>Food, Globalization, and Gender Dietary Changes and Nutritional Impact due to Globalization Gina Kennedy, FAO, Rome, 6/12/2009

Food, Globalization, and Gender Dietary Changes and Nutritional Impact due to Globalization Gina Kennedy, FAO, Rome, 6/12/2009
Food, Globalization, and Gender
Dietary Changes and Nutritional Impact due to Globalization
Gina Kennedy
12 June 2009


The lecture, delivered by Gina Kennedy at the FAO in Rome, intended to cover:

- The features of globalizing food systems.
- Dietary changes as seen globally.
- The drivers of these dietary changes.
- The impact of these changes on local food systems.

The lecture would discuss the nutritional consequences of changing diets with a FOCUS on gender. Many organizations capture solely data on women and children, because women have higher and more complex nutritional needs then men, when they are pregnant or lactating. Info on men, therefore, is often hard to find.

DIETARY CHANGES IN THE PAST 40 YEARS

There has been an:

Increase in energy intake.
A change in the proportion of calories derived from fat, protein, carbohydrates, and macronutrients.
A change in types of foods consumed.
A gradual increase in dietary energy intake in all regions, as tracked from the 60's to the year 2000.




This increase in dietary energy intake has affected all world regions. The data shown here was taken from FAOSTAT, our organization's comprehensive database on nutrition. You may look there for information on just about everything. FAOSTAT shows the chain from production to supply, as well as what should be available for per capita intake. The downside of this is that the figure you get are very gross. The data is still good for the purpose looking at trends. All data is produced as an average of three yeas. This smoothes out some of the year to year variation. You can see from this graph (as indicated) that Asia, North and Central America have had massive changes in the past 40 years.


Change in Macronutrients

Carbohydrate, protein, and fat are the macronutrients. From 1970 to 2000 in developing countries, diets changed from 78% carbohydrate to 69% carbohydrate. Protein stayed the same portion of the diet, rising from 9% to 10%. Fat intake produced the biggest change. Fat changed from 13% fat intake in 1970 to 21% fat intake in terms of the total diet in 2000. Overall caloric consumption also went up in the developing world.

Now, we will discuss new trends in the consumption of calories per capita per day. We will discuss how many calories are derived from sugar, vegetable oils, and animal food in developing countries.

From 1961 to 2000, starting in the 1970s and 1980's, the world saw a huge increase in availability of foods derived from animal sources. Oils and sugar also increased in availability. These increases are the main drivers of the changes seen due to globalization. Edible oil availability has tripled from 1961 to 2000 around the world.

A huge increase in availability means, in simplest terms, what is available in the county. This does not mean the new resources are spread equally among all people. This is because inequalities exist, such as between rural and urban, or poor and comparatively rich.

Throughout the planet, animal source food availability has tripled, with a tenfold increase seen in China. Much of this increase is due to a great rise in the consumption of poultry and pork.

There have been some increases in the availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables. The changes are less marked then those seen for animal products and edible oils. Fruit and vegetable consumption is increasing, especially in California. However, no poplation anywhere reaches the 400 grams of fruits and vegetables recommended per capita per day.


This figure (as seen here) juxtaposes the macronutrient pie chart with carbs, and also indicates the amount of the diet devoted to protein and fat. The largest percentage changes in these consumption levels are seen in Asia and South America. Asia is eating fewer calories from cereals, and has seen a 4% surplus change in meat consumption. For the developed and developing world, we see 6% less calories derived from cereals, and between 2 and 4% more from meat.


Dietary Changes Globally

What has changed in food consumption from population group to population group?

Changes include:

The consumption of fewer traditional foods and more global or homogenized foods, such as rice, wheat, and corn. Traditional cereals or staples are used less, especially in Africa.
A dramatic increase in edible oils, especially in Asia.
An increase in meat consumption, especially in China.
An increased amount of sugar intake, mostly derived from sweetened beverages and other manufactured foods. The manufacturing process does not just take the original ingredient (a mango) and turn it into something different (a different form of mango). Sugars and artifical ingredients are added during processing. Therefore, populations are getting additional things that were not in the diet before.

Factors in Dietary Shifts

Convenience and ease of use of novel foods.
The cost of novel foods as opposed to traditional foods.
The time available for meal preparation. This time is diminishing as women increasingly join the workforce.
More out of home meal consumption, linked to growing urbanization.

Drivers of these Dietary Changes.

Economic changes. These can be due to urbanization, capital flow, an increase in incomes, and market liberalization.
Social changes. These can include rural to urban migration, the employment of women, an increased access to health services, a rise in sedentary lifestyles, and big supermarkets replacing traditional wet markets.
Food Supply changes. These include the rise of large scale intensive agriculture-based food production, longer product shelf life, and a reduced seasonality effect on food availability.
Dietary changes: These include the convergence of diets, an increase in food choice driven by affordability concerns, and an increase in the intake of fat, sugar, and salt.

Impact Vs. Outcome

The impact of dietary change is felt around the world.

Impacts include:
Changes in nutritional status, with a large percentage of the population either overweight or obese.
Rapidly increasing rates of non-communicable disease.
An increase in social inequity.
A loss of biodiversity.

Everyone loves a good deal. Around the world, people prefer to spend the least money for the most calories, a matter of simple economics. But these cheap, calorie dense foods may not be very good for you!




Trends in Urbanization

Urbanization is increasing everywhere. The World Bar in blue, as indicated on the graph, shows that we began with about 30% of people globally living in an urban area in 1950. The number of people living in urban areas grew o about 50% worldwide in urban areas by our era. This urbanization trend has been seen all over the world.

What are some environmental influences on behavior in urban regions?

Advertising, which is especially pervasive in urban regions.

The variety and appeal of imported foods is great in urban regions. People want to look modern, and do not want to be seen as traditional or old fashioned.

No significant physical effort is needed to obtain food in an urban area, as it can easily be bought.

The availability of refrigerators, cars, television, and other technology facilitating dietary changes. With the advent of the fridge, you may store your food and have it available 24 hours a day. Without a fridge, everything you cook must be fresh or non-perishable. This impacts how much you eat and what you eat. Cars have a huge impact on your daily level of activity. A television makes your leisure time more sedentary.

The appearance of supermarkets and shopping malls, complete with big inventories and lots of imported products.


Advertising on TV In Brazil




Many of the concepts we have discussed here are illustrated by the Brazilian example.

The Brazilian Food Pyramid for Infants and Children.

We are looking at a Brazilian government sponsored food pyramid. According to this pyramid, a person should get the most calories from bread or grains, preferably whole grains. These are low fat staple foods. The second largest percentage of the diet should be fruit, vegetables, and legumes. The third largest percentage is dairy, small amounts of red meat, and similar protein-based products. A person should derive the least calories from sugar, butter, lard, candy, and so on. This pyramid indicates the ideal diet from the Brazilian point of view.

Advertising Pyramid Makeup

We decided to find out how many advertisements existed on Brazilian TV for each of the food groups above. Here are the results:

Fruit and vegetables had zero ads
Meat, egg, and beans made up 8.3% of ads
Milk, cheese, and yogurt made up 12% of ads.
Bread, rice and pasta made up 21% of ads
58% of foods ads were for fats, oils, sugars and sweets. Therefore, the most advertising existed for foods that should be consumed the least. The huge quantity of advertising for unhealthy foods has had a negative effect on public health.

Out of Home Meal Consumption in Tanzania

Most schools in Tanzania have poor or non-existent school lunch programs. Therefore, children's parents send them to school with lunch money. Outside the schools, vendors sell treats such as sweet ice, doughnuts, french fries and other fried foods. Coca-Cola, as always, is available everywhere. A dietary study of school children showed that these "lunch" foods are largely starchy, deep fried, and sugary. A few of the female food vendors would sell healthy foods. However, children had to be cajoled to buy healthy foods instead of the unhealthy foods they preferred. If left to their own devices, children preferred to buy unhealthy foods.

Street Food and the Gender Dimension

Street foods in urban areas are tied to the livelihoods of many women. These women derive their income from direct sales and the sale of prepared products. They are often both producers and sellers. Women made up the majority of vendors to Tanzanian schoolchildren. Some women sold healthy food. Some sold fried or contaminated foods. Some women would function as indirect sellers. These women would get their product from a friend or family member, transport it to school, then sell it. All aspects of the street-food trade in Tanzania indicate women's heavy involvement in the system. A community effort, therefore, has to occur in order to change the standard diet.

Fast Food Companies Emerge

Fast food companies are gaining popularity and prestige all over the world. In India, KFC and Pizza Hut are extremely popular. The same goes for China. Other developing countries are following suit. Fast food provides both convenience and a "cool" factor to citizens of developing nations.

Corn, Wheat, and Rice

Despite a rise in international recognition of the importance of dietary diversity, there has been a global decrease in the varieties of food crops cultivated and consumed. Over 7000 plant species have been traditionally used for food in human history. Today, rice, wheat, and corn account for an estimated 60% of total energy intake in the human diet.

