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Highlights from Monday, 28 February
Ad Hoc Working Group on Integrated Planning
and Management of Land Resources and Agriculture
The Ad Hoc Intersessional
Working Group (AHWG) on Integrated Planning and Management
of Land Resources & Agriculture was declared open by Choi
Seok-young (Republic of Korea), on behalf of CSD-8 Chair,
Juan Mayr (Colombia). After the election of Co-Chairs Patrick
McDonnell, Ireland, and Modesto Francisco Fernandez Diaz-Silveira,
Cuba, and the adoption of the agenda, the AHWG heard presentations
on the Secretary-General's Reports, other documentation for
the meeting and on a relevant intersessional conference. Finally,
four Organizing Partners from major groups preparing for the
Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture at CSD-8
made statements. The meeting adjourned at midday after a request
by the G-77/China to provide time for members of the Group
to examine documentation and prepare for the week's discussions.
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Gordon
Bispham, Southern Co-Chair, Sustainable Agriculture
and Food Systems Caucus
He noted
that sustainable agriculture was a way of life for many indigenous
people, who "have been at war" with industrialized agriculture
and its side effects. He highlighted the failure of the Seattle
Ministerial meeting to act on proposals relating to agriculture
in developing countries, and urged the CSD to encourage a
more cooperative approach within UN agencies, with the aim,
inter alia, of: removing banned or obsolete pesticides
that are being exported to developing countries, and providing
financial support for organic and other farming practices
that do not involve genetic modification or monoculture.
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Leah Porter, American Crop Protection Association, representing
business and industry in the multistakeholder dialogue
She highlighted
that the key word at the AHWG meeting was the "integrated"
planning and management of land resources, to which the agri-business
sector had contributed. She acknowledged that expanding global
food production through productivity in the agricultural sector
was only one element of the proceedings. She also noted the
importance of resources and income distribution, access to
markets and trade, and suitable conditions for social, political
and economic development.
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