Food & energy security: Commonwealth states urged to cut defence expenditure

Ghulam Hussain Malik

ISLAMABAD, September 29: The Commonwealth countries of Asia should reduce the expenditure on defence and armaments and use the resources thus saved for the uplift of the poor who are the worst affected by the rise in prices of food and energy, the civil society organisations of Commonwealth states have stressed, urging the G-8 to fulfil on an urgent basis the financial commitment made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

“With the surging prices of food and energy and alarming increase in the number of people below the poverty line, it seems that a sense of realisation and responsibility has fled Asia,” observed the participations of a consultative meeting of civil society organisations (CSOs) of the Commonwealth countries of Asia here on September 28-29.

The consultation was held in connection with the Commonwealth finance ministers’ meeting to be held in St Lucia on October 7 and 8 on the theme of ‘Implications of High Food and Energy Prices for Economic Management.’

The Pattan Development Organisation, an Islamabad-based civil society organisation, organised the consultation with support from the Commonwealth Foundation. Besides leading CSOs of Pakistan, leaders and representatives of CSOs from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and the Maldives participated in the consultation.

The meeting recommended that the governments of all Commonwealth countries should take their people into confidence before going to the St Lucia meeting.

“We acknowledge the centrality of gender in the analysis and response to the issue of food security. We recognise that women are playing vital role globally in food production and are the key actors in achieving in food security for their households,” the meeting observed.

“However, their access to food and their level of food utilisation is limited due to patriarchal norms. Thus, women suffer disproportionately from food crisis,” it noted. “We propose that gender perspective should be fully integrated in global response to the food security.”

The meeting noted that the food security is not the food availability alone, it is intrinsically linked with the issue of food distribution, access and utilisation. It demanded that food security should be ensured on basis of the principle of distributive justice.

The regional CSOs urged the governments to ensure food security at the national level by increasing their stockpiles so that their people are not deprived of food at times of crisis. They also urged the governments to introduce land reforms, wherever needed, to reduce the large farms into smaller ones. “Land reforms not only provide livelihood for the poor but also increase productivity as small farms have proved to be more productive.”

“Developed countries should be made more accountable for reduction in greenhouse gases and consumption of fossil fuels. Unfair trade regimes need to be reviewed to create equal opportunities for developing countries. Governments are urged not to allow MNCs to market genetically modified organism products, especially terminator seeds,” the participants of the meeting stressed.

The meeting noted that rise in prices of food and energy is cross-boundary issue so governance should include cooperation among countries, with specific respect to this issue. Likewise, it observed, CSOs in the regional countries should network and share their success stories and failures.

The participants called upon the CSOs to engage the media in creating a knowledge-based discourse to alter the course of governance so that the problems of the poor are addressed. “Governance at the local level should be strengthened. It should be inclusive, particularly in terms of gender, lower castes and minorities -- representing all sections of society,” they stressed.

“Governments should provide technical, financial and extension support to small farms to enhance productivity to ensure food security. Sustainable methods of soil and water conservation should be put in place,” they added.

The CSOs urged the G-8 to fulfil the financial commitment made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on an urgent basis. They called upon the rich countries in the Commonwealth to increase their MDG financial contribution from 0.7 per cent to one per cent, in view of the hike in the food and energy prices, which has pushed 55 million more people below the poverty line.

Besides the NGO Forum (Bangladesh), NANNA University (Chennai, India), Energy Forum (Sri Lanka), Environmental Challenge Organisation (Singapore) and Minivan Daily (Maldives), the Pakistani CSOs including Pattan Development Organisation, Sungi Foundation, PODA, Lahore Bachao, SAAG, LEAD Pakistan, Labour Qaumi Movement, Women Councillor Network Pakistan, Gender Studies Centre, Fishers Folk and Farmers Organisation Multan attended the consultative meeting.

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