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Gov't urged to look into report on solving poverty


DAVAO CITY, Philippines - Mindanao groups advocating organic agriculture have called on the government to take action on the report about the failure of industrial farming to address world hunger and poverty. In a statement, Go Organic! Mindanao, a coalition of non-government organizations working with Mindanao farmers, supported the recommendation of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) to stop the use of genetically modified (GM) food and agricultural liberalization. The group recognized the output of the IAASTD conference in Johannessburg, South Africa in April as a "glaring truth about food crisis all over the world." In the conference, 55 world governments discussed the problems and strategies to address world hunger. "Our experience in the Philippines taught us that GM crops are not the solution to spiraling food prices and to hunger that plagued developing countries. People of every nation have the right to determine their best food and agricultural policies and practices," said Nena Morales, executive director of Metsa Foundation and Go Organic! convener. Morales added that one best option of the Arroyo administration to alleviate food crisis is to "prioritize production of organically-grown food." At the conference, she was joined by Filipino toxicologist Romeo Quijano, president of Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Philippines and an IAASTD Bureau member. "The Green Revolution of the past, with all its expensive and toxic products, has left a trail of destruction. The IAASTD essentially says it's time to clean that up and move on," said Quijano who supports organic farming as a cheaper way to produce food. He added that the IAASTD report urged world governments to develop small-scale farmers and agro-ecological methods, which can avert the current food crisis and meet the needs of local communities. The said report, which has more than 400 authors headed by Nobel laureate and scientist Robert Watson, is an unprecedented attempt to convene multiple stakeholders from government, agro-chemical companies, scientists, health and environment advocates in the hope of making a blueprint for sustainable agriculture for the next 50 years. Watson and his team documented the inequitable distribution of costs and benefits of the present farming sector, including the undue influence of transnational agribusiness, the growing impacts of environmental crises, and the unfair global trade policies that result in over half of the world's population not having enough to eat. They noted that "the most widespread forms of industrial agriculture have degraded the natural resource base on which human survival depends, and contribute daily to worsening water and climate crises." The IAASTD report criticized that opening national markets to international competition can lead to long-term negative effects on poverty alleviation, food security, and the environment. The Philippines' dependency on rice imports becomes a factual example to this problem, according to Tom Villarin, executive director of Siad in Mindanao Convergence for Asset Reform and Regional Development. "Importation is a bitter pill that we need to swallow. There is a decrease in the world production of rice but to import is the only way that this government does to keep the rice supply in the market," Villarin said. "Yet, importation is a band-aid solution and the Arroyo government must have a sustainable answer to this problem. For how long does the Philippines have to import rice?" Villarin asked. He said it is about time that the Philippines and the rest of the global community must launch equitable and sustainable food and farming systems needed for the future generation. - Sun.Star Davao
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