The Italians, bucking the trend, seem to have preserved much of their dietary biodiversity. This is probably because they are highly seasonally selective. The local market rarely features out of season produce . In Italy, people eat winter foods in winter and summer foods in summer. Getting food out of season is hard.


The Top 10 World Food Sources

CORN
WHEAT
RICE SOYBEANS
BARLEY
SUGARCANE
COW MILK
PORK
POTATOES
PALM OIL


A Case Study From The Pacific Islands:



The island in question is Kiribas. The trends spotted here apply to elsewhere in the Pacific Islands. The same ideas are also applicable in Africa and Asia.

The original Pacific diet was composed of fresh fish and seafood, and things such as taro and breadfruit. To survive on an isolated island, people have to eat their own food. In many of these climates, people have access to beautiful tropical fruits and vegetables. These include lime, papaya, coconut, and other varieties. Bananas function as both a sweet and a staple. Imports have risen in recent years in the Pacific islands. Imports bring food stuffs such as canned meats, white rice, cookies, biscuits, chocolates, and beer. These foods produced negative effects on the native people, as well as tremendous dietary change. Alcoholism is on the rise in Pacific Islands due to a huge increase in the availability of liquor.

You can spy this trend in many countries in urban areas. Isolated people are given access to Western "junk" food, change their dietary habits, and suffer negative health results.

These dietary changes in the Pacific have grave implications for nutrition. Deleterious effects include:

Huge rates of obesity.
A heavier reliance on rice, sugar, and other imported foods.
Far less consumption of fresh fish and local fruits and vegetables.
A jump in rates of obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.


Some Pacific nations have implemented "Go Local" campaigns, in an effort to reintroduce local and native foods. For example, researchers found a native banana variety rich in vitamin A, a nutrient lacking in many "junk" foods. Local groups are trying to get people to eat native, macronutrient rich foods again.

Obesity Rates in Fiji

With a rise in obesity rates, rates of non- communicable disease go up as well. These diseases include diabetes and high blood pressure.
Many people in Fiji have diabetes, high blood pressure, and suffer from common micronutrient deficiencies. When I worked in the Pacific, we focused primarily on a deficiency in Vitamin A in local diets.

Some statistics on obesity rates as divided by gender and age:

By 30-34 years old, obesity in men reaches 12-14% of the population. In women, 30% are obese by this age.
By the age of 40-44, obesity rates continue to increase. This continues until a given person's 50's and 60's.




Nutritional Benefits of Traditional Food

Today a mix of market and traditional foods is common for most people in most regions. Traditional food remains an important nutrient source in most developing countries.

In Arctic communities, diets were better in the days when both traditional and market foods were consumed, as opposed to a diet almost exclusively of market foods. When traditional foods were included in Arctic diets, many benefits were seen.

Benefits:
Less calories, which is good for weight control.
Less saturated fat, which is better for the heart.
More lean meats and fish.
More iron.
More zinc.
More Vitamin A.
More calcium.
A strengthened cultural capacity and sense of well being.



Local Food System: Gender Dimension

There has been a great loss of local knowledge about traditional foods, and how to harvest and prepare them. I saw in Bangladesh that women had more knowledge then men about the use and preparation of wild foods. Women suffer from the loss of biodiversity in foods and medicines, as many of these traditional resources particularly benefited women's health problems.




An earlier age of onset has been documented for these non-communicable disease. The the younger a disease begins the harder it will be for both the country and the individual to deal with. These are important changes, as indicated in documentaries like Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me". Portion size increases are also a big factor, especially in places like the USA, Mexico, and Latin America. Portion sizes appeal to basic human nature. People want value for money, and cheap food in large quantities appeals to a population's sense of value. The combination of low prices and big portions encourages people to overeat.


What health implications derive from dietary change?

Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, CVD (cardiovascular disease), and cancer, among others.


Dietary Factors And Their Effects.

A high intake of energy dense foods ties into the risk of obesity.
Consumption of saturated fats increase the risks of Type 2 Diabetes and CVD.
Dietary cholesterol is linked to CVD.
A high intake of dietary fiber is linked to a decrease in obesity, diabetes and CVD.
Fruits and vegetables are linked to decreases in obesity, diabetes, CVD, and cancer.
Sugar sweetened drinks, such as soft drinks and beverages, are deleterious to health.



What are the Consequences of Dietary Change?

Consequences include:
Increasing rates of obesity.
A rise in diet related chronic disease.
Some improvements in under-nutrition. It is always important to look at inequalities within a country. If you increase your calories but not your micronutrients, you will still have deficiencies.

Where are we now?

We see an accelerating rise in overweight, obesity, and non-communcitable disease.

We see the simultaneous presence of under nutrition and obesity, the double burden of disease.

We see micronutrient deficiencies high due to lack of dietary variety in poor.

Nutrition Transition

We are seeing large shifts in dietary structure, accompanied by changes in physical activity levels. These shifts often lead to dramatic and rapid changes in body composition. This leads to the "double burden" of co-existence of over and under nutrition. This also leads to higher incidences of infectious and chronic diseases.


Prevalence of an Overweight (BMI above 25) in urban and rural areas, in women 20-49 years old, in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In Haiti, one of the poorest countries, 20 percent of those overweight are urban, and 8 percent are rural. In Peru, 60 percent of urban dwellers are obese, and 34 percent in rural areas. Lifestyle shifts and patterns of sedentary behavior are now becoming common in rural areas. These areas now have more cars and motor transportation, as well as piped water.

Urban and rural percentage of obesity in women in other regions

Egypt has some of the highest rates of obesity in woman. 70% of women in urban Egypt are obese, and 47% of women are obese in rural areas. That is a large percentage of the population for a rural area. In Central Asia, 30%, are obese, in about even numbers for rural and urban areas. There are some more dramatic incidences, depending on the region, but shifts are occurring in both places. These areas are still struggling with poor child growth, poor feeding practices and underweight children with poor growth, and micronutrient issues.

Non-diet Health Affects of Globalization

More alcohol
More cigarettes
More stress
More crime and violence
More sedentary work and leisure

What can be done?

Improve the nutritional status of women of child bearing age and children.
Engage in growth monitoring for all forms of malnutrition.
Create public health screening campaigns for early problem detection.
Pay attention not only to medical aspects of these problems, but to the whole environment. The environment includes food systems, city planning, school and work environment.

The Way Forward...
In the future, to positively address these dietary changes, we can implement these actions.

Pay attention to dietary quality in food assistance and education.
Begin building functional relationships with rural areas to provide traditional foods.
Implement the protection of schools and children from influences of advertising, especially for food.
Aid go-local initiatives, like the Island Food Community of Pohnpei.

Improving Food Safety Systems Globally - FAO Capacity Building Activities Mary Kenny - FAO, Rome, 6/12/2009

Improving Food Safety Systems Globally - FAO Capacity Building Activities
Mary Kenny
Food Quality and Standards Service
Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations



FAO'S Food Safety Page

Outline of Presentation:

The FAO Mandate and Food Safety The Importance of Food Safety FAO Activities in Food Safety - Normative and Field FAO Capacity Building Activities.

The UN has stated that access to a safe and secure food supply is a basic human right.

What is the FAO mandate?

Food safety and food security are the heart of the FAO's mandate. In the FAO, we have many different departments. These include orestry, fishery, livestock, and others. At the FAO, we believe that it is not good enough simply to have food. Food must also be nutritious and safe. Food Security exists when all people at all times, have physical and social access to food.

Global Realities: Context/Challenges

There will be 1 billion hungry people in 2009, as estimated by the FAO. There are 1.8 million deaths and 4 billion cases globally attributed to diarrheal disease each year. In the USA, there are approximately 5,000 deaths from food-borne disease every year. Post harvest food losses are another serious problem, and can reach 15% or higher of possible yields. This food wastage is attributed to weaknesses in our methods of storing, handling, and transporting food. We in the USA have weak controls for safe quality foods.

When we discuss food safety hazards, what are we discussing?

We are discussing chemical and microbiological problems.

Biological hazards and chemical hazards are our primary concern. Biological hazards include zoonotic microorganisms, parasites, viruses in food, funguses, prions, giardia, and antimicrobial resistant microorganisms.

Chemical hazards include: pesticides, vet drugs, residues, and toxic metals. There are also persistent organic pollutants or POPS, which accumulate in the food chain. These include chemicals like-DDT, PCBs, dioxins, and furans. Naturally occuring toxins include aflatoxins in peanuts, ciguatoxin in coral fish, and biotoxins in filter-feeding shellfish. Radioactive isotopes (accidental release) are another chemical concern.

What are the sources of food safety hazards?

They include human and animal reservoirs, environmental sources, and food production practices.

The FAO is working to ensure a global reach on food and agriculture issues. The FAO is headquartered in Rome, and has regional and subregional offices in Cairo, Bangkok, Accra, Santiago, Harare, Tunis, Budapest, Barbados, and Apia. Other offices exist in the Africa region - in Addis Addaba, and in the Gabon in West Africa.

