Europe and US Bear Special Responsibility for Food Crisis, New Report Finds

Policies enacted by the United States and the European Union, and
aggressively pushed through global institutions during the last several decades, laid the ground for the
ongoing food crisis, finds a new report by CIDSE, an international alliance of Catholic development
agencies, and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). Nearly 1 billion people are
currently suffering from hunger around the world and the economic crisis is increasing this number,
worsening the situation by the day.

The report identified the convergence of the food, economic and climate crises as indicators that call
into question the viability of existing models of food production and consumption. The report
highlights policy failures including neglected agriculture programs, ill-advised economic adjustment
policies, commodity speculation and unjust trade rules that have led to a vulnerable global food system.

--The EU and U.S. need to work with developing country governments to empower small-holder
farmers. A new generation of sustainable agriculture policies is needed to provide for an urgently
needed balance between economic profitability and socio-ecological justice, preventing a scramble for
natural resources. This is vital to ensure female and male small scale producers, women-led households
and landless workers can attain a decent livelihood,|| said Bernd Nilles, CIDSE Secretary General.

--The EU and U.S. need to contribute to, rather than block, the establishment of an entirely new global
model for food and agriculture--one that is housed at the U.N. but includes non-state actors and
mobilizes all forces to eradicate hunger,|| said Alexandra Spieldoch, director of IATP's Trade and
Global Governance program and co-author of the report.

The paper makes a series of recommendations for U.S. and EU policymakers that could be
implemented at a number of upcoming international meetings this year that address the food crisis.

Key recommendations include:
An inclusive and binding global partnership for agriculture and food security that strengthens
U.N. agencies, involves non-state actors and has a strong mandate;
A substantial increase in aid for agriculture, delivered in line with the right to food;
Respect for the multifunctionality of agriculture including ecological and social sustainability,
access to land and water for small scale producers and greater use of local seed varieties;
Measures to address price volatility, including food reserves and tight regulation on
speculation; and
2
A shift in trade policies away from the quest for market access for European and U.S.
agribusiness firms.

Read the report: Global Food Responsibility - The European Union and the United States
Must Chart a New Path, a CIDSE-IATP policy paper, May 2009