Invitation to the international conference:

"Beyond the Crossroads":
New Issues,  Persistent Problems.  

Linking food security, sustainability science and sustainability politics  

The time is right to convene an initiative to analyse the impact of IAASTD, to look at emerging issues and to strengthen endeavours for a permanent assessment on agriculture within a broad, partici-patory, and transparent global network in which UN-organisations like UNEP and FAO play a key role as much as civil society organisa-tions, scientists and interested national governments from the South and the North.
To support this aim, we have launched a “Berlin Declaration” with which as many scientists, decision makers and civil society repre-sentatives can declare their commitment to the sake of a regular global agricultural assessment.

Participation only after registration via: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The conference will be held in English.

We are inviting scientists, policymakers and civil society to share their insights, experiences and ideas for achieving the MDG 1 better today than tomorrow at the public event:

„Courageous Commitment to a world without hunger.“

Berlin, City Hall

Key note speakers:
•  David Segovia, Bank of the South, Ecuador
•  Elba Rivera Urbina, W8 Oxfam Int., Nicaragua
•  Hartmut Graßl, former director of World Climate Research Program, laureate of the DBU  
•  Judy Wakhungu, African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenia

Roundtable:  

• Hans Herren, Vice-Chair of IAASTD, laureate of world food price

• Gert Müller, Under-secretary of State for Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection

Moderator: Christiane Grefe, DIE ZEIT, Germany

Invitation and program of the public event can be downloaded here.

Registration appreciated via: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Conference materials can be downloaded here.

The public event will be held in German.

Since in April 2008 the final Intergovernmental Panel in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, has accepted the reports and summaries of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), its core questions and issues have become even more urgent. How to:

• reduce hunger and poverty,
• improve rural livelihoods and human health, and
• reach equitable, socially, environmentally and economically sustainable development?

While many international political summits and conferences on hunger and international aid have been taken place and pleasant final communiqués been aired, real politics in most countries turned out to do business as usual. Just the same pattern we’ve seen following the I. Assessment Report (AR) of the Intergovernmental Pan-
el on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1990. But at the time when the IV. AR of the IPCC has been published in 2007, national and global politics finally noticed, taking the findings and conclusions seriously and indicating that it is of utmost importance to deliver complex assessments to decision makers not once but time and again.  

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), especially MDG 1 might not be accomplished until 2015, other MDG show also a very mixed balance. In 2011, as in 2010, nearly one billion people are suffering from hunger.  
 

Additionally, some drivers and issues turn out to contribute to economic, social and institutional results, which might counteract MDG and the findings of IAASTD, such as:

•policies subsidizing fuels from biomass for transportation in the EU and other countries, resulting in conflicts and competition on land also in food-insecure countries,

•rapid growth of foreign and domestic investments in land, foremost in countries of the South, for industrial and food export purposes, exacerbating conflicts on land especially for the most vulnerable peoples,

•expansion of global, vertical integrated agro-food corporations in many not and newly industrialized countries, such not only building an overwhelming power with regard to producers but also shaping a consumers culture which heavily relies on fat, sugars and processed food,

• global agro-food corporations also use and promote industrialized forms of poultry-, pork- and cattle-farming, such maximising environmental and health impacts.

On the other hand, many signs of an agriculture, which sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people all over the world, give hope and evidence that agriculture is essential for socially fair and ecologically sustainable development and for poverty eradication. Linking food security, sustainability science and sustainability
polics.