From 25 to 31 October, Jamaica will be the seat of the V Ministerial Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean on Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas. The Summit’s priority will encourage a reassessment of agriculture and rural life as a way of confronting development challenges, favouring urban-rural integration, taking into account social, political, economic, ecological and cultural factors and incorporate rural life into national development.

Asier Hernando, Oxfam’s regional head of agriculture and natural resources in South America, said “Oxfam International believes that the Summit should be a space for the region’s governments to assume the obligation of investing in small-holder farming and guarantee food security. Special emphasis should be placed on women, some of the most affected by hunger and the lack of access to water and land”.

According to Eduardo Gudynas, researcher from the Latin American Centre on Social Ecology, based in Montevideo, “the support of small-holder farming is a vital component in the battle against hunger. It allows the food shortage and high food prices to be tackled, strengthening productive chains and regional and local trade flows. These farmers and their families are part of the solution, and governments must secure their cooperation and participation”.

The AGRO Plan 2003-2015 for Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas – agreed six years ago by Latin American governments – does not place special emphasis on the importance of investing in small-holder farming. The economic and financial crisis, global warming and the food crisis oblige governments in the region – and in the world – to change investment priorities to improve the conditions of over a thousand million people living with hunger throughout the world.

In recent years, governments’ scant investment in agriculture has been directed towards agro-industry, when numerous studies have shown that this tends to produce less gross and net benefits per hectare of land than small-holder farming. However, beyond considerations of economic efficiency, peasant and indigenous farmers are also those who look after the most degraded lands, preserve agricultural biodiversity and manage some of the most fragile soil in Latin America. Therefore they are also crucial allies in the battle against climate change.

CLAES, IDRS and Oxfam International call upon the ministers of agriculture and rural development in Latin America and the Caribbean for agreements from the V Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and Rural Life in the Americas to:

1. Place family agriculture in the centre of the Hemispheric Agenda 2010-2011 for the implementation of the AGRO Plan 2003-2015. Governments must increase investment to reach – at least – the amounts dedicated to this sector in 1980. In order to have greater impact on productivity and reduce poverty, this investment should be complemented with investments on rural development in infrastructure, education and health services.

2. Strengthen communities dedicated to agriculture. The population must participate in identifying its own needs and be consulted on the appropriateness of investments that these needs receive. Its capacity to undertake collective action, negotiate better prices and services and self-finance its development needs should be increased.

3. Make women as protagonists in the economy visual. Women are the key piece in the planet’s food security and demand special attention. To improve their access to natural resources and to financial and social services – like credit and securities – it is fundamental to develop the field.

4. Draw up specific policies for marginalised areas. The public sector and civil society should lead recovery in those marginalised and ecologically degraded areas, facilitating sufficient investment that would restore the ecosystem and expectations of a decent life.

5. Support low input technologies. Investing in the development of low cost technologies that endeavour to protect the environment, reduce dependence on purchasing supplies and favour farmers acquiring power in marginalised areas is necessary.

6. Integrate research systems. Regional integration must advance in tandem with political and technical action; a short-term action is to integrate farming research systems, especially action aimed at small farmers and stock-breeders.

In Latin America 53 million people are experiencing hunger. The food crisis could dramatically make this situation worse because the drop in investment in agriculture over the last two decades has limited governments’ capacity to confront the economic and climatic crises. In 1980, 7% of total government spending in Latin America was aimed at agriculture. Today this amount scarcely reaches 3% of investment.

________________________________________
For more information

[“Transformaciones y tendencias en la agropecuaria Latinoamericana, Revista Chile Economía Crítica y Desarrollo” (2008)](http://www.agropecuaria.org/publicaciones/GudynasAgroTransformacionEPChile08D.pdf)

[“Agricultura para el Desarrollo”, Oxfam Internacional (2009)](http://www.intermonoxfam.org/UnidadesInformacion/anexos/11155/090930_Agricultura_para_el_desarrollo.pdf)

[“Invertir en la Pequeña Agricultura es Rentable”, Oxfam Internacional (2009)](http://www.intermonoxfam.org/UnidadesInformacion/anexos/10989/2009-06-30%20Invertir%20en%20la%20pequeña%20agricultura%20es%20rentable%20IO.pdf)

Press contacts:

Oscar Bazoberry (IDRS): obazoberry@sudamericarural.org tel: (00591) 72033016
Eduardo Gudynas (CLAES), egudynas@gmail.com tel: (00598-2) 4030854
Asier Hernando (Oxfam Internacional), ahernando@intermonoxfam.org tel: (00591) 72021339

*(Translation provided by Rhona Desmond)*