“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….

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.

Mr. Peter Hoejskov started his presentation with a discussion on the importance of food safety and standards. He cited that food safety and control systems provide: the basis for inspection, testing, and certification activities; guidance to industry, consumers, government and other players in the food supply; and a general view of requirements for international trade in food. He explained the meaning of Codex Alimentarius, and introduced the founder and members of the CODEX Alimentarius Commission. Mr. Hoejskov further related its objectives, strategic goals, and strategic plan for CCAASIA.

He discussed the Commission’s structure and management, subsidiary bodies, organizational chart, standards, food safety areas of concern and the CODEX process for standards development. He listed the Commission’s achievement so far, and explained Codex in relation with WTO agreements. Finally, he discussed about international food safety regulations and standards, CODEX trust fund and FAO capacity-building programs, private food quality and safety standards in relation to CODEX, and the general challenges of private food safety standards. In conclusion, he stated that all countries have an interest in ensuring that CODEX standards protect human health and achieve this without hindering trade and economic development. External assistance by organizations and an internal commitment by countries to provide the needs for effective participation in CODES are both essential to achieve this, he added.

continue reading about the Codex Alimentarius: A Briefing On The International Food Safety Body And Its Dynamics here…

Cambodia
Mr. Noun, chicken producer from FNN, presented Cambodia’s experience in marketing dressed chicken. He related that chicken feed during the dry season are not sufficient. They also experience difficulty in transporting the product given the great distances of markets from the farms. Because of these, the traders are able to really push down the price. They buy live chickens and slaughter them after three days. This situation has led to questionable claims about hygiene and safety that affects the credibility of dressed chicken as a product.

Vietnam
Representatives from Vietnam reported the following issues and concerns with regard to their product, tea: limited farmers’ access to knowledge and information about food safety and product quality; poor processing techniques and equipments; limited quality management and limited access to product quality certificates; and difficulties in trade market development.

Continue reading about Food Safety And Product Quality Issues And Problems in Asia here….

The technology for product development and improvement was already there, developed with huge government support. TWADA was organized specifically for the purpose of expanding the market. Dr. Hwang narrated TWADA’s marketing initiatives which included joint marketing with the top three biggest consumer market in Taiwan, door-to-door marketing, direct marketing through the internet, and export trading. She narrated the benefits received from these strategies, which included, among others, higher and more stable farm gate price for farmers, and generally a higher income for all of them.

Dr. Hwang further discussed the challenges and issues confronted by TWADA in marketing their product, and how these are being addressed. The challenges include seasonality of export, economy of scale, professional grading of product, and packaging. TWADA’s biggest buyers are its local markets, while its biggest buyer abroad is China. TWADA is also trying enter the Singaporean and Hongkong market, and recently, it has been able to break into the Canadian market.

Mr. Bacani explained that while he was here to offer an agri-business perspective from the side of the private sector, he has also worked extensively with government, cooperatives and NGOs. There are a variety of issues and concerns facing agri-businesses in Asia right now. First, there are higher incomes and changing lifestyles brought about by advertising and intense competition. Production is increasing despite increasing production costs, and there is a growing concentration of agri-business enterprises due to economies of scale. Products from small producers are being standardized before they reach the consumer, an example of which is product quality improvement and industrial packaging, which is being done by supermarkets. These standards have added value to some products but in other cases, the concern has been more about improving internal management processes to enhance effectiveness in the face of global competition (e.g. getting ISO certification).

continue reading Mr. Bacani’s presenation here…

He dwelt on the need to go beyond increase in productivity by moving toward enterprise development. Ms. Pacturan also discussed the various challenges to LSFM which includes the trend of agriculture becoming a major part of globalized trading, the rise of supermarkets, the preference for healthy foods and organic products and climate change. He reviewed the factors affecting small farmer participation in the supply chain, and the need to see the importance of really having impact on the value chain.

