ISSUE: Implementing sustainable agricultural practices in LEDC’s

MAIN SUBMITTER: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

CO-SUBMITTERS: Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Ukraine, Pakistan, Vietnam

______

Recalling Millennium Development Goal 8’s goal B calling for addressing the special needs of Least developed countries.

Reaffirming the need to continue helping LDCs develop strong and stable economies capable of functioning without foreign financial backing.

Expressing its appreciation for assisting countries such as Botswana, Samoa and Maldives in graduating from the status of a LEDC.

Alarmed by the fact that the number of UN-recognised LEDC’s currently stands at an astounding 47 states.

Concerned about the persisting vulenrability of countries such as Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia to drought-induced starvation.

Bearing in mind the U.N-sponsored commission on genetic resources for food and agriculture promoting conservation and and sustainable use of genetic resources.

Noting with satisfaction the reduction in the global number of undernourished people from 923 to 793 millions between 2008-2016

Welcoming all member states to continue their efforts towards development of sustainable agricultural practices in LDCs.

1.Reminds Member States to reinforce previous mandates and resolutions with the urgent purpose to implement sustainable agricultural practices in less economically developed countries (LEDCs).

2.Calls for, In light of recent financial and political instability within Venezuela, financial support for the social programme of “Vuelta al Campo” encouraging the repopulation of the countryside with the aims of:

  1. Advancing Venezuela’s self-sufficiency in food and other agricultural produce, therefore maximizing the efficiency of domestic production and reducing the necessity to import foreign goods.
  2. Promoting greater usage of Venezuela’s vast tracts of fertile soil & encouraging greater levels of economic activity.
  1. Financing of this programme is to be done through voluntary investment by member states of the UN.

3.Requests Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) to cooperate in the creation and the implementation of a set of laws that will diversify the agricultural industry by:

  1. Protecting and aiding small-scale family farms by:
  2. setting a number that will request that a percentage of the agricultural industry be run by small-scale family farms,
  3. giving aid to small-scale family farms that qualify for an aid program that aims to ensure the survival of the tradition and culture of these small-scale family farms,
  4. Implementing taxes and restrictions on Big Ags such as, but is not limited to:
  5. requiring that large-scale farms grow a minimum amount of variety of crops to ensure soil quality preservation,
  6. implement policies that will heavily tax large-scale farms of a certain size to minimize the growth of large-scale farms;

4.FurtherInvites all member states for an increasingly active support of Caribbean Environment Programme by means such as but not limited to:

  1. Financial Contributions:
  2. Monetary Investment into the programme conducted by the member states.
  3. Material contributions for development of sustainable agricultural practices such as provision of organic fertilizers and neonicotinoid-free pesticides for local farmers & other agricultural workers.
  4. Provision of machinery allowing for more efficient utilization of available farmland such as seed drills, chaser bins & farm trucks.
  5. Political Support:
  6. Advanced cooperation between member states located within or in proximity to the Caribbean region and the programme.
  7. Extension of the programme's duties & powers regarding it’s involvement in environment-related affairs.
  8. Social Support
  9. Extension of awareness concerning the programme to the population’s of the member-states.
  10. Extension of awareness is to be done through Social Media, Schooling, & primary education.

5.Stresses the urgent need for member states to extend education concerning safe and sustainable agricultural practices to farmers and other agricultural workers through establishment of government-financed institutions and organizations such as but not limited to:

  1. Schools, and other tools of secondary education providing basic tuition regarding agriculture, particularly it’s forms, practices and its necessity for sustainable human development including:
  2. Importance of responsible water usage and conservation in agriculture.
  3. Basic information regarding the plantation and management of crops and simple plants.
  4. Universities and Institutes providing post-secondary level education to those in question concerning:
  5. Establishment of long-lasting plantations and farmlands on which crops and other agricultural produce can be grown.
  6. Advanced education about more modern, complex agricultural practices [i.e agroforestry and crop rotation]
  7. Methods of reducing methane emissions from livestock [i.e the usage of ‘digesters’]
  8. Methods of preventing soil degradation [i.e construction of retaining walls & water drainage techniques]
  9. Welfare groups supplying farmers with instruments, modern machinery, and instructions with regards to their usage in order to encourage more bountiful and efficient utilization of their land.

