Elevating rural voices on the global stage
World leaders will gather in New York for 80th session of the UN General Assembly – where rural communities hit hard by climate change, conflict and hunger have a chance to be heard on the global stage.
In this episode, we hear from advocates who are taking action to amplify these rural voices. Join us as we discuss how rural development is financed, the power of building political movements and how we can keep food security high on the political agenda.
Find out more: Elevating rural voices on the global stage - Episode 91
Transcript
This is Farms.Food.Future, - a podcast that's good for you, good for the planet, and good for farmers. Brought to you by the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Welcome to episode 91. I'm Brian Thomson.
::And Co presenting this edition. I'm Michelle Tang.
::About 1/4 of the global labour force works in agriculture. That's roughly 900 million people whose livelihoods depend on farming.
::And tomorrow, September 9th, world leaders will gather in New York for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA 80, where they'll debate how to tackle the challenges facing these farmers and rural communities worldwide.
::This year marks a milestone - 8 decades since the very first General Assembly meeting in 1945, right after the founding of the United Nations. Back then, the focus was on rebuilding a world shattered by war.
::Today, the challenges are different, but just as urgent: a changing climate conflicts across the globe and 783 million people who still go to bed hungry.
::Many of those most affected are rural people who depend on farming, still struggle to grow their crops, earn a living and put food on the table.
::In this episode, we'll hear from voices who know what it takes to turn those priorities into action.
::David McNair from the ONE Campaign will talk about how to build political movements in challenging times, the kind that can influence leaders to invest in rural people.
::We’ll also speak to Michael Sheldrick from Global Citizen about how global activism and citizen engagement can keep poverty and food security high on the political agenda.
::And in our Global Donor Platform for Rural Development series, Tim Diphoorn from One Acre Fund will explain why we need fresh thinking about how rural development is financed – and how that can help smallholder farmers thrive.
::Don't forget we also want to hear from you what you think about our stories and who you want us to be talking to. So please get in touch with us at podcasts at Ifad.org.
::You can also subscribe to this podcast via your favourite podcast platform. And please don't forget to rate us.
::Coming up, we have ONE Campaign's David McNair.
::You’re listening to Farms. Food. Future. with me Brian Thomson, and Michelle Tang.
Joining us now is David McNair, Executive Director for Global Policy at the ONE Campaign, a movement co-founded by rock star Bono that channels the voices of millions to end extreme poverty and preventable disease
::That’s right. ONE’s members – millions of them – use their voices to put pressure on governments to invest more in things like education, healthcare, and food security.
::And they’ve had some big wins – from securing funding to fight HIV/AIDS to pushing for debt relief for developing countries.
::David sits on the European Council on Foreign Relations and is a founding board member of the Africa Europe Foundation.
He was also named one of the top 99 global foreign policy leaders under 33.
::He spoke to our reporter, Rosa González.
::David, to begin, what is the issue that keeps you up at night these days?
::I think I mean in the last five years, we've seen the worst pandemic since the 1920's. The worst conflict in Europe since the 1940's. The worst energy shock since the 1970s. And one thing that really kind of keeps me awake at night is a statement from the President of the European Central Bank. Christine Lagarde, which she said that the economic conditions that we're facing at the moment are similar to what happened in the 1930’s. And I think the risk of like conflict expanding and becoming a much bigger thing is really real at the moment and we're living through a pretty dark time. So, I think the thing that keeps me up at night is that the thing that keeps me going is the fact that there are so many brilliant people who are actually trying to do positive things in the world and are coming together to, to act and we need. More of those people to speak, I'd talk about what they're doing and present a vision of hope and the kind of world that we want to live in. You know, I think the big thing is that in dark times, like the one that we're now living through, it can seem like there's no point or there's no space to kind of act. And I think the kinds of activists that we think back and are inspired by didn't give up because it was hard. They kept going because it was the right thing to do and ultimately. They won because they were on the right side of history. And as we think about activism for things like IFAD for things like agriculture, global health, I'm at action. We need to keep going, even if it doesn't feel like we're winning in the short term, we need to keep going because this is the right thing to do, and we will ultimately win, in the long term.
