18 reasons for a Dutch agricultural policy with an international perspective
Our manifesto "The Dutch Agriculture Agreement reaches further than the Netherlands: offer prospects for sustainable farmers and consumers worldwide" has now been signed by over 70 civil society organisations, agricultural organisations and companies, environmental organisations and scientists from around the world. Below, a few of them give their personal motivation why they support the manifesto.
Andrew Adem, ESAFF Uganda: 'We know that the Netherlands is the world's second-largest exporter of agricultural products and is partnering with many governments, especially in the global south in agriculture and food. Because of that major global influence, the Netherlands should support an agricultural development model that promotes climate justice, enables local food producers and the development of local markets, and that reduces inequality worldwide.'
Bert van Ruitenbeek, Stichting Demeter: 'Biological dynamic agriculture is essentially about creating a living agrarian culture. Local, connected to the earth, the plants, the animals and the people in the surroundings and the landscape. Without chemicals. Marketed as much as possible locally and with minimum dependence on inputs from the agro-industry. The Netherlands has a responsibility to see agriculture in that broad international perspective and to promote food security at local level everywhere in the world. That's why we are supporting this manifesto.'
Eva Lia Colombo, WO=MEN: ' WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform believes that it is essential for Dutch agricultural policy to be gender responsive and to leave no one behind – especially women and girls in all their diversity – in line with the Netherlands' objective to pursue a Feminist Foreign Policy.'
Foodwatch Nederland: 'We urgently need to move towards a fair agricultural policy that is good for farmers, animals, consumers and the environment, both in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world. That's why Foodwatch has undersigned this manifesto.'
Guus Geurts, Food Justice Working Group & core team Voedsel Anders NL: 'It is urgent for farmers in the Netherlands, the EU and in the Global South that the current neoliberal WTO rules are abandoned and that the European Common Agricultural Policy based on them is radically reformed. The reintroduction of EU and global market regulation can not only ensure fair prices for farmers producing environmentally friendly products but also stop dumping and reduce the burden on scarce resources in the Global South.'
Hilke Jansen, The Hunger Project: 'Dutch agriculture has an enormous impact on the rest of the world: in a positive sense through our knowledge and know-how, but unfortunately also negatively through its excessively large footprint on nature and food security. The Hunger Project believes that must be changed and can be by implementing the eight concrete steps proposed in this manifesto.'
Janneke Hoekstra, Land van Ons: 'Stop importing cattle feed; that will have a positive impact in two ways: lower demand for crops from other countries and continents and thereby less deforestation, and a reduction in intensive cattle-breeding.'
Juan Lovera, HandelAnders!: 'By adopting the proposals in this manifesto, the government can take an important step towards worldwide policy coherence, not only on agriculture, but also on trade and climate.'
Karin van Boxtel, Both ENDS: 'Farmers in many countries outside Europe are suffering the consequences of trade agreements between their countries and the Netherlands or the EU. These agreements contain clauses limiting the use of and trade in indigenous seeds. This restricts the opportunities of small-scale farmers to adapt seeds and plants to quickly changing weather conditions and thus to ensure the supply of sufficient food.'
Kirsten Haanraads, WNF: 'Nature and agriculture are closely linked. That link can be used in a such way that nature and agriculture strengthen rather than work against each other. As an important player in the glob al food system, the Netherlands can make a significant contribution to achieving this aim.'
Maarten van Nieuw Amerongen, Woord en Daad: 'Farmers in both the Netherlands and the Global South are part of the same global food production system and face similar problems. Let the Agriculture Agreement contribute to a fairer distribution of income, knowledge and power in the sector.'
Maria Inckmann van Gaalen, Biodynamische Vereniging: 'Genuinely healthy agriculture is based on local cycles, with food from local sources and much attention to biodiversity – that applies not only to the Netherlands, but also to the countries that currently grow 'our' cattle feed.'
Nelleke Don, Slow Food Nederland: 'The Netherlands must change its role in the international food system, so that food becomes 'good, clean & fair' for everybody.'
Nout van der Vaart, Oxfam Novib: 'Dutch agriculture and our role in the worldwide food system have an enormous impact on farmers, the climate, food security, market development and the environment in the Global South.'
