AsiaDHRRA Online

We’ve been clicking stuff  ”round the FAO Database and its been an interesting time  so far. Good for FarmFriday. The coolest feature was the ability to choose and create 3 types of report in a kind of mix and match way.

Give it a try! pay a visit to the FAO Gender and Land Rights Database here…

HungerWednesday shares this interesting article from Resurgence about how  the globalization of the food market has made food cheap but ironically has also caused hunger. Chanced upon this in our Facebook as shared by FB friend Imam Cahyono.

Cheap food causes hunger.

On its face, the statement makes no sense. If food is cheaper it’s more affordable and more people should be able to get an adequate diet. That is true for people who buy food, such as those living in cities. But it is quite obviously not true if you’re the one growing the food. You’re getting less for your crops, less for your work, less for your family to live on. That is as true for Vermont dairy farmers as it is for rice farmers in the Philippines. Dairy farmers today are getting prices for their milk that are well below their costs of production. They are putting less food on their own tables. And they are going out of business at an alarming rate. When the economic dust settles, this will leave us with fewer family farmers producing the dairy products most of us depend on.

This is the central contradiction of cheap food. Low agricultural prices cause hunger in the short term among farmers. And they cause food insecurity in the long term because they reduce both the number of farmers and the money they have to invest in producing more food.

Continue reading how cheap food causes hunger….

The Trade Knowledge Network (TKN) Southeast Asia has recently released a new electronic publication, entitled: Beyond Barriers: The Gender Implications of Trade Liberalization in Southeast Asia, written by Alexander C. Chandra (TKN Southeast Asia Coordinator), Lucky A. Lontoh (Public Policy Analyst) & Ani Margawati (Lecturer of Anthropology Dept. of the University of Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia).

Download the ebook here and visit their website here.

The DHRRA-ERA Community Centre was honoured to welcome delegation from Zimbabwe, headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Honourable Thokozani Khupe to the Headquaters of the Community Centre Project, located in Petaling Jaya on 22nd of February, 2010. The delegation which comprises prominent individuals includes the Executive Director of ADI, Tashinga Mtindike and Embassy personnels.

Continue reading about the visit of the the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe to DHRRA Malaysia here….

The FAO Civil Society Regional Consultation on Food Security in Asia and the Pacific Region of which AsiaDHRRA is the NGO host is currently underway at The Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City, Philippines from February 24-25, 2010.

We will be posting hourly updates at the activity blog over at http://faocsofoodsecurityconsultasiapacific.blogspot.com/

The overall objective of the regional Civil Society consultations is to agree on a workplan for achieving a concrete civil society agenda with proposed outputs for the upcoming regional meetings, including for the realization of specific partnerships at sub-regional and regional levels.

The first regional consultation process will take place in Manila, Philippines on 24-25 February 2010 to be held in the Richmonde Hotel; 21 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

The consultation is being organized by a local NGO host, the Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia (AsiaDHRRA) and with support from FAO.

The Regional Consultations will have the following specific objectives:

1. Update and assess existing mechanisms and their contributions relevant to food security and nutrition, including existing networks, alliances and campaigns.
2. Update and identify existing regional spaces for civil society engagement in policy dialogue regarding agriculture, rural development and food security.
3. Contribute to the progressive implementation of CFS reform with a focus on strengthening FAO regional conference processes, engagement and roles of CSOs/NGOs and regional actors, and ensuring direct links and integration with existing  processes relevant to food security and nutrition (including coordination at the regional/national level, monitoring/accountability mechanisms and development of a global framework).
4. Contribute to the development of FAO’s enhanced cooperation with civil society, notably through development of partnerships and regional platforms for exchange of information and action.
5. Nominate a specific team and develop a provisional agenda for a parallel meeting and consultation process during the FAO regional conferences.

FarmFriday highlights this is very interesting newsbit from IFAD with its President Kanayo F. Nwanze pushing for more efforts  to linking smallholder farmers to the private sector:

“In Davos, I intend to show business leaders how linking smallholder farmers to the private sector is key to building the economy of developing countries. The private sector is increasingly crucial to drive economic growth in the developing world,” emphasized Nwanze, “IFAD will continue to be the voice of smallholder farmers because they are fundamental to transforming the agricultural system and bringing about economic growth”.

“Agriculture, irrespective of the size of the farm, generates business. And every entrepreneur, whether it is a smallholder farmer or a large commercial farmer, needs or wants to make money. We have the responsibility to transform smallholder agriculture into smallholder businesses,” Nwanze said.

Continue reading here about how Agriculture makes good business sense….

Intelligent and inspired reflections from our friend Tony about the failed Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Got this from a climate change mailing list

By Tony La Viña
Dean, Ateneo School of Government
Philippines Lead Negotiator, Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

I can never forget what happened in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the early hours of December 19, 2009. I will remember that day as an experience of both despair and hope Together with thousands of government officials, academics, environmental advocates, social activists, and ordinary citizens, I had come to Copenhagen with optimism that the world could come together and finally agree on how to address climate change, the most serious environmental problem we face. But like many others, I was disappointed with what we came up with in Copenhagen. Not only were we not able to bring home to our countries a legally  binding and effective agreement on climate change but the last hours of the Copenhagen talks was a disaster characterized  by  a destructive blame game. A Copenhagen Accord was noted, not adopted, by the Conference, and it remains uncertain if this weak agreement will even be implemented.
Read the rest

TechTuesday shares this newsbit from IICD about an African NGO using open source mobile apps to monitor healthcare access in Ghana.