::And why did you choose to go into advocacy in the first place? What drew you to this work?
::So, when I was…I grew up in Belfast in in the 1980s, which was kind of a depressing place to be. To be honest. It was kind of a I mean, it was a civil war, basically, not not to be. Too dramatic, but. When I was 18, the Good Friday Agreement was kind of signed and that was like a real moment of hope. A conflict that you know, almost everyone thought was never gonna end ended. And then I think it was about a year later, maybe a bit more than that. I went on this trip to India and just seeing the kind of extreme inequalities there really had a profound effect on me. And in that moment I kind of said to myself, I want to understand why this exists and I wanna try and challenge the reasons why it exists. So, I was never interested in like charity or just helping people. I wanted to, like, get to the root of the problems. And that led to me into getting involved in the Jubilee debt campaign, work on trade, justice, tax havens, IMF reform and that's kind of what I've been doing since.
::That's really interesting. And in the current global context, we were talking about, where do you see the strongest opportunities to increase financing with political leaders for civil society and institutions like IFAD that share the same ultimate goal of ending extreme poverty and hunger?
::Well, I mean the last six months have been pretty brutal when it comes to cuts to international public finance. I think the short term strategy is like we need to kind of keep making the case that these things really matter. And that government should be investing in agriculture and health, because this isn't just a charitable endeavour. This is about making our world safer and more secure and more prosperous. And in doing so, you know, you're less likely to have pandemics. You're more likely to build future trading partners. All the arguments are there, but we need to make them in a much more vocal way. Medium term, I think we need to think about how countries can grow their own economies and raise their own taxes and invest in their own priorities. And there's a lot of injustice around that, like the way that the international economic system is set up is not a level playing field. And there's a lot that we need to do to kind of change those rules. And that starts with understanding what those rules are, who the decision makers are, and then kind of building a power base and a campaign to, to shift those things, things like high debt is managed or, you know, if you're an African government going to borrow money in international markets, you'll pay more than the UK or Germany or the US. Not necessarily, because you're more risky, but because you're perceived to be more risky. So, we need to change those rules and if you know there's a process happening at the G20 at the moment that is looking at this cost of capital issue and looking at the specific changes that could be made to bring the rates of borrowing down from 11-12% even to like 6-7 percent. And if that was to happen, effectively no cost to anyone, you could be unlocking 10s of billions of dollars a year to invest in agriculture, education, healthcare. So, I think we need to be looking at those issues as well as making the case that donors should be investing in the countries that can't access other forms of finance. And then I think the long term thing is we need to kind of build a political movement that says this stuff matters again. Like I think what we're seeing so much now is that populists are winning elections more and more. And that's, I think, because people feel a real sense of insecurity, psychologically, it makes sense, you know, when you feel like the world's out of control, you want to protect those closest to you. But actually, the argument that we need to make is actually if we want to create a safer world, we need to invest in the safer world everywhere, and we haven't effectively been making those arguments. Or building political power to win elections based on those arguments. And that's a 5, 10 year, 15 year thing. But, we need to keep going you know.
::Given shrinking official development assistance for agriculture, how do you decide when to act and what to prioritise?