Paul van den Berg, Cordaid: 'Agricultural systems are responsible for around a third of global emissions of greenhouse gases, which are causing unprecedented periods of drought, flooding, rising sea levels and sedimentation. Small farmers in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and other low-income countries are bearing the brunt of these catastrophic changes. As one of the largest exporters of agricultural products, the Netherlands is making no small contribution to this problem.'
Tessa Terpstra, Save the Children: 'Dutch agricultural policy must take account of the affects it is having on children around the world. Children are especially hard hit if local food production is disrupted by the import of non-sustainably produced food from Western countries. And they suffer most if their families cannot sell their sustainable agricultural products because they cannot compete with cheaper products from the Netherlands. There is then not enough money for their education and a greater risk of them falling prey to child labour. Moreover, the stress they experience if their families are experiencing difficulties can lead to mental health problems.'
Violet Matiru, MCDI Kenya: 'We see the Netherlands applying double standards. They want to increase food security here, but at the same time they promote trade that does not benefit farmers and consumers in Kenya. A good example is the flower sector, in which the Netherlands is a leading actor. In a country like Kenya, where people are dying of hunger, flowers are being produced on a large scale that are non-edible and do not contribute to food security.'
Volkert Engelsman, EOSTA: 'Feeding the world is about a fairer distribution of prosperity; that does not improve if we make the third (and second) worlds more dependent on artificial fertilisers and pesticides from the first world that have a destructive impact on soil fertility and biodiversity, and therefore on the prosperity of local farmers.'
For more information
Read more about this subject
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Publication / 24 April 2023
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Press release / 21 April 2023
Manifesto: The Netherlands can reduce its international footprint with new Agricultural Agreement
The Dutch Agriculture Agreement, which is currently under development, is too much focused solely on the Netherlands. That is the opinion of a broad coalition of more than sixty NGOs, farmers' organisations, scientists and companies that have today sent an urgent letter to agriculture minister Piet Adema and foreign trade and development minister Liesje Schreinemacher. The government's agricultural policy should also aim to reduce the Netherlands' enormous agrarian footprint beyond our borders, by taking food security and the preservation of biodiversity as its starting points. The coalition has published a manifesto in which it sets out how reform of the Netherlands' foreign agricultural policy could be given shape.
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Dossier
Finance for agroecology
The lion's share of public budgets for climate, agriculture and development still goes to conventional agroindustrial projects that contribute to the current climate, food and biodiversity crises. Both ENDS and our partners are calling for a transition to agroecological practices that are people- and environment-friendly.
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Dossier
The Netherlands, the world and the elections
Elections are soon to be held in the Netherlands. The political parties are sharpening their knives and have outlined their plans in hefty manifestos. Not surprisingly, they mainly focus on domestic issues. International themes are primarily addressed in terms of opportunities for Dutch companies and threats in areas like health, privacy and competition that we need to protect ourselves against. But if we want to make the Netherlands sustainable, we especially need to look at our footprint beyond our own borders and make every effort to reduce it. In the weeks leading up to the elections, Both ENDS looks at where the parties' manifestos offer opportunities to achieve that.
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Transformative Practice
Agroecology
Agroecology is a diverse set of agricultural practices, a field of science and a social movement. It aims to transform food systems towards greater ecological sustainability, social justice, and resilience. Both ENDS and CSO-partners around the world support farmers and pastoralists practising agroecology, both on the ground and in gathering political and financial support.
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Publication / 1 September 2017
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Publication / 1 September 2017
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News / 14 March 2021
Vote for the Climate!
A number of our colleagues at Both ENDS made a lot of noise at various locations around the country today, as part of the national Klimaatalarm (Climate Alarm) campaign. Annelieke Douma gave a short speech in Haarlem on the major role played by the Netherlands in climate change and environmental degradation beyond our borders. She made a number of suggestions that would immediately make Dutch foreign policy a lot more climate-friendly. Below is the text of her speech.
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Event / 28 February 2019, 14:00 - 15:30
Webinar: Realizing women’s land rights in Africa
This webinar will feature experiences from several grassroots initiatives and highlight how they fight for women's improved access to and control over land and other natural resources and to scale up women's land rights.