Our World:

Potential food safety hazards remain a challenge for the entire planet. Food safety is further complicated by the global nature of today's world. In North America, for example, a lot of our seafood is imported from Canada. To focus on food safety in today's complex world, we want to look at factors like:

The increasing volume and diversity of trade in foods.

An increasing population and demand for food.

Increasingly changing agricultural practice and climate.

Changing human/animal interactions.

Creating a system for more sophisticated detection and management of hazards. Changing hazards, like resistant microbes.

Implement greater public demands for health protection. Changing human behavior and ecology.

Our number one focus at the FAO is protecting the consumer and protecting health. We also consider climate change.


High Costs of Food Safety Incidents



The 2008 Melamine contamination of dairy products illustrates the dangers of unsafe foods. Due to the melamine contamination, the world was forced to contend with 6 deaths, 300,000 illnesses and 115 types of contaminated food products.

A recent example was the 2009 discovery of Salmonellosis in peanuts in the USA. The contaminated peanuts led to 9 deaths and 22,500 illnesses.

A Europen example was the dioxin contamination of Irish pork in 2008. The contamination forced the culling of 100,000 pigs. The culling meant the destruction of 125 million euro worth of food, and total economic losses in excess of US $1 billion for Ireland.

A recent African case involved a 2004 incidence of aflatoxin in maize in Kenya. This led to 317 cases and 125 deaths. Often people think aflatoxin related problems are chronic or long term. in this instance, because the maize was so heavily contaminated, there were lots of illnesses and deaths.

Impacts and Costs of Food Safety Problems

A decline in public health, loss of life, losses incurred by food companies, economic impact on farmers (peanut, pig, dairy), decreasing consumer confidence, and economic loss . Economic loss can derive from industry and government, food trade disruption, and food recalls.

Key Elements of FAO Work on Strengthening Food Safety?

The development of codex standards, Scientific Advice, and their use in national food control programmes.

Official food control programs include:

Government programs, using regulators and supporters to aid food producers and food industry.
A "farm to fork" approach.
A risk analysis and risk based approach for food control.
Communication with the consumer.

Best Practices in Food Industry

These are primarily responsible for...
Preventive measures throughout the food chain.
GAPs, GHP'S, HAACP.
The partnership between government and food industry (reorientation of roles).

Codex Alimentarius Commission: What is it?

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is a intergovernmental body.

"Codex Alimentarius" is Latin for Food Law. The Codex is then a set of global food standards.
The Commission was stablished 1961-63 by FAO and WHO (World Health Organization). Countries were starting to engage in more worldwide trade during this time, and needed one standard to aid the trading and movement of food. This is not to say that the Commission has successfully made everything harmonious, but that is the intention. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is headquartered in a yearly meeting in Rome and Geneva. In between the big annual meetings, there are about 20 food codex meetings a year on fish, meat, and other products. Membership in the Commission involves 180 countries and 1 organization, the European Community.

Objectives of the Codex Alimentarius:

The Codex Alimentarius has dual objectives:

Protecting consumer health.
Facilitating fair practices in food trade.
The coordination of all food standards work.



FAO/WHO Scientific Advice Programme:

The FAO/WHO work through this program to develop scientific advice. If we at the FAO think about food additives or pesticides and need to decide what is the safe level, we can't just pick a number. We have to do a study before we can act. Via the scientific advice program, we can bring together world experts to meet, discuss, and analyze the issues.

We produce ADI/MRL's for food additives, veterinary drug residues, and pesticides.

Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards in Foods

Microbiological hazards may be more of a challenge then chemical ones, and are thus important. We have a high global knowledge and awareness of the dangers of these organisms and their ability to cause much harm. Foods we once thought were safe, including,fresh produce like spinach, are leading to more and more challenges and hazards involving microbial hazards.

Other ad hoc issues include acrylamide, GMOs, and nanotechnology

Question from Kourtney Rusow:

We were just at EFSA - an opinion issuing body. They use metadata from companies or governments to whom they are issuing opinions. Do you at the FAO conduct primary research or not?

We do not. We work in a similar way to EFSA, in fact. We at the FAO and EFSA often have overlapping experts. The main difference is that we are at an international level and our scientific advice is the basis for coding standards. The EFSA is the fount for European Community policy. Our information and opinions will often be very much the same. We are trying to ensure that Codex and European Community levels of additives are the same. When we have a big meeting coming up, we issue a call for date or experts so we may have all the data needed for the meeting. Often we find the data and info is coming from developed countries, so we are helping developing countries develop data on their own issues like aflatoxin or so on. It is an ongoing work.

Introduction to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, Rome, 6/12/2009

Introduction to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC
Luca Alinovi, Luca Russo,

FAO, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA)

The IPC is a tool for food security analysis.

It is also a PROCESS for improved coordination and transparency.

The Partnership: 8 institutional partners for IPC - Save the Children, JRC, Care, Oxfam, and other major national NGO's.

What is IPC for?

Improved analysis of food security for improved response.

The way in which the situation is analyzed determines the type of response, the allocations of resources, and the timing and the roles of interested parties.

The absence of well established standards for classifying the severity of food insecurity by all actors can affect the analysis of food needs.

These problems can lead to imprecise or gross misallocations of scarce resources, and, in the worst case, can lead to loss of life.

So what?

Building a common understanding of hunger and a consensus on the causes of food insecurity.

Comparability across space: what is the severity of food security from country to country and region to region?

Comparability across time: Maps show how the situation has evolved in Kenya or Burundi over time.

Milestones of the IPC:

Origin in EC funded project FSAU in 2004

Roll out in Kenya and East Africa, supported by ECHO, CIDA, DFID, starting in 2006. Application in Ivory Coast 2007.

International technical meeting and multi-agency parternship, March-May 2007.

CFS 2007 - commitment to IPC (2007.)

Publication of V. 1.1 of Manual (May 2008)

Creation of Coordination Unit (Janurary 2009)

2009: Training in Ethiopia, Central African Republic, upcoming application in Zimbabwe (May), and others.

Overview:

Technical: What is the IPC? How does it work?

What is the IPC? How do do you do it?

1. What is the IPC?

2. How to do IPC analysis? Step by step.
Building evidence.
Phase classification
Risk analysis
Estimating populations in each phase and so on

Issues with Food Security Analysis

No common agreed methodology for collecting food security info.
Lack of common framework for analyzing severity, scale, and causes.
Lack of institutional principles and processes to ensure agencies collate information and reach consensus.


An IPC map of Somalia. Note the differently colored regions.

IPC in the Analysis-Response Continuum

Situation Analysis - when there is a crisis, this is done with a number of tools to analyze the food security situation. A number of responses are then analyzed. Next comes response planning, followed by response implementation. During this entire process, monitoring and evaluation occurs.

The IPC brings...

1. A common technical approach.
2. An Institutional Consensual process.
3. A basis for response analysis and decision.
4. A comprehensive and holistic approach.
5. Comparability across time and space.

IPC Maps: (Examples provided).

IPC is based on five degrees of food insecurity represented by different colors.

But the IPC is NOT:

Not a data collection tool.
Not a methodology.
Not a response analysis tool.

IPC Analysis, Main Characteristics

Evidence Based: The results of the analysis need to be backed up by evidence. This is verified in a peer review process.

Multi Stakeholder: Main food security stakeolders must participate, in particular govenrment representatives.

Consensus: It facilitates reaching a general agreement on what the situation is.

Transparent: Analysis templates can be consulted after analysis.

Main Characteristics II

Comparable: Analysis is based in the same key reference outcomes regardless of where and when it is applied.


How to do an IPC Analysis:

Gathering Secondary Data:

Crude mortality rate
Acute malnutrition
Stunting
Food access and Availability
Dietary Diversity
Water access and availability
Structural
Coping
Livelihood assets
Civil Security
Hazards


FAO headquarters in Rome.

Without this tool, in one country, five analyses will get five different things, making fast track action almost impossible. What generates these inconsistencies?

Why do we need to do it by consensus? What is right and what is wrong with that? Do we do analysis by consensus in the USA government? What's different?

In a humanitarian situation, you have actors from all over working together, and different indicators from each group and actor. With no consensus or baseline of what is to be done, you will end up arguing in meetings a lot.



One of the big problems is that data and quantity of data available in poor areas is not available. This occurred in New Orleans: people had to guess, and could not guess what was needed, what could be done, and how. The consensus process is scrutiny and "best guessing" from different organizations. They try to see past agencies agendas, which are often the driver. An interesting status quo that people like - pretty much everyone recognizes the IPC indicators, but no one wanted to a scaling of the issues.

The idea of the IPC is that technically - the most sample possible within the limit of a situation where the quality and quantity of data are often far below optimal. Because of this knowledge and quality gap, we have to make sure whoever brings something to the table IS at the table. This cuts down on miscommunication - for example, maybe we need a medical doctor to ascertain a medical situation.

