Montenegro and Slovenia
Division for the Support to the National Council for Sustainable Development
Date: 22-23 May 2013
Food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, desertification, land degradation and drought
MNE–SI speaking points for 3rd meeting of OWG SDGs
(focus on sustainable agriculture)
· The area of agriculture, with its many sub and related fields including inter alia fisheries and
forestry, has become one of key issues for the sustainability of development of most of the
nations around the globe. Similarly to poverty, however, agriculture cannot be deliberated
and viewed from a narrow sectoral perspective, but instead, a design of effective goals in this
area needs to recognize its multifunctional character.
· Among many roles it has, agriculture is:
o a source of income and employment, which is indispensably linked with social
protection;
o a precondition for health and quality of life of our citizens;
o one of key providers of ecosystem services, and,
o for many communities, an important element of cultural and communal identity.
Establishing clear linkages among these elements will be essential for the success of all of our
future endeavours and policy initiatives in the field of agriculture.
· Hence, in formulating SDGs, we need to, first and foremost, recognize the role agriculture
has in poverty and hunger eradication as well as overall development, especially in the rural
areas, where links with sustainable tourism initiatives represent an important opportunity for
the creation of decent jobs and reduction of poverty.
· Secondly, in defining SDGs, we need to stress the ever increasing importance of the
development nexus of food/land, energy and water, with a strong link with climate change
issues both in the context of reducing GHG emission from the agricultural sector as well as
making agricultural systems more resilient to climate changes and shocks. This topic should
be integrated in one goal.
· Thirdly, the link between agriculture and the pressure it is putting on the earth’s carrying
capacity, especially with regards to the growing world population and continuously
increasing demand for food, needs to be addressed and substantiated via concrete objectives
for global sustainable resource management. In this area, it will be of key importance that
global targets are set following an integrated approach to managing natural resources.
Moreover, each country needs to be allowed to supplement the global goals by creating
nationalized sub-objectives and goals that serve the fulfilment of the global ones. We
support the idea put forward in the preparatory documents that timelines of the goals’
fulfilment should be adapted to national circumstances.
· Fourthly, the human centred development approach, especially with regards to the gender
issue, the role of women and their empowerment, needs to be addressed as one of central
themes in the agriculture-related goals.
· Because of the multifaceted nature of agriculture, the design and the implementation of the
future SDGs needs to be done in a wide participatory approach, recognizing the role each
group of actors has in the process. Respecting and building on the local and traditional
knowledge and practices needs to be a common operating principle.
· Finally, as stated previously in our interventions, we believe that the role of evidence-based
policy making and the establishment of verifiable and objective systems of monitoring are
critical in ensuring full implementation potential of the visions we are certain we will create
together in this process.
Date: 22-23 May 2013
Food security and nutrition, sustainable agriculture, desertification, land degradation and drought
MNE–SI speaking points for 3rd meeting of OWG SDGs
(focus on sustainable agriculture)
· The area of agriculture, with its many sub and related fields including inter alia fisheries and
forestry, has become one of key issues for the sustainability of development of most of the
nations around the globe. Similarly to poverty, however, agriculture cannot be deliberated
and viewed from a narrow sectoral perspective, but instead, a design of effective goals in this
area needs to recognize its multifunctional character.
· Among many roles it has, agriculture is:
o a source of income and employment, which is indispensably linked with social
protection;
o a precondition for health and quality of life of our citizens;
o one of key providers of ecosystem services, and,
o for many communities, an important element of cultural and communal identity.
Establishing clear linkages among these elements will be essential for the success of all of our
future endeavours and policy initiatives in the field of agriculture.
· Hence, in formulating SDGs, we need to, first and foremost, recognize the role agriculture
has in poverty and hunger eradication as well as overall development, especially in the rural
areas, where links with sustainable tourism initiatives represent an important opportunity for
the creation of decent jobs and reduction of poverty.
· Secondly, in defining SDGs, we need to stress the ever increasing importance of the
development nexus of food/land, energy and water, with a strong link with climate change
issues both in the context of reducing GHG emission from the agricultural sector as well as
making agricultural systems more resilient to climate changes and shocks. This topic should
be integrated in one goal.
· Thirdly, the link between agriculture and the pressure it is putting on the earth’s carrying
capacity, especially with regards to the growing world population and continuously
increasing demand for food, needs to be addressed and substantiated via concrete objectives
for global sustainable resource management. In this area, it will be of key importance that
global targets are set following an integrated approach to managing natural resources.
Moreover, each country needs to be allowed to supplement the global goals by creating
nationalized sub-objectives and goals that serve the fulfilment of the global ones. We
support the idea put forward in the preparatory documents that timelines of the goals’
fulfilment should be adapted to national circumstances.
· Fourthly, the human centred development approach, especially with regards to the gender
issue, the role of women and their empowerment, needs to be addressed as one of central
themes in the agriculture-related goals.
· Because of the multifaceted nature of agriculture, the design and the implementation of the
future SDGs needs to be done in a wide participatory approach, recognizing the role each
group of actors has in the process. Respecting and building on the local and traditional
knowledge and practices needs to be a common operating principle.
· Finally, as stated previously in our interventions, we believe that the role of evidence-based
policy making and the establishment of verifiable and objective systems of monitoring are
critical in ensuring full implementation potential of the visions we are certain we will create
together in this process.