Good Agricultural Practices Approach (GAP) A Working Concept

1. Good Agricultural Practices Approach (GAP) A Working Concept By Anne-Sophie Poisot, FAO/AGD FAO Workshop on Good Agricultural Practices, 27-29 October 2004, Rome

2. 1. Big challenges for agriculture ? • Improve food security, livelihoods • Satisfy increasing demands for safe and nutritious food and other products • Conserve the natural resource base Commitments • WSSD and SARD - economic, social and environmental sustainability • World Food Summit Plan of Action, MDGs

3. The million dollar question is… How to make agricultural systems in developing countries more sustainable, in a globalizing world where food supply chains are ever more competitive ?

4. Developments in Ag. Sector • ‘Demand’ by consumers, retailers, processors • Food safety, quality, nutrition • Environmental impact of agriculture • ‘Supply’ by farmers who adopt practices • Improve livelihoods • ‘Support’ by governments and institutions • Sustainable agriculture policies • Research, extension, education, credit, infrastructure

5. GAP: What is new under the sun ? • For decades: extension and research guidelines on “good practices” • More recent trend: GAP in food markets - growing number of “GAP” codes & standards - privatization of standards • Renewed attention as entry point for food safety & quality in food chain

6. Simple assumption… Good production practices at farm level can make a huge difference!

7. Can codes support sustainable ag.? • Private certification and standards (e.g.: EUREP, retail…) • Competitive advantage - not all farmers can meet • Focus more on impact on product than on sustainability • Public legislation and policies (e.g. : extension, research) • Society-driven – broader sustainability priorities • Local, small farmer-adapted • But lack financial resources • Fair trade, organic • A mix of both • Provide capacity building. Environmental and social aspects • But market share may be limited in longer term

8. “Any problem”? • Too many standards and codes, confusing • Opportunities, but hard for small farmers to meet private & export standards (cost, investments, paperwork) and certification fees • Farmers don’t always get a price premium • Different scopes of GAP • Are food safety/quality and food security/sustainability GAPs compatible or contradictory?

9. Farmers incentives to adopt? • Economic: price premium, market access; access to inputs; stabilize yield, increase productivity, reduce losses, increase farm asset value... • Regulatory/Legal: ascertain property rights to scare resources; reduce liability... • Human/social capital: expand skill sets, reduce community tensions...

10. … which means … that farmers have many incentives to apply GAPs whether or not that gives them access to segregated markets or price premiums

11. 2. And FAO…? Development of a GAP Approach in FAO • Identification of Preliminary Principles of GAP and electronic discussions in context of SARD • Request for guidance at COAG 2003 • GAP Expert Consultation, Nov 2003, Rome

12. a. “Global Principles of GAP” • Form 11 components of ag. practices • Identify hazards to be avoided • Identify outcomes to be promoted = Provide a basis for the development of codes of practice for individual production systems

13. The 11 components • Soil • Water • Crop and fodder production • Crop protection • Animal feed and livestock production • Animal health • Animal welfare • Harvest and on-farm processing and storage • Energy and waste management • Human welfare, health and safety • Wildlife and landscape

14. b. FAO dos and don’ts on GAP: (COAG 2003) • COAG: ”GOOD, GO AHEAD” but… DON’Ts • No new intergovernmental standard or certification, no barriers to trade : voluntary practices • No undue demands on resource-poor producers • Consistent with existing regulations (Codex, IPPC, OIE) DOs • Share lessons through multi-stakeholder processes and capacity building • Consider different commodities, agro-ecosystems, and scale & resources of farmers

15. c. Expert Consultation: definition of a GAP approach • addressing economic, environmental and social sustainability inclusive of food safety and quality • focused on primary production (whilst considering the supply chain and institutional context) • taking account voluntary and regulatory aspects • within a given incentive and agro-ecology context • = Focus on a GAP Approach and not the creation of a FAO international “Super-GAP”

16. Meanwhile, in the field… • Many projects related to GAP are implemented by different units: Eastern Africa (AGAP), Latin America, Thailand, China (ESNS and RLC), Burkina Faso (AGD/AGS/AGPC), Asia region (AGE, AGSF), Brazil and West Africa (AGPC) etc, etc, etc • With different entry points: food safety and quality, sustainable production systems, meat and milk production, certification and value-chains, participatory extension etc, etc, etc

17. 3. Lessons learnt - Strategy • Be strategic: some crops have more impacts and potential than others • Focus on improvement: better, not best agricultural practices; encourage innovation, not compliance • Focus on the most serious impacts: soil erosion, effluents, habitat conversion. 8-10 activities cause most environmental impacts • Be open: not enough effort made to collect/adapt lessons from around the world

18. Lessons learnt - Stakeholders • Work with producers, consumers, markets and governments, and use carrots and sticks • Need to work with drivers of change • Farmers and communities create most GAPs • 400 buyers are key, more than millions of consumers: need to engage industry

19. Lessons learnt - Incentives • Target farmer incentives and disencentives when designing GAP programmes • GAPs increase product quality and reduces risk; GAP can work without market incentives • Most GAP pay for themselves, though not all • Different agro-ecologies, institutional and market contexts = different GAP priorities

20. 4. Possible Joint Action Areas - Global - • Provide information on GAP schemes: who, what, how, incentives, cost, benefits… • GAP comparative database http://www.fao.org/prods/gap/database/index.html • GAP website http://www.fao.org/prods/GAP/gapindex_en.htm • Define global principles of GAP • 11 components – need more work ?

21. Possible Joint Action Areas- Local - • Support local translation of principles into appropriate practices and indicators FAO may bring: 1- Knowledge range (on policies, practices, impacts) 2- Facilitate multistakeholder negotiations on GAPs for a commodity/farming system 3- Capacity building: trainer of trainers & farmers

22. Where could a GAP approach be most useful ? • “From the top”: when private company wants to improve its GAP standards in a meaningful way • “From the bottom”: help farmer groups integrate markets (technical advice on practices and managerial advice on commercialization) • “Support level”: help interested govnt understand implications, define policies and build capacity

23. Conclusion : key words ! • GAP : Old wine in new bottles ? Or…working better together? It’s about INTEGRATION • Win-win situations for consumers, markets and farmers. It’s about NEGOTIATION • Ultimately, a matter of policy choice for govts, minimizing trade-offs. It’s about SELECTION • Practical, flexible approaches in GAP worskhop… It’s about IMPLEMENTATION

24. …have a fruitful workshop !