Reference thresholds exist of these indicators, which are specifically related to each of the phases (like acute food and livelihood crisis, famine/humanitarian catastrophe, humanitarian emergency, moderately/borderline food insecure, and so on).

We can make clear the weakness of current data, and can give the right weight to the data we use. I come from a hard data background, and I am often cynical and skeptical about data - people prefer to believe. If you have a crisis and must make a decision in two months, you have to move, you can't wait for the survey to be done.

One of the reasons you should look at the series of phases (from one to five) and then thresholds/reference outcomes. The most important column is strategic response framework. All data must be linked to a strategic response. We know certain issues are very relevant at each of the phases.

A situation goes from a food insecure situation to a famine. This is intended to cover all the possible situations, based on current understanding of application of the tool. The quality of the analysis is very different from the most extreme to the most food secure areas. The extreme areas are almost easier to analyze - you can see the application, by viewing mortality. In more general food security, changes are minimal and less clear.

Are we using the right methodology for capturing stunting, considering seasonality? Ideally the IPC is not indicated to screen indicators, but to help drive towards the best use of indicators and, if indicators are missing, push to the collection of indicators.

As I was saying, we have a number of thresholds inside each one of the phases. Driven by what indicators are available in what country. Not all indicators go in the same direction. You have a mix of indications.

Phase Classification

Evidences are used to sustain values of reference outcomes.
These values are compared to thresholds in the iPC Reference Table..
Each reference outcome is classified under one of the 5 phases with a level of confidence. To facilitate the process of convergence of evidence, results can expressed as follow: (ie, food access, livelihood assets, structural, stunting, disease) are given a confidence score of 1, 2, or 3, and a classification from 1 to 5.

Building Evidence

For reach reference outcome all relevant information is introduced in an analysis template (#1) together with its source and date. Reliability scores are also assigned at this stage for each piece of information. One analysis template is filled up for each unit of analysis. In a lot of countries, you may not have the data you want. There are a few options: you discard the indicator or the outcome, or you use a proxy indicator. We call this at the IPC "indirect evidence". Direct evidence means other more qualitative means leading to a single type of conclusion. You rank everything in here (the template,) the source, the information you have, and the phase the information gives you or puts you.

For each unit of analysis - in every place, it is different. For each district you have a different analytical template collecting all available data for district, and combine to see what phase you are in. In many situations, like in the DRC, the gaps are more then the information available -you by guessing and not by knowledge. You must make all the processes transparent - make everything public - so you can see what happened, and respond to questions. Making weakness transparent is a powerful tool for getting help and getting better.

Phase Classification (II)

Convergence of evidence leads to the classification of the unit of analysis under one phase.
The phase classification has a period of validity, after which the analysis must be done again (usually seasons). Validity can also depend on facts that can change situations unexpectedly, or deadlines for options for changes.
Results are reviewed against general phase descriptions.

Risk Analysis

Phase classification gives the current or imminent situation.
In the IPC, risk analysis is about looking at the probability of a community slipping from the current or imminent phase into a more serious phase.

Estimating Populations in Each Phase

Organize population data according to the analytical unit (administrative unit or livelihood zone).
Organize the baseline wealth ranking/poverty data in the same way as above.
Analyze any differences in the way the hazard has impacted (eg, geographic spread) in the analytical unit.

Number of people in phase is calculated using the formula D1 x X1 x X2 x X3

Where...

D1 = District or similar population
X1 = % population in a LZ or other unit
X2: % of population in a poor wealth group.
X3: % of poor wealth group affected by hazard.

How to do an IPC Analysis:

Mapping (examples of maps, such as in Somalia). Recurrencies in various areas -a difference between an acute situation for 6 months, or a serious situation recurring every 10 years, eroding people's resilency capacity and ability to respond to crisis. And there is the confidence level of the analysis: the box on the map carries the indicator of population in a scenario.

Peer Review

The IPC encourages debate and requires consensus before the final product is released.

During peer review, evidence is presented and critiqued by the whole analysis team. Templates and a provisional map are used for this.

The final goal of this stage is to reach consensus on the output of the analysis.




How does it work (IPC)?

National Level:

Technical Working Groups
Technical Standards
Institutional Standards

Regional Level:

Awareness raising, capacity building.
Technical working groups, lesson learning.
Consolidation of analysis.
Information and advocacy.

Technical Standards:

Level 1- Essential, core elements.
Level 2 - Preferred elements.
Level 3 - Optimal elements. Make use of template 2 and 3 outlining both immediate and underlying causes

Institutional Standard

The implementation of the IPC should be a consensus process facilitated by a board interagency working group, including government and key constituencies.

All efforts should be made to engage and build the capacity of government and promote ownership/strengthen the institutional process.

Institutional Standard 2

IPC process should comprise a mechanism to build an institutional commitment from government.
To promote transparency, the results of IPC analysis should be made available to the public in a timely manner.
IPC analysis should be done with technical neutrality through having a broad membership of the interagency group and through a transparent process of consensus buildings and ensuring group members participate in their technical capacity.
IPC results should be subject to an external peer review process to check quality and maintain standards.

How Does it Work? 2

At regional level:

Awareness raising and capacity building.
Technical working groups and lesson learning.
Consolidation of analysis.
Information and advocacy.

In Sub-Saharan Africa:
FSNWG
SADC-RVAC
CILSS

How does it Work 3

At global level:

Strong and permanent multi agency capability:
Develop and disseminate a global approach to allow comparison over time and space.
Provide technical support and quality assurance.
Serve as a reference for global food security monitoring.

Learning by doing, an Iterative Approach

Lessons learning
Technical development.

Progress to Date

Progress National Level

IPC piloted or rolled out in 15 countries.
Awareness raising in 13 countries.

Adopted: Burundi, Somalia, and Kenya.
Cote d' Ivoire.

Ongoing -

Roll out: DRC, Northern Sudan, Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe.

Technical Training: CAR, Ethiopia.

Others:
Pilots: Indonesia, Cambodia, others

Progress Regional Level

East and Central Africa:

FS&N Working Group
Regional training, Regional consolidated analysis, cross-fertilizationn.
Lessons learning and technical development.
Second phase of consolidation of IPC in five countries.

West Africa

Multi agency Steering Committee Cadre Harmonise.
Analytical work on integration IPC and Cadre Harmonise.
Pilot in Niger 2009.

Southern Africa

Regional workshop August 2008.
Tech working group SADC-RVAC.
Interest from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, RSA, Malawi.

International Land Coalition Talk, Rome, Italy, 6/12/2009

International Land Coalition


ILC's Page on Women's Access to Land

The International Land Coalition is a global alliance of inter governmental agencies social movements, research organizations, and national and international civil society organizations. It has 84 members, and the Secretariat is based at IFAD in Rome. The ILC was created at a large conference in 1995 to counteract causes of poverty. Therefore, ILC is more concerned with the cause of poverty then its effects. We changed our name in 2003 to the International Land Coalition. We have always been based at IFAD, since the coalition was created. We then moved from 33 members to the current 84.

The structure of the coalition is a constituency. This was one of the first products of globalization. The idea was to have a coalition formed of different kinds of members. From classical NGO to farmer's organizations to research-oriented groups. We have many productive groups in agriculture as well.

The other aspect of the constituency is that it is among inter governmental agencies. We are not a monolithic group - we're more like the IFAD, FAO, European Coalition and so on. We have always kept a focus on land issues as poverty is rooted in land issues.

Our Vision (of the coalition)

Secure and equitable access to and control over land reduces, poverty, and contributes positively to identity, dignity, and inclusion.

Land is not only an economic asset, but contributes to human identity and inclusion. The worst kind of poverty is related to the loss of identity and dignity. Land is part of this complex concept. We are trying to reconcile all these ideas.

Why is land so important?

Multi-dimensionality of land:

- Economic dimension.
- Social dimension.
- Political dimension.

Increasing pressure on land:

- Population growth.
- Globalization.
- Climate change, etc.

Once people lose land, they lose a sense of respect from other people. In a village, people are not listened to if they lack land, such as in Botswana. This is why land is important to development in many ways. Land is a commodity and is finite. Bu the demands on land are expanding due to population growth, which is associated with globalization. There is, further, an increasing commercial demand for land. Climate change is also changing the way land can be used. Some land may be unusable for agriculture. Therefore land useful for people is DECREASING, while the numbers of people who want the land are INCREASING.

This creates competition for land. But it is not a competition among equals, as some are stronger then others.

Why are women's land rights so important?

We work with many kinds of organizations and one of the things we want to do is answer this question: WHO is most vulnerable to losing land? This is a targeting process, a process of identifying the population groups that may be more marginal or vulnerable to poverty then others. Women are probably the biggest group included in this, but we would also look at pastoralist, indigenous people, and so on.

Rural Women

There are 1.6 billion rural women. Women produce more then half of all food in the world, up to 80% in some countries. Twice as many rural women live in poverty today than in 1970.