::There were two big reports published by the European Commission last year, one got a lot of attention. It was, it was written by Mario Draghi, the former Italian Prime Minister, and it talked about like Europe having a competitiveness problem and needing to get its economy in order and so on. But there was another report that didn't get much traction. It's called the letter report. And that basically showed that across Europe about 1/3 of European citizens now live in regions that are poorer today than they were 20 years ago and I think a lot of the people in the kind of global development climate, human rights sector, have been saying, we need to do the right thing. There are people over there that have, you know, in a much worse position. You need to look after them. And that argument just doesn't work anymore because people in those regions that feel left behind, they're like, what about our own problems? And I think the arguments we need to make are that this isn't about a 0 sum thing where you prioritise them over yourself. This is about us investing together in things that will make us both more prosperous, and we need to find examples of that. That might be like trading partners. It might be startups working together. I mean, a lot of the most innovative stuff on fintech is happening in Kenya at the moment. Like much more innovative than you know in the UK or France or the US. I think there there's a lot on kind of the green transition, you can imagine Co investments between Zambia that's big in copper and like battery manufacturing plants that create new jobs in the north of England. Those are the kinds of examples that we need to like be making that like this is not about them versus us. This is about all of us together.
::What would it take to put smallholder agriculture at the centre of global priority?
::Well, I think. I think saying central global priority is a really difficult thing to do at the moment because our political conversations should become have become so polarised. The communications landscape is so fragmented and it's almost like you need to start with what do you want to influence? Who's the influencer and who do they listen to. I often think about, you know, the big campaigns that worked in the past, you know, Jubilee and you know, make forward history. And I kind of think even if you had, like unlimited resources, I don't think those kind of campaigns work anymore. You need to kind of get really focused on who's your audience, what do they respond to and how do you kind of get to them? And therefore I would, I would say less make this kind of massive global priority and instead say. Here are the kind of investments that need to be made. Here are the people we need to influence. Let's get a really kind of targeted strategy to get to them, you know, and then if we do that in enough places at enough times, then you can get the investments that are are needed in place without ever being a kind of like headline news story everywhere. A lot of the work that the ONE campaign does is in Africa and the top political priority of almost all African leaders is jobs. You know, there's a massive youth boom. People need economic opportunities and identifying agriculture as a kind of opportunity to build businesses and have sustainable incomes build a prosperous life for yourself, I think. Is really important and we need to tell more of those stories but also make the right kind of investments that make that viable. There's a massive trend on the African continent on urbanisation and I think part of what we need to do is to say, actually, what would it take to keep young people that are ambitious and wanna create a better life for themselves, working in agriculture. And I think there are lots of good ways of doing that. You know, everyone has a food story. Everyone kind of, you know, wants to connect with how food links with the origins of that food. And I think we need to be doing more of that kind of thing, but it needs to come back to the fundamentals of everyone wants to have a better life for them and their families. And if this industry doesn't allow for that, then people are gonna move elsewhere.
::Do you think storytelling can actually drive physical change and have you seen it happen with any of the campaigns? Is there an example that comes to mind?
::I mean I think it's it's fundamental to how humans work, and I mean, if you look at the history of the anti-apartheid movement like a big part of what they did was imagination in a context where any kind of change seemed impossible. They imagined a society which was better and not almost like manifesting led to a sense of hope. And then a sense of like what could be possible that allowed for the mobilisation of people to kind of push the right levers of influence. And it's so I think I think it's critical, you know and so many of the campaigns that I've been involved in, when you start when you start out, people say it's impossible and then after a while they're like, ohh well, maybe this is possible, but now is not the right time. And then they say well now is the right time, but we can't really afford it. And suddenly all of these kind of barriers fall away over time. You kind of you can kind of start to make real progress, or there's some kind of shock, like the best example I have personally is campaigning on the issue of tax havens in the way that financial secrecy was allowing grant corruption from developing countries, and we launched a campaign. It was with a group called Christian Aid that I worked with at that time, just before Lehman Brothers collapsed, the financial crisis in 2008, and I remember going on national radio and being literally torn to shreds. You know, your data isn't right. You're idealistic. This is never gonna happen. You don't have the right analysis. And within six months, our specific policy ideas were on the agenda of the G20 because the financial crisis happened and the landscape completely changed. So, I think what might not seem possible now, if you have the right ideas, the right story, and are there at the right time, you know, you can have a lot of influence, but that requires. Imagination and storytelling and believing that something different, something better, is possible.
