[DRAFT] Promotion of Equitable Agricultural Development

[Asase Lewa]

Hello all! This is the first GA resolution that I've drafted, so I would be happy to hear feedback! I was looking around for resolutions that promoted agricultural development (cf: the Green Revolution), and was very surprised to see that there were no resolutions that promoted concrete actions to this effect. Though GA #52 does an excellent job at providing for the immediate alleviation of starvation, and does "encourage" agricultural development, it does stipulate the concrete actions the international community and World Assembly to promote such agricultural development. This resolution aims to fill this gap and provide a framework for long-term agricultural development in underdeveloped countries.

Category: Social Justice | Strength: Significant

The General Assembly,

1. ASSERTS that every community of people and sovereign state has the right to its economic and social development as part of the enjoyment of the common heritage of sapientkind;
   
2. BELIEVES that the modernization and development of domestic agriculture is frequently the first step of this development;
   
3. DEFINES "underdeveloped states" as states which meet at least one of three categories:
   
   1. Having per capita national incomes less than half the global average;
   2. Deriving at least one-third of national income from agriculture;
   3. Employing at least two-fifths of the labor force in agriculture;
4. DEFINES "developed states" as states which meet the following categories:
   
   1. Having per capita national incomes greater than the global average;
   2. Deriving less than one-tenth of national income from agriculture;
   3. Employing fewer than one-fifth of the labor force in agriculture;
5. Further defines the following categories:
   
   1. “Smallholders” shall be defined as farms whose proprietor employs two or fewer employees with whom the proprietor has no family relation, or possesses fewer than twenty-five hectares, whichever is lower;
   2. “Cooperatives” shall be defined as farms whose workers own the farm in common;
6. ENCOURAGES underdeveloped states to pursue high agricultural savings rates, but only to the point that such savings rates do not result in widespread starvation or malnutrition;
7. ESTABLISHES the World Agricultural Development Agency, which will take appropriate measures to ensure agricultural development;
8. ENCOURAGES sovereign states and non-state actors to fund the World Agricultural Development Agency, in addition to funds allocated from the WA General Fund;
9. UNDER the WADA’s auspices, further establishes the World Agricultural Development Bank, which shall:
   
   1. Issue zero-interest loans to farms in underdeveloped states to purchase high-yield crop strains, and agricultural fertilizer and machinery proven to increase crop yields relative to land and/or labor inputs;
   2. Prioritize cooperatives, state-owned farms, and smallholders that voluntarily consolidate into cooperatives as primary loan recipients, smallholders that do not consolidate into cooperatives as secondary loan recipients, and farms that do not fall under these categories as tertiary loan recipients;
   3. Prioritize the disbursement of organic fertilizers and agricultural machinery that is not fossil-fuel intensive, while disbursing synthetic fertilizer and fossil-fuel intensive agricultural machinery when alternatives are unavailable;
   4. Issue zero-interest loans to fund agricultural irrigation projects to increase water efficiency and reduce environmentally-harmful agricultural runoff;
10. PROHIBITS relevant states from imposing additional costs to farms to access WADB-provided agricultural machinery, fertilizer, or crop strains, or from restricting farms' access to these technologies, except in cases when the introduction of this technology would cause significant environmental degradation or, in the case of crop strains, represent an invasive species;
11. UNDER the WADA’s auspices, further establishes the World Agricultural Research Institute, which shall research and develop high-yield crop strains and environmentally-sustainable fertilizers on WADA-owned research plots;
12. AUTHORIZES WARI to sell high-yield crop strains to non-underdeveloped states at market-rate to finance the WADA's operations;
13. DIRECTS the WADA and WARI to establish a widespread network of agricultural extension stations in underdeveloped states, which shall:
    
    1. Promote the adoption of efficient agricultural techniques, modern fertilizers and agricultural machinery, and high-yield crop strains;
    2. Follow a “bottom-up” model, encouraging mass participation in agricultural science and analyzing folk knowledge regarding local conditions in the context of the scientific method;
    3. