If there is a greater concern in the world for developing an environmentally friendly and socially fairer agriculture, why in Peru do we not give it due importance? In Matagalpa - Nicaragua, between July 3 and 15, more than 50 professionals from different countries of America and Europe met and developed the International Course on Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Development.
This course was organized by a committee made up of the Community Agro-ecology Network (CAN), the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), national universities, and civil society. This event, although it is true that it is not the same as the organization that we propose "Rural or Producer Consortia", first analyzed current problems such as the damage situation of intensive agriculture, given that they dealt with the degradation and contamination of the environment by actions atropogenic, and then the situation of places with certified organic agriculture, friendly to the environment and socially fairer, that international participants have visited.
We understand that for the institutions and professionals involved in production, research and training, the ideas are still loose and many fear that their proposals will fall on deaf ears because there really is no political will from the current and incoming government. It is then up to the Universities to take the initiative to convene a similar event to deal with topics such as: Conceptual Frames of Agroecology, Ecology and Territorial Development, Ecological Processes and Evaluation Methodologies, Ecodesigns and Production Cycles, the Agri-Food System and other topics;that will allow generating Knowledge and Proposals to Promote concrete Actions and start a true process of change in the Agri-Food Development Model facing the challenge of the different Free Trade Agreements from which we cannot escape as thinking and responsible Peruvians. If the initiative does not arise from the government or organized institutions, it will be up to civil society to take up the challenge.
What measures must we take to become food power?
We must recognize that other countries such as Chile, for example, are already considered a food power. The food industry in that South American country in 2005 exported US $ 8,120 million, becoming the second exporting force in the continent, where with actors from more than 4,000 companies in various sectors they export: processed foods, fruit, wines, farmed salmon, meats and others. In our country, the highest peak of total exports (2005) did not exceed US $ 16 million.
If we take into account that the USA, France, Japan and other countries have reached the place where they are due to high technological development, why do we not start by developing our technology and working in an orderly manner, defining policies, models, competences and actions. Unfortunately we do not see encouraging projections by the rulers at the national, regional and municipal levels. Government plans and programs are conceived and elaborated by small groups of professionals who know the country's problems in theory, or rely on proposals from some scholars. Peru, although in recent years, it already exports some products such as asparagus, mangoes, paprikas, piscos and wines, vicuña and alpaca fiber, cochineal, handicrafts and clothing, we are still far from entering the ranking of exporters,given the existence of factors that do not tune the Peruvian supply with external demand.
On the supply side, our country has a healthy climate and most of the world's life zones, which facilitate the production of healthy and diversified food. Its desert, the mountain range, its inter-Andean valleys, tropical jungle and the Pacific Ocean give it the quality of a mega-diverse country.
In recent times, some politicians have encouraged movements to frustrate the signing of the FTA with the USA, when our reality requires greater regional and continental trade relations. It is no news to anyone that our neighboring country has implemented free trade agreements with countries that represent close to 75% of world GDP and with the FTA with India and Japan (on the way), placing itself in a privileged position. This country is an exporter of the Chilean apple of incomparable quality, many technicians and fruit growers have tried to propagate the few seeds found in commercial fruits, with negative results, precisely because the seeds of the fruits are genetically infeasible and if they manage germinate the plants will be sterile; I mean they a long time ago,They have been applying high technology and the scientific knowledge that only they master. In Peru piracy and informality is very widespread, little or nothing has been done at least to protect our genetic resources, commercial products and our technologies.
On the demand side, global trends point in several directions that favor us: there is a growing concern for health. The world population will grow from the current 6,500 million to 9,000 million by 2050, due to the increase in life expectancy, which in the short term will be around 90 to 100 years. If the expectation is to live longer, with a good quality of life (health services, food, education and basic services), we must worry even more about our health and this is achieved by consuming innocuous products to consider as a healthy diet: mainly fish, stews, fruits and vegetables. To balance this diet we do not have to import food from other countries because if we produce it.
In summary, the good news for Peru would be to promote the development of food production for consumption in the domestic market and expand the list of exportable products taking into account those products that people are demanding worldwide.
This would undoubtedly constitute a solid base to enter the TOP 15 in food exports as a country, if we intend to consolidate our position as a food power in the medium term. We must not forget that the conditions to become a food power must start by institutionalizing Territorial Planning works, organizing producers, improving productive infrastructures, developing innovative technologies, which are structural elements that go beyond circumstantial issues through which it can pass our economy. We must be careful not to miss out on competitive advantages and get to work, government, public-private sector and organized producers.
