biofuel status, taking into account issues of food security and legal land tenure at the global, regional and national levels.

"Governments and other stakeholders are encouraged, where feasible and necessary, to assess in a balanced and scientific manner the opportunities and risks that biofuel policies may pose to food security," the Commission said.

It called on biofuel research and development partners to improve the efficiency of biofuels in terms of resources and processes, and encouraged research partners to develop solutions that are responsive to the needs of all stakeholders, in particular the least developed countries and women and smallholder farmers who most need access to modern energy services.

The CFS recommendation calls for R & D action partners to adapt biofuel production and processing so that they can adjust the supply chain between food, feed and energy according to conditions.

In particular, the CFS states that existing international agreements and instruments provide guidance on this issue, including: the CFS Strategic Framework for Global Food Security and Nutrition, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenement of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security, the Global Bioenergy Partnership Sustainable Bioenergy Indicators and the FAO Bioenergy and Food Security Approach ".

Investing in small farmers

with regard to the issue of investment in smallholder agriculture addressed in the report of the High-level Expert Group, the CFS adopted a policy recommendation urging Governments to work together with smallholder organizations, civil society, the private sector, scientific institutions and international development partners to "build a nationally owned vision" to expand investment in smallholder agriculture.

The Committee recommended that countries consider how agricultural and urban and rural policies, strategies and budgets can most effectively help smallholder farmers, especially women, to gain access to productive assets; to local, national and regional markets; and to appropriate training, scientific research, technology and farm support services.

The Importance of Smallholder Agriculture Will Be 2014 international Year of Family Farming during the period was highlighted.

The Committee also discussed a number of issues related to support efforts to end chronic hunger and extreme poverty, including responsible investment in agriculture and food security in protracted crises. Regional consultations will continue discussions in this regard in the coming months.

At the weekend, Gerda Feilburg of the Netherlands was elected CFS Chairman to replace Yaya Olaniran of Nigeria for a two-year term.

http://www.fao.org/news/story/zh/item/202672/icode/

man of Feeding