SAWTEE and Oxfam organized the Second Civil Society Forum on Responding to Food Insecurity in South Asia from 24-25 February 2011 in Kathmandu.
A cross-section of over 50 stakeholders from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the Forum and adopted the Civil Society Statement on Food Security II, which contains a set of recommendations for the SAARC Agricultural Ministers, who were scheduled to meet in Dhaka on 3 March.
The recommendations are under six clusters: climate change, agriculture and food security; regional cooperation on trade in agricultural and food products; SAARC Food Bank; intellectual property rights and farmers' rights; technology transfer; and the SAARC Seed Bank and Material Transfer Agreement. The Statement also features 12 project ideas developed by the Forum for consideration by SAARC.
The Forum was a continuation of the first such Forum held in October 2008 which had also adopted a statement on food security.
The event was part of the Trade, Climate Change and Food Security Programme, which SAWTEE and Oxfam Novib are implementing in South Asia.
Full Report
Media Coverage