21 CSOs CHALLENGE UN FOOD SUMMIT
CONSORTIUM of 21 civil society organisations has made recommendations to the ongoing United Nations food systems summit to include a shift to sustainable food consumption patterns on the agenda.
Country Coordinator at PELUM Zambia Muketoi Wamunyima said that the paper aims to make recommendations to ensure that food systems are more sustainable, inclusive and resilient.
Mr Wamunyima said that the UN food systems summit should tackle issues to ensure safe and nutritious food for all and policy change to unlock the potential of a resilient Small Scale agriculture sector.
He also said that there is a need for policy with emphasis on payments for ecosystem services instead of subsidies for synthetic inputs and hybrid seeds.
He noted that the lack of local availability or the inaccessibility of natural foods, due to high price, of healthy foods may prevent an individual from adopting healthy dietary habits.
Mr Wamunyima advised that the summit must urgently recognise the need and call for a supportive political will from national leaders and open and transparent participation mechanisms for right holders in all stages of policy making, implementa
tion and monitoring of food systems.
He said that agriculture subsidies should be key for the wellbeing of communities and should be enhanced.
Mr Wamunyima explained that the issue of climate change and promotion of agro ecology should be tackled during the summit.
He said that there should be policies that would ensure that people can have a choice in terms of the type of food that they want to consume.
He lamented that reasons why food security has been chronic in Zambia because of misdirected economic policies and mismanagement and lack of committed political leadership to put in place implementable policy frameworks that promote food sovereignty and recognize the right to food.
“Lack of political will to meet the commitments made in the Maputo and Malabo declarations in order to enhance financial and economic investment in farmer driven initiatives in the agricultural sector, and to boost local economies and rural development.
Mr Wamunyima observed that due to policy prescriptions and systematic failures, Zambian farmers have lost income support from their respective governments, and millions of low income families became victims of food insecurity and nutrition deficits.