Continue reading about Enhancing the competitivenes of small farmers here…

1. Move towards sustainable, integrated production methods

The artificial separations and simplifications that industrial agriculture has brought upon us have to be undone, and the different elements of sustainable farming systems must be brought together again. Crops and livestock have to be reintegrated on the farm. Agricultural biodiversity has to become the cornerstone of food production again, and local seed saving and exchange systems need to be reactivated. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides must be replaced by natural ways of keeping soil healthy, and pests and diseases in check. The restructuring of the food system along these lines will help to create the conditions for near-zero emissions on farms.

2. Rebuild the soil and retain the water

We have to take the soil seriously again. We need a massive global effort to build organic matter back into the soils, and bring back fertility. Decades of soil maltreatment with chemicals in many places, and mining of soils in others, have left soils exhausted. Healthy soils, rich in organic matter, can retain huge amounts of water, which will be needed to create resilience in the farming system, to deal with the climate and water crises that are already encroaching on us. Increasing organic matter in soils around the world will help to capture substantial amounts of the current excess CO2 in the atmosphere (see “Earth matters”, p. 9).

3. De-industrialise agriculture, save energy, and keep the people on the land

Small-scale family farming should become the cornerstone of food production again. By allowing the build-up of mega-industrial farm operations that produce commodities for the international market rather than food for people, we have created empty countrysides, overpopulated cities, and destroyed many livelihoods and cultures in the process. De-industrialising agriculture would also help to eliminate the tremendous waste of energy that the industrial farming system now produces.

4. Grow close by and cut the international trade

One principle of food sovereignty is to prioritise local markets over international trade. As we have seen, international trade in food, and its associated food processing industries and supermarket chains, are the food system’s chief contributors to the climate crisis. All of these can largely be cut out of the food chain if food production is reoriented towards local markets. Achieving this is probably the toughest fight of all, as so much corporate power is concentrated on keeping the trade system growing and expanding, and so many governments are happy to go along with this. But if we are serious about dealing with the climate crisis, this has to change.

5. Cut the meat economy and change to a healthier diet

Perhaps the most profound and destructive transformation that the industrial food system has brought upon us is in the livestock sector. What used to be an integral and sustainable part of rural livelihoods has become a mega-industrial meat factory system spread around the world, but controlled by a few. The international meat economy, which has grown fivefold in recent decades, is contributing to the climate crisis in an enormous way. It has also helped to create the obesity problem in rich countries, and destroyed – through subsidies and dumping – local meat production in poor countries. This has to stop, and consumption patterns, especially in rich countries, have to move away from meat. The world needs to return to a decentralised system of meat production and distribution, organised according to people’s needs. Markets that supply meat from smaller farms to local markets at fair prices need to be restored and reinvigorated, and international dumping has to stop.

Read the full article on the international food system and the climate crisis here…

It was 1988, and I was just finishing a D.Phil at Oxford University on the topic of “Nietzsche and German Idealism”. The annual recruiting season had long since gone. My life savings had dwindled into three digits. It came to me in a pub, over a game of pool. I was losing badly to a pair of undergraduates who had recently received offers from a prestigious management consulting firm. They were about 22-years-old; I was going on 26. As I gazed at the pool balls ricocheting around the table, it hit me that, instead of spending the next year watching daytime TV, I too, could earn some ready cash by offering strategy tips to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

continue reading the about the great management consultancy swindle here…

Effectiveness of a dog (Canis lupus familiaris) for protecting citrus fruits from bird damage was investigated using a citrus orchard (5.8a in area) in the harvest season. In Exp. 1, a Border collie shepherd (male) was tied to a wire extended along oneside of the square orchard to allow him to run along the inner side of the orchard. This watchdog system was effective in reducing fruit damage by birds (mainly brown-eared bulbul) only in the citrus tree row nearest to the dog runway. In Exp. 2, the orchard was enclosed with a tall chain-link fence and the same dog was allowed to move freely in the orchard. In this case, he persevered in chasing birds until they flew away from the orchard. This watchdog system effectively reduced bird damage to citrus fruits all over the orchard, resulting in an increase of crop yield by about 17.5kga-1 per day. Further study is needed on the optimum number of dogs released per unit orchard area and the effectiveness of the watchdog system in case when this bird control system is spread to all orchards in the citrus-growing area.

read the full research on Protection of Citrus from Bird Damage by a Dog here (PDF)…