Some country by country examples:

Cameroon: Women undertake more then 75% of agricultural work but own less then 10% of the land.
Brazil: 11% of land is owned by women.
Peru: 13% of land is owned by women.

Why women's access?

Human rights entail equal rights to land and related (natural and productive) resources. Poverty reduction and rural development matter. Specific obstacles for women must be addressed to achieve poverty reduction. Often women feed households by themselves, when men have migrated or died of HIV/AIDS. Therefore most people living in the original location are the women, the old people, and the very young. In many cases the men leave to do work in other places. Women are in many areas holding up rural economies. Their access to land doesn't reflect the important role they play, leaving them vulnerable.

When we talk about these problems and about trying to solve them, we need a targeted approach. Why are women's land rights not as strong as men's? What is contributing to that?

The State of Women's Access

Women lack control over land in practice. Highly inequitable land rights are the norm today. Land rights are gendered.

Pluralistic norms governing land rights.

Social,gender, and institutional obstacles exist for women attempting to gain land rights. Women often gain access to land through male relations. There are often elaborate or customary ways for people to acquire land in developing nations, but no single piece of paper stating "I'm Bob, I own this land," as might occur in the first world.

Gendered implications of socio-cultural, political economic, and natural environment changes.

Take an Islamic country: you have the formal legal system, the religious system, and the customary system all working together in regards to land rights. All of these rights work in tandem, and at times against one another. They might overlap in some ways and be different in others. Different sets of rights may be more or less discriminatory.


Who are the Hungry?
- World Development Report 2008

When we thinking through and understanding women as a segment of society and having the ability to access resources, what are the other axises of development in human society?

One billion people are hungry today. This figure has gone up from last year. It has been growing by a hundred million a year over the past three years. Half of those one billion are smallholders on family farms, producing largely for themselves. Another 20% are landless people or sharecroppers, and might be living off the land but working on other people's land. 10% of these people are pastoralists, forest dwellers, and fisherfolk. This is about 3% of the world's actual population who is vulnerable in disproportionate numbers to poverty. 20% of the hungry are urban poor.

A lot of poor people rely on land or would if they could. When you overlay the gender dimension, the effect is even more dramatic. Women make up 60 to 80% of production, and hold only 2% of land titles.

Keeping those figures in mind, we must consider two key concepts.

Situational Poverty

This is poverty resulting from changing events in people's lives - something you can move in and out of. Crises occur. You lose your job, you can't afford food, but you might get your job again. Food prices go up, but they may go down again.

Structural Poverty:

Poverty resulting from deeper social, economic, political, and institutional relationships in society. Structural poverty often is a result of eeply ingrained barriers in society, preventing an individual from reaching financial solvency.

Often, the move from situational poverty to structural poverty is a question of losing access to land. You slide into worse poverty when you have no access to a basic productive resource.

The Food Crisis

Reuters - CRB Energy and FAO Food Price Indices 1998-2000-=100

Food prices dropped off, spiked, then plummetted down again at the end of 2008. This produced lots of discussion about what the figures meant. This lead to a summit in Rome, and riots in many countries. The Haitian president was recently disposed as a result of rising food prices.

FAO Food Price Index (Graph on FAO website)

The graph on the left shows price changes in major agricultural commodities. They are usually stable and quite low. In 2007, you get a massive rise in prices, and in 2008, prices are still rising at beginning of the year. They flatten a bit, then drop again. Looking at 2009, food prices are beginning to go up again. Not a surprise. People have been saying that over the long term, food prices are going to go up despite fluctuation. By 2050, the FAO estimates that world demand for food will double as a result of population growth and consumption changes, and as a result of agricultural land being used for non-food purposes.

Compare the Kenya, Nairobi, Wholesale, USA dollar per tonne regarding Maize (from Oxfam)

This graph ndicates how much maize costs in Nairobi. You can see the recent price spike is not reflected - there is the RISE but not the DROP. This happens in many cases: the people at the end of the line who need food to survive, are not paying less money but are instead paying consistently higher prices. For them, the fluctuations down are not so eviden. As a result, for these people, there is a very real danger of decreasing food security.

How Does This Relate to Land Issues?

The Last Great Global Land-Grab

The frontier of land use is often characterized by non-intensive land use and poorly defined tenure arrangements. Many of the bottom billion of the world live in marginal areas, where there is a persistent concentration of poverty. Suddenly you have all these people wanting land for non-food uses. where will they get it? What they are doing is going into areas that have previously been used for agricultural purposes. These uses can also be related to forest issues: deforestation rates are going up exponentially, such as in the Amazon basin. The other concern is moving into areas that have not been used previously for agriculture, but rather have been used by pastoralists, grazers, etcetera. What's happening is you're getting an extending agricultural frontier for large producers. One thing to remember: There Is No Empty Land.

In any country where people live, there is no empty land. In Botswana, the population density is less then 2 people per square kilometer, with less then half the population of Rome residing in the entire nation. Even if a patch of land in Botswana looks empty, you can bet someone goes there once a year to collect firewood, medicine, run their cattle, whatever. These people are losers, because in land competitions, they simply have no "dog in the fight".

The bottom billion are the poorest people in the world, with the most food insecurity.

Small scale land users are increasingly finding themselves in direct competition for land with local, national, and global elites and investors. An estimated 20 million hectares of land was under consideration by investors since 2006. (http://www.landcoalition.org/cpl-blog/ )

This is a hard situation to address since there are such big differences in economic and political power. Many journalists have been calling us at the ICL about the "land grab". Daiwoo is currently trying to grab 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar, or half of the countries arable land, where half of the nation's people rely on agriculture. Many deals are going on quietly like this.

One of our members estimates that since 2006, 20 million hectares are under consideration in these kinds of transnational investment deals. It is hard to estimate exact figures, since these deals are happening in an un-transparent matter. These are the big multi-nationals looking for land, but at the same there are 10, a hundred, a thousand more people just at the local level out there as well. A rich guy from town goes to a rural area and decides he wants 20 or 30 hectares here or there, squeezing out the very poor.


Here's a process lots of our members are concerned about: how do you think all this is affecting women's access to land? Consider tat women are already marginal in terms of their ability to gain access to land.

Have communities blocked or contested these land deals?



There were serious riots in Madagascar over the Daiwoo case, resulting in the toppling of the nation's government. When the new president came in to Madagascar, one of the first things he did was announce that the Daiwoo case was scrapped. In Peru, 30 people were killed last week for the same reason. There is some diversity between what is happening in Africa and Latin America. In Africa, we see the privatization of commerce, of state's buying the land of other states, when food security became an imperative. For countries who know it will be impossible to improve their productivity of agriculture - such as Japan or Arabic countries - they need a way to be sure their security and access to food will be certain, to avoid social conflict. Since the 2008 increase of food prices, there have been 50 different social conflicts in the street due to food. This can be a serious problem for states, especially in the developing world.

Peru is related to destructive industry - even if Peru is showing both cases, in the selva where this happened, we encounter the same idea of industries accessing commons. The increase of re-concentration of land in Peru is high. The re-concentration process is huge, really huge.


Our prime concern at ICL is the impact on people who use the land. In the case of a shelf in the ocean, no one is living there. We don't have as many activities in the Asian regions where there is a real problem with water rights. There is not a huge demand yet for working for ocean shelf rights.



Questions: Who is speculating on food prices aside from biggies like Monsanto and Sargento, so on?

n some settings in Latin America, an increase in food prices is linked to the rise in gas prices. There is a chain there - how is energy related to food? Speculation is becoming, more and more, in a way important as well. it's all related to the market. That would be interesting - we are speaking mostly of land governance, which is not so far from food governance - but it would also be interesting to understand what the institutionality of it is. We want the best institutions to ensure fair food governance, which aids the eradication of poverty. Not the most urgent challenge we face right now, but in a way...

WTO's take on agriculture?

A lot of people have given up on the WTO. I think that they tried very hard and didn't manage. The WTO'S Corporate Measures to Address the Human Rights Challenge does touch on what could be put in place to reduce the likelihood of speculation. It is acknowledged, at least, that speculation is a problem.

There is increasing commercial pressure on land and the position of women. How would commercial pressure affect women more then men?

Men already have the rights, and women are working to get them. Matrilineal systems are often not recognized in the formal system, affecting their ability to own land even if their family has for years. The idea of plural tenure systems is important here - in other words, a legal system not formally recognizing the informal or customary system. As soon as the land increases in value, things get worse for those who do not own the land "officially." A well established process: as value increases, those with a tenuous hold on the resource to begin with lose.



FAO put out a publication on Biofuel, Demand for Land and Women with some interesting thoughts on the situation. The huge increase in demand for land will affect all poor people, some more then others.