SEND will develop an Open Source monitoring tool in cooperation with software developers to be used on handheld mobile devices to collect and share data. Due to the poor communication infrastructure, this will enable SEND to transmit data and share monitoring information with grassroots organisations and others. They are also developing and implementing a monitoring information management system that will help them track and analyze the data.

Continue reading about how Mobile Devices Help Monitor Access to Healthcare in Ghana….

HungerWednesday shares this disturbing news at Asia Sentinel we picked up from Manuel Quezon’s FB updates about the yet another rice crisis looming just up ahead.

“This year, I will not have enough rice to eat for the whole year,” says Kong Chanthorn, a rice farmer in Srayov Kharng Tbong village in Cambodia’s Kompong Thom province. “I am afraid I cannot earn the money to buy rice to support my families because this year its price is too high.”

Chanthorn is not alone. The global price of rice, a staple for half the world’s population, is rising inexorably again, up more than 25 percent in recent months, stoked by Philippine and Indian import demand although not to the stratospheric levels of late 2007 and early 2008. At that time the price rose from about US$300 per metric ton to as much as US$1,100. Prices later fell back to about US$400 as government panic subsided across the region and bans on export were lifted, and as planting pushed up stocks.

Read the whole article about the incoming rice crisis at Asia Sentinel…

TechTuesday brings this very interesting article by John Tierney of the NYTimes about the hive culture and pack behavior running rampant in the interwebz and how it is “fostering nasty group dynamics and mediocre collaborations.”

When does the wisdom of crowds give way to the meanness of mobs?

In the 1990s, Jaron Lanier was one of the digital pioneers hailing the wonderful possibilities that would be realized once the Internet allowed musicians, artists, scientists and engineers around the world to instantly share their work. Now, like a lot of us, he is having second thoughts.

continue reading about the Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion here….

An interesting newsbit from the Inquirer.net about IFAD’s new programs in the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines—Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (Ifad) plans to allocate some $73 million for three proposed projects on coastal resource management, agribusiness and upland developments in the country.

According to project documents, the amount represented Ifad’s share in the cost of the three proposed programs, which are scheduled for implementation from 2010 to 2014.

Continue reading about IFAD’s $73M allocation for 3 projects in RP…

For your weekend ruminations are two docs about the failed climate change talks.

Oxfam Briefing Note 21 December 2009
Climate Shame: get back to the table -Initial analysis of the Copenhagen climate talks

Copenhagen was a unique opportunity to turn the world’s course away from climate disaster, towards a safe future for all of us on this small planet. Massive global public mobilization demanded it. But leaders of the major powers negotiated for their national interests, instead of safeguarding our shared destiny.

In the closing hours of negotiations, world leaders drew up the Copenhagen Accord. It grabbed headlines, but offered no lifelines – and so may end up on the sidelines. The talks ended with little more than agreement to keep talking, offering just a dim beacon for the way forward.

At a time when the urgency of the climate challenge is blatantly clear, stand-offs between the most powerful countries have left the world heading towards 4oC global warming – a catastrophic prospect, especially for the world’s poorest people. Negotiations must get straight back on track. All countries need to get back round the table and deliver what science – and people worldwide – are demanding: a fair, ambitious and binding deal in 2010.

Earth Negotiations Bulletin Vol. 12 No. 459
Summary Of The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference: 7-19 December 2009

The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen was, in many ways, an historic event. It marked the culmination of two years of intensive negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bali Roadmap, which was agreed by the thirteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 13) in December 2007. Millions of people around the world hoped that “Hopenhagen” would be a turning point in the battle against climate change. The high-level segment brought together 115 Heads of State and Government, and was widely reported as one of the largest high-level gathering outside New York.

More than 40,000 people applied for accreditation for the Conference, far exceeding the 15,000 capacity of the Conference venue. Large, and at times violent, demonstrations took place in Copenhagen during the Conference as people urged the world’s leaders to reach a meaningful agreement.

There is little doubt that the Copenhagen Conference left its mark in history – never before has climate change featured so prominently on the international agenda. However, feelings about the outcome are, at best, mixed and some even consider the Conference to be a failure.

Ms. Chu Thi Mai Anh, Agricultural & Rural Enterprise Development Project Officer, Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

The CRS has partnered with the Province of Nghe An to promote a territory approach to agro-enterprise development. This means that the project needs to 1) be implemented through the Government administration structure; 2) improve the skills and knowledge of government staff in promoting market oriented production; 3) promote ownership and sustainability; and 4) aim for policy improvement for poverty alleviation through agro-enterprise development.

Following the 5 processes/steps for agro-enterprise development, the project has strengthened the ability of government agencies in promoting agro-enterprise development and project management. It has also contributed to more diversified agricultural products and improved the lives of target communities (through more jobs, value-added, increase incomes and reduced environmental and health issues)
Continue reading the CRS Experience – Support to Agro-Enterprise Development in Nghe An Province (Vietnam)….