Advocacy at the Tall Bagel

 

I am here for the UN Commission on Sustainable Development 17 session, the discussion topics are Agriculture, Desertification & Drought, Africa, Rural Development and Land. My colleague from partner organisation Drylands Coordination Group - Norway, Lauren is advising the Norwegian delegation in working group 2. My other colleague from CARI-France is everywhere. And I am following the negotiations on the Preamble, Agriculture, inter-linkages & cross-cutting issues.

 

Until now, the process is fascinating: the EU wants international guidelines for sustainable agriculture, the Group of 77 & China want to delete the adjective 'sustainable' from 'agriculture' or 'green revolution', instead the G77 wants to boost agricultural productivity in any way. USA is wordsmithing and insisting on 'sustainable agriculture' (somebody told the NGO caucus that the US definition of 'sustainable agriculture' leaves a door open to GMOs), Canada is focusing primarily on the inclusion of the women and women farmers, the G77 is pleading for access to equal and fair benefit sharing and for support to farmers, which is bracketed by the USA. And ecosystem services and references to ecosystem approach are bracketed by G77.

 

New words/ concepts that I have learnt: vibrant markets, nutritional fortification in agricultural production.

 

Tomorrow more!

 

Nathalie