The climatic, natural, political, cultural and economic situations of countries are diverse and often unique. However, there are several common principles which could improve the quality of aid targeted for agriculture, pastoralism, fisheries and rural development;
Aid should support the programs and policies developed by the recipient communities and countries. Aid should be provided in a manner that does not disrupt local production and markets. It should support long term development and respond to the expressed needs of local communities. Local and national food security should be a top priority for aid. Aid should lead to greater autonomy and self- reliance of the recipient countries with regard to food production and availability of food for all. Aid should strengthen the local control of resources and reach the intended beneficiaries in rural areas.
Working with local communities and social organisations : Better aid supports local communities, community-based organizations and social organisations particularly in building: political empowerment; the capacity of people to articulate their views; implementation their own development models; and meaningful participation in development processes. It recognises that the needs and realities of rural communities are at the core of solutions to solve hunger and poverty. Development aid should give priority to strengthening small-scale production sector to ensure realisation of sustainable livelihoods for the majority.
Building on local culture and knowledge: Knowledge held by communities is based on generations of people interacting with their unique surroundings. Better aid should build on the wealth of local culture and knowledge held by communities, supporting processes that facilitate appropriate technological solutions.
Promote diversity: Aid should promote diversities – human, cultural, biological, environmental, and in production methods.
A culture of participation: Better aid generates inclusive dialogue and engagement among different development actors. Implementation of agricultural, pastoralism, fisheries, forestry and rural development must be based on democratic consultations and meaningful ongoing community participation. Aid should contribute towards reducing existing inequalities.
Gender is key: Women play a major role in agricultural production and in local food security. Better Aid facilitates the empowerment of women, recognizing the fundamental importance they hold in providing food for their families and for the community.
Sustainability: Livelihoods are sustainable when they can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks that threaten food security without undermining their natural resource base. Building local capital, social systems, financial capital and the natural resources on which they depend is critical. Better aid should be guided by a clear development paradigm supportive of the principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability and intergenerational equity.
Coherence and linkages: Efforts should foster linkages between the local, national and global, opportunities for learning and knowledge sharing. Better Aid should provide platforms for the exchange of experience globally, provide nationally coherent programs for delivery of Aid, and should foster linkages among local efforts. It should address problematic structures and mechanisms that limit the effectiveness of aid in reaching the world’s poor and hungry.
New policies and practices for agriculture, pastoralism, fisheries and global food trade are needed to end hunger and poverty, and to promote sustainable development. Changes in the delivery and focus of aid are needed to achieve this.
To support such new policies and practices aid should:
• facilitate provision of sufficient, safe, nutritious food (food security);
• put emphasis on income strategies, peoples’ livelihoods, local production systems, local markets, fair trade, fair and good distribution systems, protection of markets where needed to enhance national and local food security, and avoid the use of food aid where it will threatened the marked for local products
• support realization of land reform, water rights and unrestricted access to genetic resources for food and agriculture and wider agricultural biodiversity for smallholder farmers; exclusive fishing zones for artisanal fisherfolks; grazing rights for pastoralists; improved common property resource management;
• support sustainable, farmer-led, smallholder / family / community agricultural systems (e.g. agroecology, sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture).
To achieve this requires improved education and public awareness not only for how to implement this but also how to avoid problems cause by poorly conceived aid.