Luisa Cruz and Margret Vidar- Facilitators of the discussion Dear Right to Food Forum Members, Many thanks for all the valuable contributions received during the past weeks. We are very pleased to have facilitated an exchange of so many interesting developments related to the governance of natural resources and its contribution towards the realization of the right to food. Your comments approached this topic from a wide variety of angles. Some of them showed the importance of natural resources legislation and the direct linkages with food security laws that are being adopted in different countries. There is a need for keeping a consistent approach in both legal areas in order to achieve effective results. The Peru example showed how the food security and nutrition law adopts an approach that considers sustainability and family farming as major objectives to be attained trough the governance of natural resources. Also, in this example the participation of civil society was flagged as an important ingredient for ownership and effective implementation of legislation. Other countries that shared legal experiences were Bolivia and India. Participation and inclusive processes were underlined as a cornerstone for a good governance of natural resources as well as for the realization of the right to food. The example of a participatory process for the development of fisheries legislation in Mali was mentioned by one of the participants. Another aspect that was dealt with in the discussion was the importance of traditional practices as a basis for sustainability and biodiversity. We received some relevant contributions from Nepal, Costa Rica, and Kenya. Beyond tradition, innovative strategies were flagged in the Philippines, bringing to the discussion urban agriculture as a strategy for food production. Beyond the positive developments achieved so far, key challenges are still to be addressed. Climate change and the scarcity of natural resources such as forests and water is one of those key issues mentioned in the discussion. The contribution from Malawi illustrates how erratic rainfall is affecting the availability of water for food production. It also highlighted how women are particularly affected since they need to walk longer distances for the collection of the resources needed for their households. The same is happening with firewood for cooking that is becoming scarce as a consequence of deforestation. This example shows that strong regulation and enforcement mechanisms are needed to ensure a sustainable management of natural resources. Climate change and weak governance can seriously affect food production and nutrition. Despite those challenges, regional efforts in the African continent show illustrative examples towards improved governance of natural resources. We noted how the East African Partner States made commitments to address food insecurity in the region by adopting the East African Community Climate Change Policy and the East African Community Food Security Action Plan. These regional policy frameworks are tangible efforts towards sustainable development in the EAC region through harmonized and coordinated regional strategies, programs and actions to respond to climate change and food insecurity. This example shows also the important role that plays civil society in assessing the implementation of such policy frameworks. The EA SusWatch Network -a network of NGOs from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania- developed a sustainable Development Score Card related to key commitments on fisheries, nutrition and food security in those three countries. At the regional level, we also gathered relevant contributions showing how accountability mechanisms such as regional courts in ECOWAS are addressing environmental damages from a right to food approach, by recognizing the responsibilities of the private sector towards this human right and the obligations of Governments to protect and adopt measures to fulfil the right to food. We want to thank all of you again for these inputs that will certainly contribute for an enriching discussion during the retrospective review that will take place during the next CFS in October. The Right to Food Guideline 8 contains recommendations for a good governance of natural resources that are still valid today taking into consideration major challenges such as climate change, scarcity of natural resources and a commercial pressure on natural resources that affect the realization of the right to food, particularly of the most vulnerable groups. The RTF Guidelines remain highly relevant and are now also complemented by others, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. With best regards, Luisa Cruz and Margret Vidar FAO Legal Officers/Facilitators of the current discussion FAO Development Law Branch (LEGN) - Right to Food Team (ESA) |