More and Better

Rio+20: Battles around models of agriculture

More and Better has worked together with many other organizations and institutions to influence governments and the UN to put  sustainable agriculture at the center of the Rio+20 Conference (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,  June 10-22, 2012). About 140 organizations have now signed on the document Rio+20 Time to act! which was also sent to the conference secretariat  as a formal proposal. The document can still be signed  on the webpage; signatories organizations will be invited to the email-list for the work on Rio+20 and agriculture. Read more...

Rio + 20: Time to Act!

Since last year, More and Better has worked with an informal group of CSOs organizations, to influence the preparatory process of Rio+20.
The result is being summed up in a document made available in English, French, Spanish and German. A number of CSOs organizations concerned with Rio+20 key issues has already signed on to the document. If your organization wants to support this document or provide comments/suggestions, please write to rio2012agcso@gmail.com and visit http://www.timetoactrio20.org/ for more information and regular updates.

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What characterizes international discourse and action on investment in agriculture today?

We are pleased to publish the presentation made by Nora McKeon at the workshop held in Yaoundé, Cameroun, at the beginning of May, with a focus on 'Investment in Agriculture in Africa.' The event was organized by PROPAC in cooperation with EAFF, ROPPA and PAFO and the economic support of Terra Nuova, Practical Action, Concord, More and Better and FAO.

While waiting for the final report of the workshop (to be finalized in the coming week) the input provided by Nora McKeon can definitely give you a brief picture of the main issues debated in the Yaoundè workshop concerning the international context of agricultural investments.

Read the presentation

Rio+20 will be important!

By Aksel Naerstad

Twenty years after the Rio Earth Summit, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992), and forty years after the first huge UN Conference on Human Environment, held in Stockholm (1972), a new UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) will take place in Rio, June 4-6, 2012, preceded by the third and last Preparatory Committee (Prep Com). The preparation process started a year ago. Everyone who really care about environment and development should be aware of the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. It  might be a good possibility for some important and positive decisions, but could also do more harm than good. Our engagement, over the next  14 months, will be crucial on the outcome. 

More and Better at the Annual General Assembly of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

Elisabeth Atangana, president of Pan-African Farmers Forum (PAFFO), president of the Plateforme Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d'Afrique Centrale (PROPAC), and co-coordinator of More and Better, attended the Annual General Assembly of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development that was held in Tunis, the 13th and 14th of January. The objectives of the Assembly were to identify options for improved networking among Platform members, to exchange on processes, activities and messages leading up to the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan; to help agree some key themes for the 2011 work programme.

Rio+20: opportunities and challenges

by Aksel Nærstad

The Earth Summit on sustainable development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was a very important event. The conference adopted the Climate Convention,  the Convention on Biodiversity, and the Agenda 21. In 2012, in Rio, there will be another United Nation Conference on environment and development: the Rio+20 conference. More and Better is taking active part in the preparations and works together with other organizations and networks in order to get ecological small scale agriculture to be a key issue at the conference.

More and Better has an important role to play

By Aksel Naerstad, Co-coordinator of More and Better

Many international conferences, institutions and countries have decided to give more support to agriculture and rural development. However, a lot of this support will never be realized. It’s ghost money.
Much of the support which is given, instead, goes to programs which in reality will increase poverty, hunger and environmental destruction in the long run. Sometimes less support is better! There is, therefore, still an important role to play for More and Better.

A Viable Food Future

The aim of this report is to provide scientifically based facts, arguments and ideas for what is needed to meet some of the most important challenges in the world today. The future of humanity depends on how food is - and will be - produced and provided.

Click here to read more and download the report

What kind of food provision should More and Better promote? Join the debate in the MaB general meeting.

 More and Better has the pleasure to invite members and friends to take part in their general global meeting to be held Thursday 7th and Friday 8th October at FAO headquarters, in Rome. The meeting is scheduled prior to the 36 session of the FAO committee on World Food Security and CSOs initiatives linked to it.