::Thank you to David and to our reporter Rosa. You can visit www.one.org For more information.
::Up next, let's talk people power with Mick Sheldrick from Global Citizen.
::You're listening to episode 91 of farms food future with me, Michelle Tang and Brian Thompson.
If you've ever seen one of those massive global citizen concerts with top artists performing alongside presidents, activists and change makers, that's their signature.
::They use entertainment to rally citizens to take action, whether that’s signing a petition, tweeting at a policymaker, or pledging support for a cause.
::And they've helped secure billions of dollars in commitments to fight poverty, tackle climate change and improve global health.
::Mick Sheldrick is Global Citizens co-founder and chief policy impact and Government affairs officer.
::He's a policy entrepreneur who's worked with world leaders, UN agencies and grassroots advocates to make change happen.
::And this is what he told us.
::Thank you very much for joining us today. Mike.
::Pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
::What progress do you hope will come from this year's United Nations General Assembly.
::Look, I think this year's General Assembly is pivotal from our point of view. We really pushing through key objectives. We're supporting indigenous communities around the world, especially in the Amazon rainforest. We're hoping that they protect the rainforest. And of course it's a critical time with. IFAD’s mission here because the only way we can prevent illegal deforestation is by having more sustainable food systems. So that's that's our first objective. The second objective is we've been partnering with South Africa and the European Commission on a big campaign to scale up renewable energy in Africa. And so that's a huge and and massive priority for us as well. And finally, we've been partnering with FIFA to launch the FIFA Education Fund with Global Citizen and we're hoping to raise enough money to provide education for 30,000 children around the world. So big, big goals. But of course we can't do it alone, and that's why we love working with IFAD and others partners around the world.
::And how does the partnership between Global Citizen and IFAD help advance action on climate, hunger and poverty?
::So, when I when I look at IFAD, I've had the opportunity to visit many effed projects around the world, and one of the things that really stand out the most to me, whether that's been in Sierra Leone, whether that's been in Fiji, whether that's been in Zambia, whether that's, been in Brazil all these places where I've been fortunate enough to see the transformative impact of IFAD. But one of the things that I've heard again and again from communities on the ground, these are communities who in many cases, thanks to IFAD are able to grow enough food to earn an income for both themselves and and their families, or whether it's communities on the front lines of climate change. And IFAD is supporting them so that they can adapt to a warming planet. But one of the things these communities tell me again and again. Is that IFAD is one of the few organisations that don't leave them behind. I still remember about five years ago meeting a woman in Sierra Leone and her telling me that during the Ebola outbreak A decade ago, when all the other international organisations left. She even said her husband left as well, just left her and her children IFAD stayed behind. And I think that's what good policy good partnership is about. It's about staying there when the going gets tough for these communities and that's what I hear about IFAD again and again consistently from communities on the ground. And I saw it through the pandemic. I'm seeing it now through climate change. When you hear about farmers who have contributed the least to the climate crisis, and yet through the support from IFAD, they are adapted and but also thriving in a world in which you're seeing far more frequent droughts, unpredictable rainfall patterns and hurricanes as well.
::What are three things IFAD is doing that you think the world should know about?
