37 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2015/2277(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas investment in small-scale farming has been neglected over the last thirty years in Africa, while low-income countries' dependence on food import grew significantly, rendering them vulnerable to price variations on international markets;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the food crisis of 2008 generated a universal recognition of the need to support smallholder food production for domestic markets;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the launch of structural adjustment programmes in the early 1980s contributed to the development of an export-led agriculture, where priority was given to increase the production of cash crops for global markets; whereas such choice favoured large-scale, highly capitalised and mechanised forms of production, while small-scale farming was comparatively neglected;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas international markets will be more volatile in the future; whereas countries should not take the risk of being excessively dependent on imports but rather invest primarily in domestic food production to build resilience;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas family farmers and smallholders have been largely excluded from NASFN;a human-rights based approach requires a high degree of participation by communities, civil society, minorities, women, etc. in the decision making process; whereas family farmers and smallholders have been largely excluded from NASFN; whereas women represent up to 50% of family farmers in SSA[1]; [1]The State of Food and Agriculture. Women in Agriculture. Closing the gender gap for development, FAO (2011). http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i2050e/i20 50e.pdf,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas family farmers and smallholders have demonstrated their ability to provide diversified products and to increase food production sustainably, through the use of agro-ecological practices;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas agriculture accounts for at least 14% of the total annual greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the use of nitrogen fertilizers;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas gender is a very important dimension of investment in agriculture in Africa; whereas rural women have long been discriminated in their access to a range of productive resources, including land, credit, inputs and services;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas until recently, support provided to agriculture has concentrated on male-managed export crops, leaving women largely in charge of handling the task of producing food for the sustenance of the family;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
Gc. whereas FAO estimates that about 75 % of plant genetic diversity has been lost worldwide; whereas wide-scale genetic erosion increases our vulnerability to climate change and to the appearance of new pests and diseases;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G d (new)
Recital G d (new)
Gd. whereas control, ownership and affordability of seeds are essential to food security resilience of poor farmers;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas commitments taken under the CCF on regulatory reforms in the seed sector aim to strengthen plant breeder's rights at the expense of the current farmers' seed systems on which poorest farmers still largely rely upon;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Deplores the lack of consultation of African CSOs in the launch of the NAFSN; stresses that participation of food-insecure groups in the policies that affect them should become the cornerstone of all food security policies;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes with concern that NAFSN promotes intensive agriculture that heavily relies on chemical fertilisers and hybrid seeds, with consequences affecting local communities such as soil erosion, ecological and health risks and biodiversity loss; notes equally that the development of extensive irrigation in the targeted geographical investment areas may reduce water availability for other users, such as small-scale farmers or pastoralists;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that the expansion of large- scale agricultural production through mega-PPPs in areas of high-carbon stock, such as peat land or forests can contribute to climate change;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Notes with concern that in Malawi NAFSN promotes the expansion of tobacco production instead of supporting alternative livelihoods in accordance with obligations under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of 2005 and commitments made in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes with concern that CCFs refer only selectively to international standards that define responsible investment in agriculture; and that they neither refer to the FAO 2004 Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security nor to any duties of the private investors to respect human rights;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Deems that mega-PPPs are inherently risky in Sub-Sahara African countries, where governance is poor and provides opportunities for corruption; Stresses that private companies involved in multilateral development initiatives should be accountable for their actions; calls on the parties to NAFSN, to this end, to set up aindependent and strict accountability mechanism, including an appeal mechanism for local people and communities;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes that multinationals operating under the NAFSN favour large-scale contract farming, which risks marginalising small-scale producers; calls on the ten African states in the NAFSN to ensure that contract farming benefit both buyers and local suppliers; to this end, deems crucial to strengthen i.e. farmers' organisations so as to improve the bargaining position of farmers;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for the CCFs to be revised so as to effectively tackle the risks of contract farming and out-grower schemes for small- scale producers by ensuring fair contract provisions, including pricing arrangements, respect for women's rights, support to sustainable agriculture and appropriate dispute settlement mechanisms;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Notes with concern that investors and local elites involved in land deals often describe the areas being targeted as "empty", "idle" or "under-utilised", yet very little land in Africa is truly idle, given i.e. pastoralist activities;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on African countries to recognise all legitimate rights to land, including informal, indigenous and customary tenure rights;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Recalls equally that user rights derived from customary tenure should be recognised and protected by a legal system in line with the provisions and rulings of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Calls on parties to NAFSN to put in place independent grievance mechanisms for those communities affected by land dispossession as a result of large-scale investment projects;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Recalls that combatting malnutrition requires a close linking of agriculture, food and public health sectors;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Urges African governments to invest in local food systems in order to boost rural economies and guarantee local people’'s rights of access to and control over resources including farmers' seeds; to put in place the necessary infrastructure and support measures to build and protect local, national and regional markets that benefit family farmers and provide quality food for consumers at accessible price; to ensure the effective engagement of small- scale producers in policy processes and implementation;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. In particular, notes with concern that UPOV favours genetic uniformity in crop varieties, which narrows down the genetic diversity, contribute to the loss of biodiversity, lead to growing concentration in seed supply and ultimately endanger livelihoods and food security; on this ground, urges the EU to refrain from influencing African seed law reform through the adoption of 1991 UPOV provisions;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Recalls that TRIPS provisions which request some form of protection for plant varieties do not force developing countries to adopt UPOV regime; it does enable countries to develop sui generis systems which are better adapted to the characteristics of each country's agricultural production and to traditional farmer-based seed systems, while LDCs that are parties to the WTO are exempted to comply with such provisions of TRIPS agreement; highlights that sui generis systems shall be supportive of and do not counter the objectives and the obligations under the CBD, the Nagoya Protocol and the ITPGRFA;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Deplores the corporate's request to harmonise Seed Laws which will be based on the principles of distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) in the African context via regional institutions and which will hamper the development and growth of farmer-based seed systems on the national and regional level since farmer-based seed systems usually do not breed and save seeds that fulfil the DUS criteria;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)
Paragraph 17 d (new)
17d. Urges the G7 Member States to support farmer managed seed systems via community seed banks;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 e (new)
Paragraph 17 e (new)
17e. Recalls that while commercial seed varieties may improve yields in the short term, traditional farmers' varieties, landraces and associated knowledge are best suited to adapt to specific agro- ecological environments and climate change; in addition, their higher performance depend on the use of inputs (fertilisers, pesticides, hybrid seeds), which risk trapping farmers in a vicious circle of debt;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes with concern that patentingthe introduction and spread of certified seeds in Africa increases smallholder dependence, makes indebtedness more probable and erodes seed diversity;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. In addition, notes with concern that the risks of dependency of developing countries are significantly increased by the strengthening of the role of intellectual property rights in the food system through 'TRIPS-plus' provisions in trade agreements, which protect such rights beyond the minimum requirements of the WTO TRIPS agreement;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Urges African countries not to implement national or regional biosafety regimes with lower standards of biosafety than those set out in the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Stresses the risk of increased marginalisation of women in decision making, resulting from the development of certain commercial crops; notes that agricultural training often targets men and tend to side-line women, who therefore find themselves excluded from the management of land and crops that they looked after traditionally;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Regrets that the CCFs largely fail to define precise commitments on gender budgeting or monitor progress through disaggregated data; stresses the need to move from abstract and general commitments to concrete and precise ones in the remit of national action plan to empower women as rights-holders;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Stresses that G7 Member States should guarantee African countries the right to protect their agricultural sector through tariff and tax regimes that favour family and smallholder farming;