27 Amendments of Molly SCOTT CATO related to 2015/2277(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Notes that G8 government have committed themselves, in the 2009 L'Aquila Joint Statement on Food Security, to supporting country-owned strategies to increase food production, and so increasing access to food, with a special focus to empower smallholder and women farmers and improve their access to land and financial services, including microfinances and markets.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recognises that the 2008 global food price crises, triggered by, inter alia, a combination of drought, fires, land use change due to biofuels, and speculation on food commodities, have shown us that populations in developing countries are not food secure if they depend too heavily upon imports.
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the significant potential of resource efficient and long-term agro- ecological approaches based on high species diversity and presence of beneficial species, the spreading of risk and recycling of waste;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that such agronomic techniques, boosting natural processes like topsoil formation, water and pest regulation or closed loop nutrient cycling, can assure long-term productivity and fertility at a low cost to farmers and administrations;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Advocates a soil based approach; notes that sustainable soil management can produce up to 58% more of the world's food1a . ____________ 1a FAO, Global Soil Partnership
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Advocates agro-ecological approaches such as permaculture, agro- forestry, rotation and inter-cropping especially using leguminous plants, under-sowing, composting and mulching, in order to increase delivery of ecosystem functions and so raise productivity and fertility in the long term using natural processes;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the specificities of tropical and semi-arid agriculture that requires many more trees in the system that shade crops and protect soil; notes especially the large demand for firewood; notes in particular the multiple uses of nitrogen fixing trees;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the synergies between soil and tree based approaches and adapting agro- ecosystems to climate change;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes the large potential for biological pest control and alternatives to chemical dependency, such as push-pull processes, or natural predators of pests.
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Recognises that many small farmers in Africa and the countries of the NAFSN already have low chemical inputs because of the prohibitive cost of agrochemicals, especially pesticides; notes that this may help them leapfrog to agro-ecological approaches.
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Recognises the consensus in soil science that synthetic fertilisers can reduce natural soil fertility by turning soils acidic and salty, and inhibiting beneficial fungi and nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil, leading to soil degradation.
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Realises that pesticides often not only kill the pest but also beneficial species that can prey on the pests and regulate their populations; Realises that following application, pests and pathogens can come back faster and stronger than beneficial species, meaning an over- simplified agro-ecosystem may be susceptible to further attacks; therefore cautions against increasing chemical dependency which reduces agro- ecosystem functioning;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Notes that agrochemicals can be both over-used and inappropriately used in developing countries such as those participating in the NAFSN; notes that this is compounded by illiteracy and lack of appropriate training, and can result in significantly elevated levels of pesticide residues in fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as poisoning and other effects on human health for farmers and their families.
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Welcomes the EU's commitment to end dumping practices for agricultural products, and the recent announcement by the WTO in the Nairobi Ministerial Conference to eliminate all forms of export subsidies
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Calls for increased outreach and implementation of the desired NAFSN objectives by investing in education and training that includes agricultural extension services and that has an emphasis on community-oriented participative approaches, covering nutrition, land tenure, rights, agro- forestry and low input sustainable agriculture.
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Notes the G20 report of 2011 which stresses that tax-driven investment may prove transitory; recalls that numerous investor motivation surveys have shown a neutral or negative impact of special tax incentives on their decisions to invest 1a ___________ 1a World Bank survey in East Africa, OECD in SE Europe
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5 e. Regrets that the only indicator common to the 10 cooperation frameworks within the New Alliance is the World Bank's 'Doing Business' index, which has been criticised for contributing to tax competition, as countries compete to modify their legislation to favour foreign investors over the local population.
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 1
Paragraph 6 – indent 1
- implement the FAO 2004 Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realisation of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security and the FAO 2014 Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, and ensure compliance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; undertake annual evaluations of Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) implementation to check whether commitments have been fulfilled,
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 1 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 1 a (new)
- undertake , as part of the country progress reports, annual evaluations of Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) implementation to check whether commitments have been fulfilled, to ensure that they go beyond quality of investments and also assess quality of development impact, covering targets on women's rights and smallholder uptake, balanced and healthy nutrition and resilience of food supply, and also to publish those results.
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 2 a (new)
- ensure a human rights based approach to land titling by adopting and implementing the UN Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5
Paragraph 6 – indent 5
- encourage a wide variety of food crops to improve nutrition, including fruit and vegetables, to improve nutrition, and nuts, in addition to staples such as maize, rice or wheat;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 a (new)
- commit to the full implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes and the resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Infant and Young Child Nutrition
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 6
Paragraph 6 – indent 6
- design policies which empower women in agriculture,rural women, specifically taking into account their time and mobility constraints, and ensuring they benefit from the transformation of agriculture by removing discriminatory provisions that hinder access to resources and by combating discriminatory customs;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 7
Paragraph 6 – indent 7
- ensure that financial, tax or administrative reforms, including any formal or informal tax agreement, do not exempt investors from making a fair contribution to the tax base of participating countries or give an unfair advantage to investors over smallholders; they should also ensure that any formal or informal tax agreements are made public
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 7 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 7 a (new)
- ensure that a broad range of indicators are used to evaluate progress