Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) - Topics
General topic outline: Food crisis reform policies and Genetically Modified Organisms
Topic A
Food crisis reform policies
There are two major crises affecting the world economy today: the perturbation of the financial markets and the food crisis. The latter is more serious and threatening. If the hike in the food prices may be an inconvenience for the consumers in the developed countries, it is a catastrophe for those in the poor and developing countries. Indeed, most countries in Africa which are net food importers struggle to meet domestic demand. The threat of malnutrition and starvation has given rise to political and social unrest. Vulnerable countries face a serious risk of falling back into poverty by being unable to cope with the price increase. This is furthermore jeopardizing the progress toward achieving the poverty and hunger Millennium Development Goal.
The underlying factors that generate this discrepancy between world demand and supply are quite clear. The major causes for the increasing demand are, among others, the rise in energy prices (intertwined with agricultural prices) and the expanded production of biofuels. Income and population growth has also triggered the escalating demand in agricultural commodities. On the supply side, global agricultural production has been quite slow. This sluggish response to the surging demand is being impeded by land and water constraints, underinvestment in agricultural innovation and rural infrastructure and weather conditions. These factors coupled with climate change risks, trade policies, such as export restrictions and import subsidies and market reactions have added volatility in the international food market.
The question open to discussion here is not the causes per se but how each of these different causes are accountable for the food crisis. Is the rise in energy prices and biofuels or the trade restrictions that are exacerbating the crisis? Are the markets unscrupulously taking advantage through speculation or are the governments excessively prudent in their policies? Is this a chance to durably and fundamentally reform our agricultural system?
While ECOSOC focused on immediate measures during its May 2008 meeting in the UN headquarters in New York, the ZAGIMUN ECOSOC will address long term policies and reforms for the improvement and the securing of sustainable production and supply. As we try to answer the questions on the impact of the fundamental causes, we hope to find long-lasting solutions to ensure that famine will not be an issue anymore. While the right choices to make are quite obvious, the ways and tools to get to these choices are open to debate.
In the words of Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for Financial Times; “People will oppose some of these policies. But mass starvation is not tolerable.”
Topic B
Genetically Modified Organisms
Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are a cross-cutting issue which does not fall into the sole responsibility of the ECOSOC. The World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as well as the World Food Programme (WFP) have all worked on GMOs, to name just a few entities dealing with parts of the issue. Within the ECOSOC, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) has worked extensively on the vices and virtues of GMOs. In line with the general focus of this year’s ECOSOC on the social and economic aspects of food security, this introduction to the topic will focus on GM crops.
Supporters of genetically modified crops generally argue that GMOs can help to:
- alleviate hunger,
- reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in agriculture, thus protecting the environment, and
- produce healthier and more nutritient crops which could fight diseases.
Opponents claim that:
- gene flow between GMOs and natural species could be a serious danger to biodiversity and the environment,
- farmers could become dependent on a handful of transnational corporations, and
- that they are not needed to alleviate global hunger.
The given arguments in favor of GM crops all imply that their introduction is an absolute necessity in order to make the world a better place. Indeed, reports of rising food prices, shortages of basic staple foods and violent demonstrations against the unfair distribution of food have been in the news recently. In contrast to that, most arguments against GM crops imply that they do not only have the promised benefits, but that they are actually a huge danger to the environment which has to be stopped. The World Health Organization provides a great overview over genetically modified (GM) foods, answering 20 questions on advantages and disadvantages, the scientific assessment as well as many other subjects.
The report on the eighth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development E/2000/29 (E/CN.17/2000/20) gives a good overview of the different positions on the subject. Generally, the section on agriculture focuses on two questions;
- how to benefit from new technologies such as GMOs while making sure that their negative environmental and social impacts are prevented, and
- how organic agriculture could contribute to sustainable agriculture.
The report notes that NGOs fear that “technical fixes represented by GMOs” are a threat to sustainable agriculture, since they undermine agricultural biodiversity. Instead, “social issues, security of land tenure as the basis of food security, research and development targeting needs of men and women and small-scale farmers, and support for indigenous knowledge” have been presented as alternatives. The report furthermore states that some participants have called for a moratorium on the release of GMOs based on the precautionary principle. Others advocated stronger regulatory frameworks and more research into biotechnology to ensure its safety.
One of the latest developments on GMOs is the recent agreement to form an agreement by the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety under the Convention on Biological Diversity. By the year 2010, “legally binding rules and procedures for liability and redress for potential damage caused from the transboundary movements of living modified organisms (LMOs)“ shall be set up.
In its deliberations, the ZAGIMUN ECOSOC could focus on some of the following questions:
- Can GM crops contribute to food security around the globe, and if so how?
- Can GM crops be safe for the environment, or is there a zero-sum relationship between the two?
- What can be done to ensure that poor and small-scale farmers do not become dependent on multinational corporations?
- Finally, how can intellectual property rights, the rights of starving farmers and the needs of the environment be reconciled?
