Food Distribution Requires Access to Productive Resources | The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature
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جعجع في مؤتمر الأمن الغذائي: مشكلة الغذاء في العالم في توزيعه لا في توفره

 Invited to address a special conference on food-related issues in Beirut, APN’s founding member Hassan Al-Jaajaa said that the distribution of food is the real problem and not its availability.

The conference, held on April 15th, 2019, was organized by the American University of Beirut (AUB) Food Security Program in cooperation with EAT-Lancet committee. Discussion dealt with the launch of MENA report on the food systems in the Arab region.

In his speech, AL-Jaajaa stressed that the main problem is not the availability of food in the world but its distribution. One of the most important factors guaranteeing justice in the distribution of food, he said, is access to productive resources such as land, water and seeds.He added that small farmers who make up the food basket in the world are losing their agricultural land quickly for the benefit of large agricultural and industrial companies aiming at exporting and not providing local food needs.

He concluded by saying that the success of this report requires the involvement of civil society in its distribution, implementation and monitoring, and more importantly in analyzing the economic and political factors that hinder or facilitate its vision. He called for an ethical charter to guide policies and practices of different parties towards achieving this vision.