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News / 28 September 2017
Both ENDS at UNCCD COP13: don’t forget about the people
This September, Both ENDS participated at the 13th Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD in Ordos, Inner Mongolia in China. We were part of the Drynet delegation, a network of CSOs, to bring local realities to the international UNCCD discussions.
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Publication / 7 November 2022
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Publication / 2 November 2021
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Blog / 16 February 2021
The Netherlands can contribute much to making agriculture sustainable – nationally and internationally
If the Netherlands wants to make its agriculture and livestock industry sustainable and to ensure that farmers get a fair price for their products, it will also have to look beyond its own borders. The Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products. We have a great impact because, through our trade relations, we uphold a system of intensive agriculture that destroys ecosystems and undermines local production. Partly due to our trade in agricultural products, the Dutch economy is has a large, and growing, footprint. That should and can be different: the Netherlands is in a good position to lead the required transition in agriculture. Fortunately, the party manifestos for the coming elections offer sufficient opportunities to set that in motion. A new coalition can thus take decisive new steps.
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Event / 22 September 2022, 13:00 - 14:30
Showcasing transformative approaches for women’s land rights
Both ENDS and the Land Portal Foundation invite you to the third webinar in the Whose Land? Inclusive Pathways to Land Governance series. This third Whose Land? webinar will showcase gender transformative approaches on women's land rights. Gender transformative approaches are defined by women acting as agents of change, transforming structural barriers and redefining gender norms. These approaches facilitate the participation of women in land governance decision-making processes, but require closing the land data gender gap.
Register here
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Blog / 12 October 2022
Op-ed in Trouw: "Give more money to local sustainable food producers in developing countries"
The Dutch government and Dutch businesses spend a lot of money on food production in developing countries. But, according to Karin van Boxtel, policy officer at Both ENDS, far too little of that money finds its way to sustainable, nature-inclusive producers.
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News / 10 August 2021
Opinion: The genie will escape from the bottle if we don’t change our approach to nature
As a response to the latest IPCC report, the directors of IUCN NL, Tropenbos International, Wetlands International, Both ENDS and the Institute for Environmental Security wrote an op-ed about the role nature policy can and should play in stopping climate change, which was published in Dutch in De Volkskrant of August 10, 2021. Below, you find the English translation of the article.
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Event / 6 September 2017
UNCCD COP 2017 - CHINA
From 6-16 september, the 13th Conference of Parties' of the UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification) took place, this time in Ordos, China. The UNCCD is the global convention of the United Nations on combating desertification and drought. Every country in the world has signed this convention. Canada withdrew in 2012, but in 2016 - under the Trudeau administration - started a process to re-enter the convention. Both ENDS is a member of Drynet, a network of local organisations and communities in dry regions searching for ways to use land in a sustainable manner.
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Letter / 9 June 2022
Appeal to the FAO to rescind the FAO partnership with CropLife
Pesticide Action Network and 430 civil society and indigenous peoples organizations from 69 countries have sent a letter of concern to the 170th session of FAO council about the FAO partnership agreement with CropLife International.
CropLife International is a global trade association whose members are the world's largest agrichemical, pesticide and seed companies: BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corteva Agriscience, FMC Corporation, Sumitomo Chemical and Syngenta. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) en CropLife International have started a partnership in 2020 to collaborate on pesticide use. We think that this partnership is incompatible with FAO's obligations to uphold human rights, directly counters any efforts toward progressively banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides, and undercuts the FAO and several Member States' support for agroecology and other transformative practices.
The letter asks the Council to review and end immediately the partnership agreement with CropLife International.
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Publication / 26 August 2020
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Letter / 22 April 2022
Letter to State Secretary Heijnen about the MTCS certificate
Both ENDS, also on behalf of FERN, NCIV and Milieudefensie, sent a letter to Vivianne Heijnen, the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, about the MTCS certificate. In practice, this Malaysian timber certificate appears to tolerate the violation of indigenous land rights and intimidation of indigenous organisations. The Netherlands should therefore suspend the approval of MTCS in its purchasing policy, among other things.