6.Proposes establishment of Organization for Development of Modern Agricultural Technology [ODMAT], concerning itself with research, development, and publicization of:

  1. Methods and techniques aimed to facilitate more efficient, environmentally friendly practices for production of agricultural produce.
  2. Machinery and technology encouraging more safe and productive farming.
  3. Environmentally-friendly fertilizers.
  4. Pesticides and other chemicals serving the purpose of protecting farmed crops from degradation and damage caused by pests and pathogens.
  1. Funding of the organization is to be done through international, monetary investment by member states of the United Nations, performed through the framework of yearly allocation of a minimum required .1% of every willing member state’s total GDP towards the organization, which will reap the benefits of:
  2. Possessing seats within the organization's central committee concerned with allocation of it’s funds
  3. Provision with the most up-to-date agricultural practices, machinery and technology developed by the organization in quantities corresponding to the magnitude of the state’s yearly investment.

7.Recommendsestablishment of updated laws concerning agricultural regulations serving purposes such as but not limited to:

  1. Punishment of those responsible for deliberate damage to the agricultural property of farmers by means of obligatory monetary compensations and other sentences considered appropriate in each individual case by the courts of the member states.
  2. Preventing irresponsible soil tilling, excessive chemical usage, or unlawful clearing of natural vegetation by means such as monetary fines.Cases where farmers are found guilty of committing several of such offences over a short span of time, are to be dealt with temporary, or depending on severity of these offences, permanent seizure and reallocation of farming property to other individuals.
  3. Ensuring by law, ethical and sustainable methods of crop production including:
  4. Usage of modern pesticides safe for human utilization.
  5. Responsible soil tilling as to avoid unnecessary soil erosion.

8.Authorizes Redistribution of barren, unclaimed farming estates to aspiring, and land-less agricultural workers in LEDC’s with the aims of:

  1. Encouraging a greater influx of farmers to take up the production of agricultural goods.
  2. Efficiently utilizing the fertile lands available for growth of foodstuffs and other produce.
  1. Land redistribution is to be done through Environment ministries of member states, where farmers in need will make a submission requesting provision of estates, which must include:
  2. Grounds on which the farmer in question is authorized to manage estates for agricultural production [i.e previous education, experience, proof of physical and mental fitness]
  3. Personal information [i.e contact details, current residence, criminal record]
  4. Medical information [i.e history of diseases that might lead to an unexpected passing of the farmer in question]

9.Recommends all LEDCs, especially countries who are currently involved in implementing cultural cultivation techniques, to reduce land waste, soil degeneration and deforestation by:

  1. Improving scientific laboratories, facilities and equipment on agricultural practices by Developing the quality of fertilizers to retard soil degeneration,
  2. Increasing cultural diversity within the region,
  3. Encouraging farmers to implement newly developed scientific cultivation techniques, such as:
  4. Seasonal land rotation to prevent exploitations toward the nutrients in the soil,
  5. Recycling the excretions of livestock and to use them as organic fertilizers,
  6. Preventing soil degradation:
  7. Increasing the surface area of fuelwood,
  8. Enhancing protective provision on natural disasters:
  9. Construct dams and levees in order to prevent soil soils erosion caused by floods,
  10. Planting crops in relatively stable areas,
  11. Implementing better weather forecasting systems,
  12. Implementing genetically modified food technology, by, but not limited to:
  13. Strengthening plants root,
  14. Allowing plants to survive in extreme climates and consume less water,
  15. Enforcing stricter regulations exploiting natural habitats for farming purposes;