ILC on Women's Access:

For more information on women's access to land and documents and descriptions, check out this website:

http://www.landcoalition.org/program/wrap.htm


The Speed of land grabbing

In Colombia and Argentina, corporations and other groups are moving through trees faster then any law. The legal system of the country is following the economic driver in a schizophrenic way, and things are therefore occurring with no control. Many changes have been proposed in recent legislation. Colombia wants to remove protections to make transactions easier to do.

Land use is driven by food and energy. What can you produce yourself? What can you import?

The importance of agriculture is the other side of the food security crisis, in regards to economic issues. Attention should be given to small scale agriculture. One of the debates about the commercial pressure on land generated regards the level of employment. We need activities that engage more people, not just economic activities that do not give people employment opportunities. It is important factor, and should be considered by government. It's not just a food crisis but affects the general market. Land use is complex.

Should women be proud that we are now farmers? Still agricultural is not all rentable. If men are migrating for more lucrative opportunities, and women are producing food for their families, are women really winning?

Recently we had an assembly in Nepal and it was interesting - at the border with India. I was meeting a group of women, who were organizing cooperatives to support the male part of the land movement. I was impressed by the fact that if I, as a woman, was born there, I would be given by my family to a man at the age of 7, under the idea of domestic service. I have two children, n so I was quite impressed by these women's stories. The situation is changing. With the security of one piece of land, you can keep your children without sending them off to work, and maybe send them to school. This made me realize why land is so important. Land is a safety net, an assurance of quality of life, an opportunity.

So that's to give you a more concrete sense of why it is important that there are more and more women, due to migration and the rentability of agriculture, are taking on a role in agriculture as a farmer. What is impressive is the fact that they are speaking about and changing their economic role, not just a social or familiar role.

If land is a challenge in rural development, it's even more complicated and challenging for women. The gap Mike referred to is between what is law and what is the reality of the women in their daily lives. It's important to understand. Due to the complexity of these customary, statutory, and regulatory things, it is hard to understand what is possible for women to achieve in a given place, in regards to what is given by law and social or religious contexts.

ILC has been focusing on land issues and women's access to land since we were created. It's a complementary approach: we began with a program called the Women's Resource Access Program. We supported this program, and now support programs in Asia and Africa, in an effort to have the voices of women be heard and understood by project designers and policy makers. We organized a workshop to get people to express their concern on this topic. Now we are moving to a structural research approach, what we are implementing in Africa and Latin America. We have to understand the gap between statutory law and customary law, as well as women's contribution to food security, agriculture, and so on. What are the challenges women face in this new global context?

Another important activity we do is monitor the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). This is a conventional legally binding instrument. Once a country adopts the CEDAW, it is legally obliged to adopt this convention. The 14th, 15th, and 16th articles regard women and land. This is the only international institution recognizing rural women as such. This allows women to access all services given to men, such as the access to credit, access to financial institution,and so on. Countries are thus obliged to provide services in a fair way, and ILC looks at what is given to women and men, and work out some equality in the sense of an opportunity given at the same time and in the same WAY.

The legal part of access to land is important. We are in a a way obliging states to legalize what is the land ownership in the name of women. The 16h Article is more related to the access to irrigated land.

At an international level, the importance of women's land access has been confirmed. At the governmental level, too - more and more governments are including equal opportunity in their legislation. These issues need to be recognized.

So I will bring you to the other level of activity ILC does . It's the promotion of real events, related to the resource in a sense. Even if a government recognizes equal rights for men and women, there is often a gap in implementation. What we are doing is supporting women's groups and their advocacy activity. ILC supports activities at field levels, and a local organization, as a land concerned society, is taking an active role. This creates political sustainability , due to its locality.

In Nicaragua, what we understood is that it is important to get organized. Despite the fact that a law recognizes your rights as a woman, you still have no decision making powers. You still have to get your husband's permission for a loan, or you can't be on the board of a cooperative. There are obstacles that must be addressed. What we understood is that there are a lot of contributions to the economic sphere of the family that must be supported. Once the economic achievement occurs, men will recognize it, and hopefully decrease domestic violence.

Women in Nicaragua are now leasing and buying land, a real change in their status. This gives them economic opportunity and a lot of support. The case of Bolivia is an important one - it is recognized in the equal rights for women as related to land. I remember a male Bolivian farmer who told me "I could give my life for Eva Morales but since he told me women can access land...that's too much!"

Now I understand better, and I know why men were telling me that. In the Bolivian case, there were important things emerging. In the customary structure of the people of Bolivia, there is a system giving you rights and obligations as a couple. You only acquire an identity as a human being if you are married. Rights to resources are only given to couples, and higher then individual rights as well. It is hard to separate men and women through this custom. There is fertile land and infertile land, and in the Amara culture, it's quite evident.

Also in Bolivia, even if the law gives the right - there is an increase in land entitled to women. But the men challenge them in decision making processes - the level of representation at decision making boards in their own social structure. The role of women matters on the economic side. They may have money or transportation, but who is making the final decision? That must be changed.

In the Southern part of Bolivia, there is a completely different situation. In the low-land, there is a high level of informality and in fact - an organization member of ILC in Bolivia, active on land issues - did marriage in groups for native people. There is no formalization of marriage rights. The ILC also released identity cards to local people. If you have no recognition of your civil rights, you can't recognize other rights. You must formalize marriages in these regions, and in the process, grant rights to women.

As viewed through cases in South Africa, there are many similarities on the customary side across the world. When you want to better understand how you can work on gap between customary and statuary law, we have to look for a link between therecognition of land rights for women and a decrease in domestic violence. The attitude of human beings is often in common.

What are we doing in terms of supporting local organization? It is important to understand local dynamics.

The third part is supporting legal employment. This woman in Nicaragua told me, "If you don't know your rights, you cannot defend them." Any unknown right is therefore a lost one. Land literacy is education to land rights. We believe it is important on the part of the legal system. Because we have been supporting these things in the past, we took some time to review activities, and hope to build something more coherent by the end of this year.


What are some answers to the biofuel demand?

Our role in the ILC Secretariat is to facilitate an informed discussion on these. We bring together strong research, with organizations who represent people who are directly affected by this. These include farmer's organizations, and policy makers. Next month we are organizing a conference in Utrecht with a number of Northern governments, including the Dutch and the ministry for biofuels, and people from places like India, Indonesia, and Bolivia, to come and discuss this. We try to create this space for dialogue - in something like biofuels, so much is driven by policy. If the US or European policies on biofuels changed tomorrow, things would be very different.

The Dutch have developed the Cramer Criteria, which is an effort to define for the public sector what exactly is sustainable biofuel production. This is very controversial - how would you license it? Land that palm oil is grown on in Indonesia was acquired illegally or chopped down. Part of the process of changing the status quo is generating consumer sentiment about these issues. Big Swedish companies acquiring land in Tanzania and Mozambique often sold themselves as socially responsible biofuel organizations. Awareness of these land grabs has caused many investors to pull out. It's market driven, and sometime if the people buying these products do become aware of these issues and their impact on land use and rights, it can have a big impact.

I think all our members would say biofuels - such as jatropha - are very good at a small level, such as people growing it in their backyards. Milling Jatropha is really easy. We see people making their own lighting fuel, cooking fuel, and so on. Two years ago biofuels were marketed as this new green energy, but people are realizing now that biofuel not nearly as green as we thought. Think of Richard Branson flying his plane from London to Paris on 2% biofuels (100,000 coconuts?)

For example, through IFAD we've had links with the US congress. A congress guy from Wisconsin wants to put a bill on biofuels and large scale acquisitions to the US Senate. This kind of thing is what we at ILC care about. On one hand, we have members in the South (of the world) feeling this, and we have members like IFAD with access to Western decision making. They have asked us to comment on the bill they want to propose. These are issues in the South but they are driven by policy in the North (of the world). What we are trying to do in this conference next month is bring together Northerners, Southerners (government people), investors, palm oil producers, and so on.

Fast Food Nation: Gender, Sex and Food

Fast Food Nation is meant to deliver a message about the problems of our current food system, particularly the major food chains that focus on cost over quality. However, the film also delivers a heaping helping of hints at other problems such as illegal immigration and gender issues. The film is sure to cover a range of female personalities and problems, as displayed by the sisters Sylvia and Coco. Both are employed at some point by the UNP plant, and both end up sleeping with the supervisor, Mike. These two characteristics are used to show just how different the sisters are. When examining gender in this film it is essential to put less emphasis on the action and more on the motives behind the action.

The UNP plant serves as a backdrop for much of the action in Fast Food Nation, mostly because the location demonstrates a clear chain of command with a very strict set of rules. Even the shockingly white surroundings and clothing bear down on the characters in an oppressive way, and the jobs appear to be assigned based on gender. The majority of the female employees are at working cutting meat while the males are shown operating machinery and using power washers. Here, Mike serves as a god who enforces the rules and pushes production along at a painfully fast rate while verbally and sexually harassing each of the female employees.

