Activities of Miguel VIEGAS related to 2015/2277(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (A8-0169/2016 - Maria Heubuch) PT
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition
Amendments (37)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. RecogniseDemands that over-reliance on imported food should be replaced by establishing resilient domestic food production, given that climates and markets are increasingly volatile, and that emphasis hasbe shifted from increasing the production of agricultural commodities to enabling countries to feed themselves;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recognises that over-reliance on imported food should be replaced by establishing resilient domestic food production, given that climates and markets are increasingly volatile, and that the emphasis has shifted fromplaced on increasing both the production of agricultural commodities to enabling countries to feed themselveand world-wide trade in them under free- trade agreements has undermined the capacity of countries to feed themselves and excluded farmers from markets;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Stresses that agricultural development must be based on the local domestic food production to ensure the local population an equal access to food;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Globally condemns the NAFSN cooperation frameworks, since many of them represent models imposed by rich countries that are designed to favour the interests of large agroindustrial multinationals;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recognises food sovereignty as the sovereign right of peoples to decide their own agricultural and food policies and the right of farmers of all peoples to produce their own food;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Points out that maximising profits is incompatible with combating hunger, and abuse of market power and pricing dominance, the occupation of land, poor working conditions and pesticide use are incompatible with guaranteeing and complying with the right to food and nutrition;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Underlines the importance of food sovereignty principle as the right of people to decide upon their own food and agricultural production;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Recognises that export-oriented agricultural policies must be replaced by policies prioritising production for the domestic market and ensuring the survival of peasant farming;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Stresses that small-scale farmers, which produce around 70% of the food consumed in Africa, play a crucial role in local livelihoods and are indispensable for inclusive agricultural development and stand to benefit most from direct development aid;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Stresses that access to agricultural land and use of traditional farming methods by small-scale farmers are seriously endangered by agribusiness investors and their model of agricultural production based on public-private partnerships;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Emphasizes its deep concern regarding the land grabbing carried out by foreign investors which strikes the local small-scale farmers and contributes to local, regional and national food insecurity and poverty;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses that millions of people in Africa, especially children, are suffering from hunger and malnutrition, which are the main causes of human mortality in the continent;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomesIt is concerned that the NAFSN’'s commitment to food security, but is concerned that the means used are based on outdated models of agricultural development; might be beneficial to big businesses rather than to the small-scale family farmers and it is likely to increase poverty and inequality in Africa; stresses that the NAFSN's commitment to food security must first and foremost benefit small-scale farmers;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomesExpresses unease at the NAFSN’s commitment to food security, butgiven that the new Alliance is built on the premise that more production and growth through investment in cooperation frameworks will resolve the problem of hunger and malnutrition in Africa, and is concerned that the means used are based on outdated models of agricultural development;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Points out that the decision-making process in the cooperation frameworks did not involve all the stakeholders, in particular rural communities, farm workers, small farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples and women, inter alia, and disregarded their right to participate;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Maintains that African states should be treated as partners in this Alliance, rather than being seen merely as service providers that reduce the 'risks and uncertainties" for private investors;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Condemns the imposition of slanted agricultural policies at the service of multinational companies; likewise condemns the fact that, if the cooperation frameworks are implemented, they will be concerned almost exclusively with the interests and needs of these corporations (which are seen as the key partners in this Alliance), to the detriment of the groups of people most affected by hunger and malnutrition, small farmers;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 1 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 1 a (new)
- ensure adequate levels of public investment so as to guarantee lasting, sustainable and inclusive solutions;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 1 b (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 1 b (new)
- prevent measures that would have the effect of obstructing access to adequate nutrition and food, in particular measures that would prevent people's access to and use of resources and inputs that guarantee their survival;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 2 a (new)
- consult domestic stakeholders and establish a cooperation with domestic farmers and local communities, local authorities and civil society organisations to tackle food insecurity and improve their livelihoods,
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 4 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 4 a (new)
- put an end to the extremely slanted nature of the current cooperation frameworks under the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, geared to intensive agriculture based on the trade in farm inputs and seeds, which increases the discrimination suffered by local seed exchange schemes that are a key source and ensure access to these goods for rural communities, particularly for poor farmers;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 4 b (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 4 b (new)
- avoid defining the nutritional dimension of food production in simplistic terms disregarding the fact that food security and nutrition means (continuing) access to a varied and wholesome diet, in terms of quality, quantity, and variety and not reduced purely to calorie intake,
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 a (new)
- safeguard and promote access to seeds and agricultural inputs for smallholder farmers and marginalised groups, and promote and safeguard the exchange of seeds and their public ownership, and sustainable traditional techniques that guarantee the human right to proper food and nutrition,
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 b (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 b (new)
- encourage a focus on growing food with a high nutritional content instead of on crops produced in abundance which have a high calorie content, as opposed to nutritional content (maize, sugar), and which could cause dietary nutrient deficiencies,
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 c (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 c (new)
- reject a focus on growing food with a high nutritional content instead of on crops produced in abundance which have a high calorie content, as opposed to nutritional content (maize, sugar), and which could cause dietary nutrient deficiencies,
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 d (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 d (new)
- ensure that the four key elements of the human right to food and nutrition, namely fitness for purpose, availability, accessibility, and sustainability, are realised, without basing strategies solely on the production of more food,
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 e (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 e (new)
- ensure access to varied diets, which should be consistent with cultural values and wholesome, and should enable food intake to be biologically utilised in the way required to attain well-being, taking into account human dignity, which is created by virtue of having access to basic public services (including health, water and sanitation, housing, and social security),
Amendment 107 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 f (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 f (new)
- ensure that food is affordable for people and consumers,
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 g (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 5 g (new)
- reject attempts of any kind to patent life, plants and animals, genetic material, or essential biological processes, especially where native strains and species are concerned,
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 6
Paragraph 6 – indent 6
- design policies which empower women in agriculture, and ensure they have the same rights as men;
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 7 a (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 7 a (new)
- ensure, by means of the commitment frameworks, that farmers, fishermen, inhabitants of woodlands, and pastoral communities can enjoy their right to land and protection and that they are shielded from the risk of losing land to private investors,
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 – indent 7 b (new)
Paragraph 6 – indent 7 b (new)
- enter into commitments enabling workers to enjoy social protection and a decent income from their output, guaranteeing a minimum income sufficient to cope with hunger and pay for proper food;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 – indent 2
Paragraph 7 – indent 2
- ensure that EU-based investors respect the rights of local communities and provide highest standards of transparency regarding their investment plans;, along with environmental, social and human rights safeguards,
Amendment 141 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 7 – indent 2 a (new)
- recognise and defend the necessity for participating countries to achieve food security and their right to be as self- sufficient as possible,
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 7 – indent 2 a (new)
- fulfil the extraterritorial obligations (ETOs) incumbent upon states by ensuring both that their policies do not serve to violate human rights in other countries, and in particular the human right to food and nutrition, and that non- state actors do not impede the enjoyment of those rights;
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 – indent 2 b (new)
Paragraph 7 – indent 2 b (new)
- promote a standard-setting approach to cooperation frameworks, in keeping with human rights;
Amendment 149 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on participating governments and investors to enter into a dialogue with civil society on the NAFSN, local communities, and other institutions on the NAFSN, as well as to ensure that agreements concluded are available to the public domain in a transparent manner.