General Remarks on
The Palestinian National Strategy of Food Security
By :
Nitham Ataya
Agricultural Development Association
(PARC)
November
2005
On August
15, 2005 the Palestinian Planning Ministry issued the national
strategy of food security. The latter contained four strategic
goals along with a set of interventions that would achieve these
goals:
-
Improvement of food abundances.
-
Enhancement of access and control over food.
-
Upgrading and ensuring of food consumption and safety.
-
Institutionalization of food security framework.
The
strategy document was coherent in terms of its framework and
methodology. It relied on a responsible participatory approach in which
collective efforts of various sectors were employed. The strategy
emanated from the major Palestinian plans, and has reflected the tight
collaboration between the Palestinian Authority, non- governmental and
private sectors, each of which agreed altogether to be a party to the
implementation of the document.
Considering the indispensable importance of the food security in
enhancing the Palestinian people’s sustainable existence and ability to
have control over its decisions and will, we would like to raise the
following constructive comments regarding the Palestinian food security
strategy out of our hope that this strategy will have positive impacts
on the present and future of the Palestinian sustainable development.
-
Both of the
methodology and program of the strategy did not focus properly on
the sustainability elements of food security content and
determinants. The strategy is almost empty of any clear directive
that can guarantee and ensure the major food security components
relating to food abundance, accessibility to food and the ability to
utilize it in a sustainable form. The strategy is therefore missing
a very fundamental pivot pertaining to the assurance of the
sustainability elements and the elimination of deterrent factors.
-
The strategy
reproduced the same malformed priorities of the Palestinian
Authority which did not take into account the importance of the
productive sectors particularly the agricultural sector. We hoped
that the Palestinian food security would enhance and magnify the
role of these productive sectors through the deep-rooted correlation
with the national development plan and through the restructuring of
the development priorities.
-
There is a
pressing need for enhancing the Palestinian capacity to produce and
provide food locally. This has to be adopted as a basic trend of the
national strategy of food security.
-
The need to
magnify and protect the role and status of the agricultural sector
being the basic space for producing and reproducing food.
-
Adopting a clear
position regarding the genetically engineered and improved seeds and
issuing legislations on prohibiting genetic engineering particularly
in field crops, which are considered the main source of food
security.
-
Adopting an
empirical trend to cut off privatization of the key inputs of food
security. The continued privatization of these inputs is not
compatible with the spirit of ensuring food security for all. We
propose a new pattern of “participatory privatization” as an
intervention of broad participation of the private and civil sectors
and the producers with an indirect participation of the public
sector (Palestinian Authority) that can ensure the production and
redistribution of production revenues in an equitable and balanced
manner. We believe that food security cannot be achieved without
taking into account the rights and interests of the farmers
particularly women who are the real and main producers of food
-
Giving more
focus and sponsorship to the sources of familial food security
particularly household economy, urban and semi urban agriculture as
well as small holdings economy.
-
We wish to
introduce a new concept of food security and sovereignty as linked
to Palestinian national security, economy and political sovereignty.
We therefore propose a new framework for national governance of food
in which all major actors can have broad participation in
decision-making relating to food security and have actual control
over productive assets.
Food Security and Sovereignty
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