The relationship between Coco and Mike is confusingly fast paced and based entirely on lust, but even in the scene where she threatens to kill him it is clear that he is in complete control of the relationship. In the sex scene that ensues Mike promises to find a better job for his lover and provides her with cocaine, but also tells her that who he sleeps with is none of her business. Coco gets into an argument with her sister about her drug usage and “boyfriend” where she says, “Let's see who's doing better in six months.” This implies that sex is her strategy for getting ahead, and that she has little intention of working for a living.

In stark contrast, Sylvia works for love and only sleeps with the supervisor in order to get a job so that she can support her husband who has been injured. Even after compromising her own integrity she only manages to get a spot on the “kill floor” where the work is the most brutal and gruesome. Outside of work, she has taken up the role of home maker. In the scene where she argues with her sister, Sylvia is pictured with a sponge in her hand while never leaving the kitchen.

The other women in the film have their own struggles. As a young woman with dreams and aspirations, Amber has her sights set on college and hopes to become an astronaut. Her uncle, on the other hand, just wants her to make it to 21 years old without getting pregnant. Through the course of the movie viewers watch her move from the rigid rules of her job at Mickey's where she was forced to serve with a fake smile so that she could earn extra money to the college organization where she could think and plan for herself in order to stand up for her own ideals. She manages to get to the cattle farm and cut the fence, but does not succeed in freeing the cows. It does not matter though, because the fact that she was able to try for something she actually believed in is the only thing that mattered.

Amber's mother Cindy does not play an important role in the film, but she does represent Amber's future if she were to give up. Cindy does not believe in politics and claims that all politicians are corrupt, and she is also shown working a job that is not much better than the one Amber has now. This representation of a woman who did not chase her dreams serves as a challenge to Amber, in hopes that she will not be dragged into a gender based role. The end of the film leaves her future open and uncertain, which is better than any of the other women in the story can say. The rest of them are left to pay off debts or support their husbands, while the youngest female is left to decide her own fate.

Food, Gender, and Globalization in International Institutions

Food, Gender, Globalization in International Institutions -

Nathan Morrow Globalization, Free Trade, and Food

Globalization, Free Trade, and Food is perhaps the most important discussion of the 21st century. Today we'll discuss food and food security, and will offer some perspective as to why the USA and other areas may differ in opinion on these matters.

I will discuss international institutions as a prep for your trip to Rome tomorrow. I will let you know how these international organizations fit into the system.

We have had perspectives from many sides but we have not had not the neo-con perspective from the World Trade Organization. Why do so many people throughout the world feel that globalization and free trade is the best way for everyone?

Nathan Morrow's Notes on Globalization, Free Trade, and Food

Disclaimer: Not necessarily Nathan Morrow's opinion.

A Different Approach.

Everyone benefits if people are allowed to do what they do best, and allowed to trade for what they want. This method is just more efficient. The convertibility of currencies and the fungibility of commodities is important. You have to know what your money is worth in the units of other currencies. We need a fixed idea of an exchange rate for your good in your own money. This is ESSENTIAL for globalization, and for countries to join the global economy.

The fungibility of commodities means that one unit of a product is exchangeable for another unit of the same commodity elsewhere. Basmati rice from India must be exchangeable with Basmati rice in Italy.



How does this work? Why do we think free trade and globalization matter so much?

Free Trade and Comparative AdvantageComparative Advantage: -

The ability to produce a service or good at a lower cost is important. This is an opportunity cost, as compared to doing something else. Many people, such as neoconservatives, think there is something "natural" about the advantage they enjoy, even if the advantage or DISadvantage was created by historical accident. If you hear them talk, there's the perception that, say, America's high production of wheat is natural and a historical accident . The belief goes that we have the land, people do what they do to produce the wheat, and so on. When people discuss comparative advantage, that is what they are talking about.

When discussing costs, we are discussing OPPORTUNITY COSTS, or what things cost in relation to the opportunity to do something else. Making parmesan is cheaper in Parma then making asiago because you have the resources, the right milk, the knowledge, and so on. How does this actually work? What is the thinking behind why this make a surplus and makes us all better?

Efficiency: Natural advantage is more efficient. If you increase your efficiency beyond "natural" advantage, as we all know you can create advantages. Governments make lots of policy and investments to increase their natural abilities. Singapore, for example, invests big time in brain surgery. How does this efficiency work?

Two ways:Specialization - Human beings or organizations focus their efforts on a limited number of tasks.

Division of Labor - Adam Smith talks about this. This involves taking a complex thing or task and breaking it down into small components, and then specializing. You've focusing on fewer products

.Up until this point, talking to Slow Food and the Washington consensus sounds similar: they agree that everyone should do what they do best. They DIFFER when it comes to getting down to products and efficiency. Small products and repetitive tasks will produce efficiency.

What are the opinions of groups controlling financial institutions, and why are they against trade barriers and transportation costs?

What takes away efficiency from this perfect market system is a TRADE BARRIER and rising TRANSPORTATION COSTS. The market system drivers want gas to be as cheap as possible, and must ensure trade barriers are not erected to distort this.

Last year's price crisis was the biggest challenge to globalization since the 50's. People put up price controls and bans on food and ONLY food. You saw governments panicking about gas prices as well. This was the first threat to this system, and a real expose of its vulnerability.

Who takes care of these issues of convertibility of currencies? How did that start?

A major national group of organizations concerned with this are the Bretton Woods Organization.

They are the ones entrusted with trying to keep the convertibility system as functional as possible. The fungibility of food commodities, the units with no qualitative differences, are kept straight by standards. Quality has certain benchmarks. The international organizations that do this are like FAOL.

Why is this so important? If you do food security work (like me) and you work in places like Haiti, this will be illustrated. In Haiti, everyone uses a cup of grain. In every village within walking distance, the cup is a different size. In the Congo, you buy a kilo of rice, but the size of the kilo changes constantly, though the price is always the same. So it's always 500 francs. The price never changes. You may call it a weight name but it actually indicates a price, and the weight you GET is negotiated always at the time of sale. So, what is 500 francs? It could be 800 grams, or it could be 1200, depending on the actual price of rice in the market. This is how markets actually ARE and have been for millennia. Local measures were used, and negotiations always occurred.

This WILL NOT WORK for globalization and will make the system fall apart. The cheese tastes better sometimes then other times, wine tastes better, you get more or less for your money. This reality flies in the face of globalization.



What is Bretton Woods?


When we discuss Bretton Woods, we're talking about a negotiated system of monetary exchange. A treaty signed prior to the end of WWII, was created when the Allies met in New Hampshire to sign a treaty on how currency would be handled after the war. Bretton Woods was established by the Reconstruction Bank and the IMF, and would set exchange rates on a currency set by the USA Dollar. Why was the DOLLAR used instead of the GOLD STANDARD?


Britain, France, Belgium, the other allies, hadall pegged THEIR currency to the US dollar. They could have just pegged it to gold. They didn't have any gold after the war. Nobody had any after the war. It was much easier to fly a plane somewhere full of 100 dollar bills then it was to fly a whole bunch of gold.

So where did the gold go?There was not enough gold to reconstruct Europe. and there never was. All the gold was in the hands of people in Switzerland, and just not enough. If you're discussing the reconstruction of an entire continent, it was not enough. And it had already been spent. The UK sent off their gold stores all over the world, and France's store was stolen and probably went to warlords.

After this, you could buy T-BILLS or Treasury Bills, which you could stick in a vault in the bottom of your reserve INSTEAD of gold. The IMF was founded to add liquidity>, short term loans, and guarantees. They in effect said, "T Bills might not be here yet, but we will insure them".

Why did they do this?

People felt financial volatility CAUSED WWII. It allowed the rise of fascism. They needed a stable financial structure to decrease their vulnerability. Globalization began before this, but the convertibility of currencies really jump started it.

What is the IMF?The IMF has a subscription service. If you look at both the bank and the IMF, they have periodic replenishments. They go all over the world, and everyone sends a chunk of T bills or gold, and they pay for their subscription. They are almost like shareholders. The IMF is very different from other UN organizations, and the USA holds more sway then any other nation, as they control almost 25% of the supplies.

HISTORY OF THE IMF

Massive loans were given after WWII from the reconstruction bank, which was a precursor of the World Bank. The USA still had most of the gold in the world, and literally did not have enough dollars to reconstruct Europe. The USA did have gold, but had to pay 28 dollars for an ounce of gold, hindering their printing. Therefore, they needed gold to replace the dollar. The solution to this problem? The bank began giving GRANTS instead of LOANS. This gave rise to our modern international aid infrastructure. Since there is not enough currency, you cannot just give loans. People will never repay them. Grants are therefore, the only way to conduct this business.

Marshall Plan:The Marshal Plan gave over 17 billion in grants. These grants changed the world financial situation from a dollar SHORTAGE to a dollar GLUT. The Europeans bought services and products from the USA in vast amounts. A glut also meant too MANY dollars in the US system. There were issues with places like Belgium buying dollars and exchanging them for gold, as gold was worth more then the official US rate. This cycle kept on going as people attempted to cheat the system. By then, gold was worth more then 28 dollars. The whole system collapsed in 1972.

