UNCTAD Background Guide - National Model United Nations

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agreed to ‘remove food export restrictions or extraordinary taxes for food purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes, and to consult and notify in advance before imposing any such new restrictions’. If honored, these commitments would allow food to be shipped rapidly to where it is need in an emergency.” 241 Case Study 1: Food Security in Africa At the beginning of the food crisis in 2008, there were 800 million individuals fighting starvation, of which a quarter were in sub-Saharan Africa where the effects of the food crisis had the greatest impact. 242 Additionally, since 1990, in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of individuals that suffer from hunger and malnutrition has increased by 20 % with the number of underweight children also increasing in Central, West and East Africa. 243 A study conducted in East Africa by UNCTAD and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) attributed food insecurity in Africa to a lack of consistent access to food, the degradation of natural resources (i.e. eroded landscape, lack of water resources and poor soil quality), lack of social safety nets in case of disaster, insufficient knowledge of sustainable agricultural practices, and poor infrastructure development. 244 For example, in the Iganga District of Uganda, the “mass clearing of forests, woodlands and wetlands has resulted in an increasing scarcity of fuel wood, timber and drinking water from natural wells and springs which are increasingly drying up at a much faster rate” due to heavy population growth. 245 In a different case, Kakamega, Kenya is “characterized by high rates of rural malnutrition, infant mortality and illiteracy”, along with “severe food insecurity” which affected one in four people in that region. 246 UNCTAD recommends that in order to reduce food insecurity, African countries need commit to “improving farmers’ access to inputs and credit”, increase investments in agricultural research, and further invest in the development of infrastructure necessary for sustainable agriculture, implementation of social safety nets, and “protection from short-term market fluctuations.” 247 Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa is a report produced jointly by UNCTAD and UNEP based on various case studies in which East African countries have been utilizing organic agriculture to the benefit of smallholder farmers and to the benefit of the communities that have implemented some level of organic agriculture. 248 In 2007, Uganda had an estimated 250,000 hectares (ha) under certified organic production, Kenya 181,500 ha and the Republic of Tanzania 85,00 ha where farmers are minimizing the use of agrochemicals and are instead using sustainable agricultural practices that are suitable to their conditions. 249 Furthermore, organic agriculture yields do not fall but instead remain stable when low amounts of agrochemicals are used and use localized natural inputs instead. 250 For example, in Thika, Kenya, a local non-governmental organization called Sustainable Agriculture Community Development Programme (SACDEP) was established 13 years ago and has since worked with over 30,000 smallholder farmers. 251 Currently, SACDEP is working with 4,500 smallholder farmers in training programs “in sustainable agriculture and community development with a focus on production, processing, agro-marketing, and savings and credit schemes” in which SACDEP operates under the “four principles of sustainable agriculture (i) ecological feasibility, (ii) environmentally friendly, (iii) social justness and (iv) cultural acceptability.” 252 Another similar project in Ethiopia, Cheha Integrated Rural Development Project, has helped to “introduce new varieties of crops (Vegetables) and trees (fruits and forest), promoted organic manures for soil fertility and botanicals for pest control, and introduced veterinary services.” 253 The project has helped some 12,500 farm households adopt sustainable agriculture resulting in a “70 per cent improvement of overall nutrition levels within the project area” and has increased crop yields by 60%. 254 The examples mentioned above are only a few 241 World Trade Organization, Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: Policy Responses, 2011, p. 26. 242 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p.1. 243 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 2. 244 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 4. 245 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 29. 246 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 25. 247 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Food Security in Africa: Learning Lessons from the Food Crisis, 2009. 248 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p 9. 249 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 9. 250 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 11. 251 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 20. 252 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 20. 253 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 24. 254 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 24.
experiences of organic agriculture as a viable alternative to increase agricultural productivity while at the same time increasing living wages from smallholder farmers and also a reduction on reliance on agrochemicals. 255 Case Study 2: Global Rice Crisis Rice is the world’s most produced and consumed cereal second to wheat with an annual production of over 400 million tons and growing every year. 256 A major shift to biofuels that require maize and oilseeds led to a price increase of those two commodities which prompted a higher than normal demand on rice that put some pressure on the price of rice prior to the crisis of 2008. 257 Rice production grew to record highs from 2005 through 2009 with rice stocks able to accommodate for growing demand a few months prior to the 2008 crisis. 258 Nonetheless, the price of rice tripled during the 2008 global food crisis and the reasons for this can be attributed to trade restrictions implemented by the larger rice producers and not to the shocks normally associated with price increase in commodities such as drastic changes to production or consumer demand. 259 Government policies in rice-producing countries began to restrict the supply of rice to the world food market by either completely banning export or increasing high export prices in order to avoid shortages for their own consumers, but inadvertently causing rice prices to increase rapidly. 260 For example, India banned the export of rice in October 2007, followed by increased, higher than normal export prices early 2008 and then banning rice exports entirely once more in April 2008. 261 As one of the largest exporters of rice, India’s policies inadvertently created uncertainty in the global rice market. 262 Additionally, rice importing states also increased the price of rice during the global food crisis by stockpiling rice. For instance, as an importer, the Republic of the Philippines purchased more than the usual amount of rice from Vietnam at almost double the market price in order to stockpile supplies because of the increasing uncertainty of rice availability in the world market due to the bans from exporter Member States. 263 Both exporters and importers of rice made policy decisions in the first months of the food crisis that ultimately brought on the global rice crisis. 264 The global rice crisis served as a lesson from which countries may learn. 265 An important lesson is that since disciplines are not particularly regulated by the WTO when it comes to exporting, a strengthening of export restrictions makes it so that they are used less frequently. 266 UNCTAD recommends the need for exporting and importing countries to greater cooperation on food trade that will be beneficial to both parties, particularly in an event of food shortages and/or when global food prices are on the rise. 267 FAO Member States have come to an agreement to reduce the amount of trade restrictions during times of crisis, especially when food is exported for noncommercial humanitarian initiatives. 268 An additional approach to stabilizing the world market is making trade restrictions less harmful by making them more predictable and more transparent when used by governments, 255 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, 2008, p. 39. 256 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Market, 2008. 257 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: How Does International Price Volatility Affect Domestic Economies and Food Security??, 2011, p. 36. 258 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: How Does International Price Volatility Affect Domestic Economies and Food Security?2011, p. 36. 259 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: How Does International Price Volatility Affect Domestic Economies and Food Security??, 2011, p. 36. 260 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: How Does International Price Volatility Affect Domestic Economies and Food Security??, 2011, p. 36. 261 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, Safeguarding Food Security in Volatile Global Markets, 2011, p. 167. 262 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, Safeguarding Food Security in Volatile Global Markets, 2011, p. 167. 263 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, Safeguarding Food Security in Volatile Global Markets, 2011, p. 169. 264 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, Safeguarding Food Security in Volatile Global Markets, 2011, p. 167. 265 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: How Does International Price Volatility Affect Domestic Economies and Food Security??, 2011, p. 36 266 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States, The State of Food Insecurity in the World: How Does International Price Volatility Affect Domestic Economies and Food Security??, 2011, p. 36. 267 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Addressing the Global Food Crisis: Key Trade, Investment, and Commodity Policies in Ensuring Sustainable Food Security and Alleviating Poverty, 2008, p. 28. 268 World Trade Organization, Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: Policy Responses, 2011, p. 26.
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