A year ago, I began my first term as a co-facilitator of the Farmers Major Group Facilitating Committee (FMGFC) as one of nine civil society “major groups” designated by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Mr. Paul Temple, an active farmer from the UK and member/leader of the Global Farmer Network, and I were nominated and elected to serve as co-facilitators. We work collaboratively with the other major groups within the UNEP. Our role is to help give voice to our Farmers Constituency as the UNEP grapples with the broad topics of the triple planetary threat crisis: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Every two years, UNEP convenes an international assembly to discuss and address the implications, impact, and solutions for the planet. Next year, UNEA-7 is scheduled to take place at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with a significant agenda of issues, updates, and actions to be deliberated on and adopted.
Subcommittee Meeting Recap
The 11th Annual Sub-Committee meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (ASC-CPR) was convened in a hybrid format. I was fortunate to be able to participate in-person at the deliberations, which are recognized to be one of the early steps on the road to UNEA-7.
Along with five other civil society major groups present at the meeting, we continued our interactions with the member states with assistance from the UN Civil Society Unit (CSU), voicing our various “interventions,” as windows of opportunity for comment was allowed.
During the five-day convening, we were honored to have separate sit-down interviews with the new UNEA-7 President Abdullah Bin Ali Amir and Vice President Zsolt Meszaros. We shared with them our points of engagement and outcome aspirations.
We also had important internal discussions hosted by our CSU. We reviewed the protocols, rules of conduct, and guidelines that each major group should utilize in interactions within the UNEP umbrella.
I was fortunate to have two intervention opportunities to address the delegates. One was a statement on Invasive Species threats on Day 2 during the reporting on biodiversity loss; the other was a Day 5 closing joint statement from the major groups and stakeholders.
The closing group statement had a short slot for Farmers Major Group observations, and I inserted the following statement to send a message that would be clearly understood by farmers, and more importantly to the success of farmers, by the non-farmer communities:
The consequences of success or failure for agriculture under any Triple Threat scenario can be described succinctly: No Water No Farms, No Farms No Food, No Food No Peace, No Peace No Future. And while there are other significant challenges for Farmers, such as accelerating invasive species events, addressing serious issues with plastics, and circularity with crops or waste to energy transitions, the outcome of our collaborative work here at UNEP will define that precarious future.
Personal Reflections: Visiting Kibera
While there is always a sense of urgency at these various UN programs, it takes years and decades to address challenges. And while planning for global temperature-rise deadlines or setting sustainable development goals for 2030 is of a critical nature and time sensitive to a degree, the aspect of urgent action needed to correct a correctable condition or threat to humanity is often overlooked.
Case in point, just miles away from the UN campus in Nairobi, one of the largest slums in the world, Kibera, continues to exist in a state of abject poverty, neglect, and tragedy. The average lifespan for a Kibera inhabitant is 30 years, with much of the premature death attributed to unsanitary conditions and contaminated water for infants and children.
I visited Kibera unexpectedly as a friend’s brother happened to be in Nairobi doing a different kind of intervention with an organization, Africa Heart, that has been working with HIV women with children but without husbands. Their husbands have either died or abandoned them.
Africa Heart is an amazing nonprofit addressing the daily urgency of families in crisis. And as they do their important work to teach these women new seamstress, tailoring, and life skills, they have inspired and instilled a new sense of hope in this place that endures such daily suffering over years and years.
As I arrived in Kibera, the recent flooding from heavy rains just days before had washed already eroded roads away, creating detours through even tougher parts of the shanty town. Not knowing what to expect, we found Africa Heart’s facility by asking friendly locals along the way for directions. As I entered through a gateway, a group of more than a dozen smiling, singing, and dancing women greeted me with a traditional welcome reception that melted away any sense of apprehension that I may have had. What followed was a short tour and some initial introductions then a remarkable series of testimonials from some of Africa Heart’s graduates, who completed a one- to two-year program. Their sense of renewal and excitement for the future made it clear to me that the ‘Do Tank’ attitude to be found here with a dedicated group of humanitarians was making the kind of difference that turns despair into hope and hope into new living.
It was their life stories that challenged my perception of time, hope, and solutions. I realize there are urgencies throughout the world, and our work at Solutions from the Land addresses some of that ticking clock of seeking and implementing agricultural solutions. My time in Kibera challenged me to remember that we must not lose ourselves in understanding the actual crisis and remedy. Prioritization of what needs to be done should not be so complicated. The stark reality that comes with many of our agricultural endeavors is made even more manifest that there must be a better way to realign our resources, skills, and imagination to keep demonstrating that our changing world can indeed turn and pivot faster than we ever could have believed. We must keep moving onward!
