This is a podcast that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shared. These are my thoughts on advocacy and the role it plays in the search for social justice.
Meet Jay Naidoo, who is the Chair of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, one of the foundation’s long-standing partners in the field of nutrition. He shares his thoughts on the role that advocacy can play in solving pressing global issues.
I recently participated in conference, held in Dublin, Ireland, that dealt with the nexus between climate change and hunger on a global scale. SUN, Scaling Up Nutrition did a brief report on the conference which I share below:
The Hunger, Nutrition and Climate Change conference on 15-16 April, brought together over 100 participants from across the world representing their communities and created an energized environment and could provide a new model for international debates.
Through the use of innovative technology – including electronic voting and a convening technique that involved linking high level international figures with on the ground experts and ‘learning circles’- the organizers made an impressive effort to ensure the voices of affected communities were captured. These important learnings and on-the-ground stories will be shared by the Irish EU Presidency during a series of critical meetings on nutrition, climate change, sustainable development and the post-2015 international development agenda.
Experts from diverse backgrounds and countries spoke passionately about the importance of good nutrition and argued for its firm positioning within the post-2015 development framework- and showed strong support for the SUN Movement as the type of model required for achieving sustainable impact.
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Comical parody, at times, is an extremely effective way of relaying a message. I was part of the panel that participated in the plenary session at the 2012, African Grantmaker’s Network Assembly held in Johannesburg last year. The AGN Assembly Final Report very eloquently summarised the points raised by various speakers in comic strip form. The video that follows below is a quick reminder of some of the points I raised during the pleanary session.
I have just returned from speaking at a World Bank conference on the subject of constituency feedback, unravelling the DNA of building an active citizenship and understanding the meaning of democracy.
On the first afternoon in Washington, recovering from a cold, I draw the curtains shutting out the setting sun’s glimmer of warmth and flick through the innumerable channels on offer. There are hundreds, but nothing catches my attention. The news channels blare out sound bites on the debt crisis, the immigration fury, Republic Party paralysis, gun control and gay rights debates.
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I recently spent 2 days in Mozambique. Its looks like the a modern day ‘gold rush’ with the gas and mineral bonanza. But the greatest challenge will be ensuring social inclusion. Nearly half of the population is malnourished and stunting rates in the North are close to 50%. If there is not a concerted effort lead by Government to ensure that equitable growth and development of Mozambican businesses then poverty and inequlity will rise. And with it increased social conflict.
One such initiative is being undertaken by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), the organisation that I chair. GAIN launched The Marketplace, a knowledge, networking and financing platform to support local enterprises in developing countries.
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Yesterday, I shared The New Age article that covered my visit to Polokwane this past Friday the 1st February 2013. Today I wish to share the brief video of the discussion we had.
The people are eager to work their land, they are not waiting for someone else to solve their problems. What they need though is the help of civil society organisations such as the Naandi Foundation, to pass on the requisite agricultural skills and to connect them to the markets. They need the assistance of government to provide them with land, seed and irrigation.
This is real empowerment, a model at scale, a model that equips people so that they can deliver themselves from poverty, in a sustainable way.
The story below covers a recent trip to Polokwane in Limpopo, where I spoke to a group of small scale farmers. What pleased me was the fact that the vast majority of the audience were women, but I would like to see more young people involved.
My work with the Naandi Foundation has proven to me that sustainable models, at scale can be developed, models that solves the farmer’s nutritional security, connects them to the market and implement inexpensive, environmentally friendly methods of farming that increases their yields and profitability. What is needed is for them to organise themselves.
The New Age article by MONTSHO MATLALA Follows below:
Former Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general, Jay Naidoo has urged rural farmers to organise themselves into cooperatives to make a living.
Speaking at a Friday climate change workshop in Polokwane, Naidoo said he was prepared to help farmers if they were organised.
“All you need is 1000 hectares of land and group yourself into 500 members to qualify. You must have permission to work on the land, either from the municipality, government or chiefs.
Jay Naidoo is Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Partnership Council of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Visit his bio page for more information.
You must be the change you want to see in the world
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