Council of Ministers: Food and Agriculture

HOWDY DELEGATES,

I would first like to start off by saying welcome to YMGE! I know we are going to have an exciting conference and I look forward to meeting every one of you.

My name is Rene Olivarez and I am currently a sophomore at Yale University. I am planning on majoring in chemistry and may add some history into the mix. I am originally from South Texas; coming to Budapest is definitely a well-received change of pace. On campus I am involved with the Yale International Relations Association as a chair for a variety of other conferences like YMUN and SCSY. Along with that I am also on MUNTY which is Yale's competitive Model UN team. I am also a member of the Tory Party in the Yale Political Union, and a member of the Yale Archery Team.

I am excited to see where our debate leads us as we traverse through the various crises that await us. Food and Agriculture are an integral part of what truly allows countries to be well established. Countries that are able to maintain a steady supply of food to their citizens and provide any relief that is necessary, are truly at the top of their game. I really enjoy food politics and how they dictate the world. The crisis that await us will truly be exciting, and I can’t wait to see how each of you handle the situation!

Once again I look forward to meeting all of you and seeing where committee takes us. If you have any questions do not hesitate to email me at rene.olivarez@yale.edu Enjoy the topic!

See you in November,

Rene Olivarez

I feel that a very often overlooked portion of any governmental body is the food and agriculture committee. This committee is responsible for maintaining a strong agriculture system, while at the same time crafting agriculture policy to set rules and regulations on those growing food. Without policy that is done by food and agriculture committees, providing a surplus of food would be an almost impossible task. Multinational bodies, like the European Union, are vital in maintaining agriculture policy throughout an entire region. The work done by these bodies allows for hundreds of millions of people to have a sustainable food supply every single day.

Agriculture policy in Europe first formally took its roots in 1949, when the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, made a recommendation for the creation of a body that would oversee agriculture policy within Europe. This was done due to the increasing population after World War II. European leaders found that there was less food per person after the war than before. The body was formed under the name of “European Committee on Agriculture Technology.” This committee went under further name changes, until it reached its name today, “European Commission on Agriculture.” For over 50 years the commission has been responsible for setting in place agriculture policy that has bettered Europe.

One of the most significant policies to come out of this committee has been the Common Agriculture Policy or CAP. This policy was put in place in 1962, as a way to set up agriculture subsidies and aid with rural development. CAP uses three main pillars in order to sustain itself. The pillars are market unity, community preference and financial solidarity. This was originally done because Germany wanted access to French markets and the Germans helped to pay for French farmers. All of this helped to regulate market prices and keep millions of farmers employed.

In 1962, CAP underwent some major reforms through the Mansholt Plan. This plan was proposed by Sicco Mansholt, who was the European Commissioner of Agriculture. His original plan involved decreasing the amount of land that was being cultivated. He wanted to reduce agricultural land by 5 million hectares, in order to redistribute the land. In theory, this was meant to increase competition and regulate the prices of food. This plan would have left millions of farmers without jobs, which led to the plan being significantly reduced in scope. The plan instead led to more modern agriculture methods being implemented in these areas. An article remembering Sicco Mansholt was published with the title “Growth Below Zero” to commemorate his failed 

CAP had one major problem with it, and that was it led to massive overproduction and waste of food. This caused many environmental groups to ask for reforms with CAP in the 1990’s. Financially, the program tipped and it needed for more to be done. The current reform issues in EU agriculture are: lowering prices, ensuring food safety and quality, and guaranteeing stability of farmers' incomes. This led to production support and rural development being issues that needed to be addressed by the committee. The budget for CAP was also full of problems and needed to be reformed. To balance the budget they decoupled subsidies on particular crops, and allowed for a better flow of money.