::You know, I think one of the key aspects is really how they are working with those on the front lines of climate change to adapt to the impacts of climate change. And let me give you 1 practical example. I remember 2 1/2 years ago being in Fiji. Made in this incredible champion and he took us through his compound. He took us through his garden. He took us through what he was doing and he showed us how through common sense solutions, he was adapting to more frequent hurricanes. And as one example, he showed us like this container, like from a container ship and he showed us how with plants he has the ability that when he's growing plants, he makes sure that he's able to take them out of buckets and put them in this container. When a hurricane comes. And this is not groundbreaking. It's actually very simple. When the hurricane passes, who would take it out and put it back, but in doing so, he saves crops, he saves those plants. But the thing which I liked was that IFAD had invested in his ability to run webinars and so spread his knowledge, spread his local law, spread his wisdom. And what started as just something on Facebook. Quickly scaled and he was telling thousands of people around the world about what was what was going on. And so you know what I liked there is isn't just that IFAD was invested in his local solutions. But this brings me to my second point. IFAD was also invested in actually in the spreading of local knowledge and wisdom, because when we go to communities like in the Amazon rainforest. We know that the people who know how to protect biodiversity know how to protect the planet, know how to conserve and produce in a regenerative, sustainable way. Other people who have been living there for hundreds, thousands. And then I would say the final lesson that I've seen is really it's unique ability to partner. You know, I've seen it pretty much in in various different continents around the world and. What I love, is it works with local civil society, local advocates, local businesses, local policymakers and. I believe when it comes to bang for buck, you will meet few organisations with as much impact as IFAD and I hear that again and again from development ministries, from Treasury finance ministries around the world that he fed in terms of bank for buck is one of the best investments they've made.
::Thank you. So, what three things would you say governments can do to reduce poverty now?
::Look, I think the three top things that governments can do is. Number one, create jobs because without investing in the industries, whether that's agriculture, whether that's music and the creative arts, which overset global citizen of a huge interest in. Without investing in those industries, that's going to nurture the jobs of the future. Then you're looking at a whole generation of young people. Who are gonna lose the opportunity to not just have sustainable livelihoods and earn enough income to lift themselves and their communities out of extreme poverty, but they're also not going to be able to achieve their dreams or aspirations and their full potential. So number one, I think with government it's so important to be invested in, in access to jobs and creating jobs. And by the way, people talk about the coming AI revolution, the technology revolution. But when I speak to companies around the world, they all say they're looking for young people with skills. So, there's jobs out there. But we have to invest in, also provide in the education and equipping young people with the skills they need to access these jobs. So, I think the first is creating jobs. Secondly, it's investing in skills and education. And including changing the way universities teach skills these days, I think that's incredibly important. And then I would say the final piece is really investing in sustainable food systems. You know, when we invest in agriculture, you know, we're investing in creating jobs, we're investing in eradicated poverty. We're investing in boosting incomes. But we're also making an investment in our planet because around the world. Agriculture and emissions from agriculture still remain one of the biggest drivers of emissions. When you look at illegal deforestation in places like the Amazon, often that's being driven by livestock. It's being driven by land clearance in order to plant soybeans in order to feed cattle. So, we have a big challenge ahead of ourselves. But the good news is, is there's solutions on the table. To recap, create jobs, invest in the right education and skills, and invest in sustainable food systems.
::And could you share a story or example of how collective action has created lasting impact the communities on the ground?
::Well, I think you know, collective action quite rightly, it faces a lot of scepticism right now. But the evidence of its impact is also compelling and there for everyone to see. And I remember on a field trip with IFAD late last year in Brazil, we met some rural communities that govern themselves by consensus, enabling them to thrive in semi arid conditions. And with IFAD’s support. They were building water recycling systems that guarantee equitable access for every household and global citizen has also mobilised collective action in other parts of the world as well, including in the Pacific, bringing together civil society organisations and young advocates to press for stronger cooperation in Melbourne last year, we convened our first ever event in Australia in a very long time to highlight IFAD’s role in the region and as part of that we supported 32 young Pacific advocates. Including, by the way, Vishal Prasad, whose coalition recently won a landmark case around climate change at the International Court of Justice. But these stories prove that when you have organisations like IFAD together with Global Citizen, together with governments, together with advocates, and you are equipping those advocates, not just to talk about the issues, not just to signing a few petitions not just to protest, but to actually be as I like to say, policy entrepreneurs doing the hard yards, then you can actually affect policy. And that's been one of the most encouraging things to see and to see IFAD invest in in young advocates. Invest in in advocacy. Invest in in smart policy making advocacy. That's been incredibly encouraging.