After 1972, we went back to a fiat system with no world standard, but a faith that government will continue to exist, that money is worth something. Rates have been floating ever since.

International Finance Organization

The IFO gives loans to private investors. The multi investment guarantee agencies guarantee foreign direct investments. The International Settlement for Investment Disputes works to bring down barriers or worries about developing in a developing countries. They give you (the investor) guarantees you will not lose your investment if something bad happens.

Structural Adjustments

What is this?

Structural Adjustment programs are a set of policies to promote free trade and growth. They focus on lowering trade barriers and transport costs.

Countries with SA had World Bank advisors come and say, "We can readjust your loans, or we can give you forgiveness." This began in 1970 as response to oil crisis, and went from structural adjustment to "poverty reduction" as of the late 90's

.What does a SA or poverty adjustment plan look like in action?

One theory is austerity.

You reduce your public sector spending, but this leaves less money for health, education, social programs. Less money, as always, means an outsized impact on the poor. If you reduce your trade barriers, you reduce your public sector. These are the PILLARS of poverty reduction plans.

We know in practice that a reduction in trade barries increases people's vulnerability. People put up trade barriers to protect consumers and people from volatility. Trade barriers and protectionism are popular among the poor, as well as public programs and safety nets. Structural adjustment wants to promote growth in order to expose the poor to more risk. The more risk you take, the more growth you can have. The poor are risk adverse, as they lose more if something goes wrong. Thereby trade barriers and social programs are very popular among the wealthy and powerful.

.Asian Financial Crisis: The Asian Tigers made the case for free trade and structural adjustment . If you practiced free trade and structural adjustment, you could be the next Singapore or Malaysia. After the crisis, this created Bretton Woods 2. The Tigers lost 20 years of development overnight due to financial volatility. They were doing great for 20 years and then, they lost it. They decided to voluntarily repeg their currencies. China and Malaysia are still pegged to the USA dollar to decrease volatility and stability.

This is a brief overview of how UN financial organizations fit into this system. Who will we talk to in Rome?FAO and EFAD. They are part of the UN like the World Bank, but not everyone knows a lot about the UN.



Some background on the UN:The UN is an organization with five organs, which are independent subgroups of a larger organization. The UN General Assembly, which has one participant from each member country. The UN Security Council is subset of the general assembly. The UN Economic and Social Council is an organ that the agencies we will be talking to tomorrow are part of.The UN Secretariat is composed of the the secretary general, an organ in and of himself in his treaties, and in his staff.The International Court of Justice is the 5th organ. What is the UN Charter? Preamble: We the peoples of the UN are determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedoms.

Why are the UN economic and Social councils an important part of the UN System?The UN was created to promote peace, but it is not exactly clear how the cause of peace is furthered by the UN Economic and Social Council. The UN's main vehicle of peace promotion is creating social rights and standards of well being. The UN'S objectives are thereby: Peace, how do we achieve peace and, social and well being promotion. This is all done through social needs.

Charter Article 55

With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being, which are needed for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of people's, the UN shall promote: Higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of social and economic progress and development. Solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems, and international cultural and educational cooperation. Universal respect for, and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinctions as to race, sex, language, or religion.

In the charter, organizations are saying that we will promote peaceful relations through economic connectivity and social promotion. We will look at the Mandate for Food Security from a humanitarian and well-being perspective on the Universal Declaration of Human and Rights, circa 1948.

According to Article 25 of the Mandate: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and needed social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or others lacks of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in and out of wedlock, are shall enjoy the same social protection.

Food agencies get their mandate from these articles. If we look at the original UN charter and how it relates to economic and social council, it's all in the "sixties".

What does the Economic and Social Council of the UN do? The Council does studies and reports, and has meetings. This is their mandate. This is what the UN is mandated to do. While people often tear apart the UN for meeting all the time, this is actually what they were MEANT TO DO.

Where did this curious affinity for meetings come from? These articles:Article 62: Make studies and report, recommendations, draft conventions, hold conferences.

Article 64: Collect reports of specialized agencies.

Article 65: Within tech competency, implement recommendations of GA.

Article 66: Assist Security Council on request - more info on food situation in North Korea, for example - ask FAO if they have any reports and do a study if not.

The FAO is a giant building full of meeting rooms. It is their job to meet.! Enshrined in these articles is the idea of TECHNICAL COMPETENCY. People who are technically competent in these specific areas should be hired to advise everyone else

.Charter on Meetings:One is always impressed at these organizations ability to meet and TALK. The UN is supposed to have COMMISSIONS and deliberations.

. 68 - Commissions 69, 70 - Deliberations 71 - Consult non government organizations.

72 - Convene meetings

What are specialized agencies?They report directly to the UN Economic and Social council. FAO, IFAID, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, World Bank Group, and so on.There are other things in the UN System called PROGRAMMES.

Specialized agencies are the mirrors of ministries or secretariats in other countries. The FAO is the counterpart of the Department of Agriculture in the USA. What we in the USA have secretaries for, other countries have MINISTRIES. The UNDP works with PLAN and the Ministry of Finance.

If the UN doesn't just want to meet and deliberate but be operational (actually do stuff,) they start a PROGRAMME.

Specialized agencies don't have a mandate for operational work, but programmes do. The General Assembly gets together and says they want to take care of something - hunger, aids, whatever. They ask 3 or more specialized agencies to sponsor the program, organizations like the World Food Organization or UNICEF.



Take the UNAIDS program as an example.- WHO, UNICEF, and WFP were the original sponsors of the program. You need more then one specialized agency to support a programme. Programmes are created when the need exists for ACTION rather then MEETINGS.

IFAD: One of the three Rome based food agencies. A UN specialized agency and international financial institution, it was founded in 1978 as a partnership between OPEC, other developing countries, and OECD. The OECD is the "country club of the UN", the richest nations who give donations. 5 million people died the last time the oil market was volatile. Their mission is to enable poor rural people to overcome poverty, and to make a unique governance structure that gives developing countries a real voice.

What exactly does IFAD do? Low interest loans and grants to aid agricultural development. 9.5 billion currently invested in 732 programmes and projects from small grants to USA 50 million loans.

They do...Natural resources management, for improved land and water access. Promote agricultural technologies and services. Perform financial services. Provide market and Agricultural inputs. Provide rural off-farm employment and enterprises. Provide policy programming processes - local and national.They review projects to make sure they are compliant with policy on nutrition and gender.

IFAD Partners:Government

Bilateral and multilateral organizations

UN organizations

Sister agencies in Rome - FAO and WFP.NGO's and civil society.

Grassroots organizations.

Private sector/foundations.

How is IFAD financed? There are three main sources - member contributions, loan reflows, and investment income. You want to make other countries guilty. You want to ask them, "Have you given? This other guy did!" The USA put up $956 million in initial capital. There are three year replenishment cycles, and approximately 45% of IFAD's resources come from donors. IFAD does not, however, have a celebrity spokesperson. :(



FAO:Founded in 1945, the FAO was moved to Rome in 1951. Dionne Warwick is a FAO good will ambassador. Awesome!


FAO'S MANDATE:

Raise nutrition levels.

Improve agricultural productivity.

Better the lives of rural populations.

Contribute to world economic growth. Here we see two main ideas of this course playing off one another: productivity vs. well being.

"Achieving food security for all is at the heart of FAO's efforts." - to ensure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active and healthy lives.

The FAO is voluntary funded. You can contribute to FAO and be a member or NOT. The USA has pulled out of the FAO at several points in history. This is one of the reason there are no Americans at the FAO. The Dutch, however, are over-represented in the FAO. If you are Dutch and apply at FAO, 15 points are docked from your score. The USA is a underrepresented major donor country. We give a large amount of money and are underrepresented.

FAO Activities:Gather and share agricultural information.

Hold meetings to discuss agriculture policy.

Some coordination functions like FIVIMS (Food Information Vulnerability and Security Information Mapping Service) or GTO'S. (Global Terrestrial Observations System looking at land use the world over).

FAO also deals with fisheries and woodlands.

Occasional projects to support agricultural ministries.

Will partner with governments to go out for additional fundraising, like Thailand or Bangladesh for small fish ponds. (They have stopped doing this to a large extent.) Increasingly active in emergency projects.


WFP:The other organization in Rome. It was founded in 1963, and was proposed to the General Assembly by George McGovern (still a WFP goodwill ambassador). It is a multi-lateral food aid program active in 80 countries. They are arguably the coolest good will ambassadors, featuring spokespeople like Drew Barrymore and Cesaria Evoria.

UN Rome Agencies: WFP: Largest humanitarian organization in the world.

FAO: Increasing emergency capacity and coordinating emergency information.

IFAD: Reducing vulnerability for rural poor.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth, and other statuses. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of political, jurisdictional, or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.Gender is mainstreamed, but some UN focus occurs from:UNICEFUNFPAUNAIDS