Today, CAP is not as production-oriented as it was when the program first began. It now uses a method known as Single Farmer Payment (SFP). This method allows member governments to distribute SFP at either the farm or regional level. Using this money farmers can grow any crops, except fruit, vegetables or table potatoes. Farmers receiving this money must also make sure that their land complies with environmental standards. Around 39% of the entire EU budget does towards CAP. There are now programs in place that allow farmers to be aware of market imbalances, to better prepare them for special financial situations. There is a program called EU Rural Development Policy, which is meant to better rural communities. This policy relies on three axes. The first one, improves the competitiveness of the farm and forestry sector by reconstruction, development and innovation. The second one deals with improving the environment and countryside through land management and fighting climate change. The last one, improves the quality of life for rural communities and encourages diversity.

In summary all of CAP’s purposes are as follows:

-Helps farmers produce sufficient quantities of food for Europe

-Ensures this food is safe (for example through traceability)

-Protects farmers from excessive price volatility and market crises

-Helps them invest in modernising their farms

-Sustains viable rural communities, with diverse economies

-Creates and maintains jobs in the food industry

-Protects the environment & animal welfare.

CAP has full jurisdiction over the following products in Europe: cereal, rice, potatoes, oil, dried fodder, milk products, wine, honey, all meat, sugar, fruits, vegetables, cottons, legumes, sweet lupins, olives, flax products, silkworms, hemp, tobacco, hops, seeds, live plants and animal feedstuffs. The following image shows agricultural land based on each member country.

First and foremost, the first power of the commission is to insure that all member governments are able to provide a basic level of agricultural output based on population. This also means that the member governments are coordinating with one another, on agriculture output. Measures like this are done to make sure that there is a minimum standard of nutrition throughout the region. To make this possible, the European Commission on Agriculture provides economic, technical and agricultural support to all countries that are not able to achieve a certain level of nutrition. The commission provides means to develop water resources, provision food, make research public and spread the use of more advanced technical agricultural tools. All of this applies to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and home economic pursuits. These resources provide a means to develop sustainable agriculture practices in countries that only have a basic agriculture system.

The European Commission on Agriculture has set up a method to widely implement all of their new methods. The commission realizes that the small farmer represents a majority of the people who grow agriculture products in Europe. It is the commission’s job to educate all of these farmers of the newest methods to agriculture production. To do this the commission provides demonstration serves to local communities to do mass educating. They provide the newest resources to these farmers and educate them on how to use the equipment. A large portion of this process is being able to relate with the farmers on a physiological level. Many of these farmers are resistant to change, so the commission has to wean them off old methods and onto new ones. Most importantly, the commission does this to help with rural economic development. Many of these farmers do not receive enough income for the work they do, so the commission does what it can to promote economic growth in these areas.

The commission also acts as a sort of “clean-up crew” when it comes to outdated agrarian structures. When the commission removes these defective features, they are able to improve the lives of those who use these outdated features. All this is done in a very democratic way, to insure that new ideas are used, while at the same time acknowledging the farmers wishes. Some of these defects are as follows: uneconomic size of farms, the fragmentation of holdings, the mal-distribution of landed property, excessive rents, inequitable systems of taxation, insecurity of tenure, perpetual indebtedness or the lack of clear titles to land and water. These projects are funded in co-operation with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and with other international institutions giving grants or credits, in all their activities with respect to agriculture, fisheries, and forestry and in related economic fields.

A key role that the commission plays in the European world, is maintaining all of the rural land in Europe. They are responsible for developing this land, and ensuring that the people living in these areas are given the necessary resources that are required of them, to maintain the agriculture industry. These resources come in the form of allowing for more hunting and fishing, opening up new agricultural land for development, providing the newest equipment to the farmers, and making sure that the quality of life for the farmers is of the utmost importance. The commission stresses that the farmers living in the area are treated very well, so there is not any disruption with agricultural development. They do not want farmers reacting the way they did in 1962, when they were told that land was going to be taken from them. Actions like this hinder growth in this sector, because if the agriculturists refuse to work, then all of Europe suffers. Along with this other problems that stop agricultural growth are political interference, lack of motivation, unwillingness to work in villages, improper utilization of the budget and lack of proper managing problems.

