Steering normative waters from ethical shores.

• Position: Thinking Aloud

FAO has constitutional obligations to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to secure improvements in the efficiency of the production and distribution of all food and agricultural products, to better the conditions of rural populations, and thus to contribute to an expanding world economy and ensuring humanity's freedom from hunger. It is also mandated by the international community to provide the instruments and mechanisms for an international forum in which to address and act on the balancing of interests, while aiming to protect and enhance global public goods that are relevant for food and agriculture. And it has an ethical obligation to ensure that its actions are responsible, transparent and accountable, as well as to provide a forum for debate and dialogue on ethical issues and unethical behaviour with respect to food and agriculture.

These instruments and mechanisms can be employed to build a more equitable, ethically-based food and agriculture system that addresses the issues and challenges described above. It would be efficient, safe and solidary, while respecting the diversity of value systems. Building such a system does not and should not mean merely creating a blueprint--a detailed plan that risks becoming an end in itself. Instead, it must be a participatory process, as well as one that evolves overtime, in response to new scientific data, changes in goals and objectives, and new ethical issues raised by FAO and its partners, A more equitable, ethically-based food and agriculture system must incorporate concern for three widely accepted global goals, each of which incorporate numerous normative propositions: improved well-being; protection of the environment; and improved public health.

An equitable, ethically-based food and agriculture system would work towards the reduction and eventual elimination of poverty by enhancing economic efficiency and effectiveness in food and agriculture worldwide. In so doing, production efficiency (the most efficient means of producing a given good) must be balanced with distribution efficiency (the most efficient means of distributing goods). Moreover, efficiency cannot be judged solely in terms of relative cost within a particular economic system. It must include study of the system of rights, privileges and institutions according to which efficiency is defined. Similarly, effectiveness cannot be defined merely as the ability to accomplish a particular task; it must be measured in terms of the appropriateness of the means selected in light of ethical concerns, such as fairness and justice. Efficiency and effectiveness cannot be promoted at the expense of economic interdependence, individual freedom, human rights or State sovereignty, but must contribute to these goals. An ethical food and agriculture system must help citizens, communities, nations and the world progress from a global economy towards a truly global society where interdependence would be recognized as inescapable; each individual would be granted personal autonomy and dignity, and States would be able to maintain their sovereignty. Such a system must move from free trade, in which powerful interests are able to impose their rules in the marketplace, to an ethics-based trading system that comprises a participatory mode for establishing and implementing rules.

From a global perspective, food is not currently produced in places or ways that best conserve natural resources. In the past, global agricultural production tended to mirror the dietary patterns and living standards of local populations. This pattern is rapidly changing worldwide, with increasing urbanization, market penetration and international trade. To maintain an equitable, ethically-based food and agriculture system, biological efficiency--through enhanced production, processing and distribution of food and agricultural products--and agrobiological diversity must be reconciled with economic efficiency, allowing food to be produced with minimum resources, limiting the pressure on the environment and making food affordable for the poor. Careful consideration needs to be given to the management of the trade-offs between the objectives of food security and environmental protection. Integrated pest management and resource management in agriculture, forestry and fisheries should not be considered luxuries; i f an equitable, ethically-based food and agriculture system is to be passed on to future generations, they are necessities.

Despite some improvements over the last several decades, far too large a portion of the world's population suffers from poor health brought on by hunger, malnutrition, poor diet and unsafe food and water. These problems diminish peoples ability to participate fully in the daily affairs of their community, nation or the world. Moreover, large-scale industrialization of agriculture and food...