::Thank you, Mike and Rosa, you can visit www.globalcitizen.org For more information.
::And don't forget to also check out our latest episodes!
In episode 88 we talked about slow food and steady change with Recipes for Change chef Ana Villota and IFAD Goodwill Ambassador Sabrina Elba.
::Then in episode 89 we celebrated Youth Day featuring young people who are shaking things up with big ideas and global teamwork.
::And in episode 90 we look at how we keep feeding more people with less land, less water, and an increasingly unpredictable climate?
::And finally, as part of our ongoing Global Donor Platform for Rural Development series, we’re talking to Tim Diphoorn from One Acre Fund.
::You're listening to farms, food future with me, Brian Thompson and Michelle Tang.
One acre fund supports millions of smallholder farmers in Africa with what they need to increase productivity and resilience.
::Tim Diphoorn is their Europe Director of Business Development, which means he’s out there building partnerships and mobilising resources to help farmers grow more and earn more.
::He’s worked in development for years, and is an expert in how to scale up change in rural areas.
Let’s hear why he thinks the sector needs to think differently about funding.
::Hello Tim and thanks for joining us on Farms. Food. Future. So, what is the main issue that keep you up at night these days?
::I think that climate change is a big one. I think we really are seeing the world around us kind of slowly disintegrate, to put it in an alarmist way, but it feels like that sometimes. I see it as well. First time I was in Malawi earlier this year and I literally saw how farmers, their crops were just failing because of the drought. And before that they had flooding. So, it's one different event after the other. I think also the cuts we see in ODA from different governments is also concerned that I have. This kind of the perception of development work within society. It feels like it needs a new kind of impulse. People need to understand again, why are we doing this? Why do we have development aid? It worries me that people are starting to lose faith in in it. So, I think that's a task on all of us to kind of reinvigorate that that. Belief among society.
::Now, what would you consider to be the most promising development and a most significant challenge facing rural development?
::Well, I think climate change, I think that's one of the key things it really requires different kind of interventions. So, like with ONE acre fund, we are more and more looking at how we can improve our insurance offering so that when farmers crops fail, they're forgiven for their loan repayment. But going even beyond that, that they're given additional cash transfer. Really creating that social safety net and and do it timely because right now it can take a long time before farmers claims are actually proved and the farmer doesn't have time for that. They mean if you look at population increase and then fighting with resources and climate change couple there. I think that all comes together and this makes it. More of an issue.
::What inspired you to become involved with international development?
::My father. So, my father was active in the development sector his whole life. He worked as a water specialist. And he looked at water and sanitation for communities across the globe. And worked at embassies, but also at the end of his career for the UN Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya. He unfortunately passed away this year.
::Thank you, Tim.
For more information on the global donor platform for rural development, you can visit www.donorplatform.org.
::And that brings us to the end of this episode.
Thanks as always to our producers and editor here in Rome, Rosa González, Francesco Manetti and Francesca Primavilla.
::But most of all thanks to you for listening to this episode of Farms Food Future brought to you by the International Fund for Agricultural Development
::We’ll be back in two weeks to mark World Mental Health Day, exploring the connection between mental health and farming – from climate anxiety to healing through agroecology and traditional practices.
::And on the second Monday in October tune in to hear from the Dandelion Project and other inspiring voices for Rural Women’s Day!
::Stay tuned. This is farms, food future, a podcast that's good for you, good for the planet, and good for farmers brought to you by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. You can find out more about all of our stories at www.ifad.org/pod
Remember we want to hear from you what you think about our stories and who you want us to be talking to. So please get in touch at podcasts at ifad.org. Send us your voice or text messages to this address and we'll be happy to play you out in the next show. Also, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast.
Via your favourite podcast platform and please rate US and once again we'll be trying to be good for you. Good for the planet and good for the farmers. Until then from me, Brian Thomson and the team here at IFAD. Thanks for listening.