The problem with unwillingness to work in villages is specifically important for the commission. This is why they strive to improve the living situation of the people in these villages. For example, they have begun to expand more education opportunities to these people living in villages. Offering resources like this incentivizes the people in the village to continue working. This also incentivizes the commission, because the more they help out with these communities, the more they continue to work. This is a balanced system of giving and taking to insure that Europe receives the food that it needs.

The food supply chain is very susceptible to those who want to cause fear, terror or commit acts of terrorism. Nations have to worry about naturally-occurring animal outbreaks like such as swine-flu and mad cow disease. Agro-terrorism poses a much larger threat to the community than these naturally occurring threats, due to the fact that this malicious act can be much more harmful that naturally occurring threats. It is the job of a nation to insure that food is not only safe for their citizens, but others as well. Food and agriculture products are a constantly moving and it is the job of all nations to insure the safety of their agricultural products.

Agro terrorism:

Agro terrorism is the purposeful act of introducing a disease or pathogen to an animal or plant group. This form of terrorism is especially harmful because it causes both food shortages and an economic downturn for the country experiencing this. This form of terrorism specifically targets the food supply chain, large scale agricultural production centers and the consumers of these products.

Bioterrorism:

Bioterrorism aims at a much larger scope than agro-terrorism. Bioterrorism is the act of releasing a virus or other pathogen to the environment with the aim of harming people, animals or plants. This is usually done by some vector such as water or food contamination. Acts of bioterrorism aim to harm the population as a whole rather than just targeting a specific portion of it.

Bacteria, Parasites, Fungi, Viruses:

Bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses are all very commonly used in acts of terrorism. Some common bacterial agents that have been used in acts of terrorism are anthrax, brucellosis, Escherichia coli, plague, tularaemia, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, shigellosis and leptospirosis. All of these agents cause severe symptoms in those affected and can even cause death. Common parasites include Cysticercosis/taeniasis, trematodosis, echinococcosis/ hydatidosis, toxoplasmosis, and trichinellosis all of which can cause seizures and death if left untreated. Fungi are most used to harm large areas of cropland, and can cause adverse effects in humans. Viruses are probably the most commonly know of all of these agents. Common viruses include Rabies, Avian Influenza, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, and Rift Valley Fever. All of these viruses are mainly transmitted through bites, saliva and other bodily fluids. Viruses are arguably the most harmful of all these agents due to the amount of time it takes to develop a vaccine.

Biosecurity:

It is extremely important for countries to have some form of biosecurity in place. This involves constant research on treating outbreaks as well as protecting the cropland in their country. Having a reliable source of scientists and researchers working on cures is always must to insure that countries stay safe.

When looking into further research it is important to focus on the issue at hand: Terrorism to the agriculture sector. I would focus on how countries have prepared for issues that could arise. Also focus on how your individual country would react to this issue as well as programs they have in place. I think it would also be important to put all instances, not just those in the EU, of bioterrorism into account. For example, look at cases of bioterrorism or large outbreaks that have occurred in the United States, the world's leading agricultural exporter.

To begin research I would begin with asking yourself the question: What is the bigger issue at hand? How will other issues affect the agriculture of the EU? How can the agriculture sector of the EU insure that other sectors are safe?

In looking into bioterrorism look at all instances of this issue. Look at how countries in the past have reacted to this issue and what is now in place. Understand the changes that needed to be made to insure that it wouldn’t happen again. I would also recommend looking into other agriculture and trade agreements around the world to see what they have in place. I feel that this offers an interesting perspective and can really get some good debate going. Try not to focus on what the terrorism but rather action taken to prevent and solve it.

Lastly I would like for everyone to simply search the history of this issue in general. Look at how the issue started and how bioterrorism has evolved. For example, look at what crops, animals or people are being most targeted. Look at the cost for preventing this and what the cost is when it's already too late to prevent.