madam president let me make it absolutely clear that i speak on behalf of those in the developing world and not in defence of the common agricultural policy
according to the world bank over forty-four million people have been plunged into dire poverty as a result of rising food prices
there are a myriad of contributory factors fewer smallholdings deforestation desertification lack of access to water and climate change
hence we need a holistic approach to ensure that we encourage people to take care of their own development needs and to ensure food security at local level
we need to reform the common agricultural policy and the common fisheries policy so that there are no direct or indirect negative impacts on the developing and developed countries
we must promote local land ownership and finally we must strip away the obscenity of land grab whereby land is bought and used by foreign investment companies and foreign companies for their own needs
there is no defence for this obscenity
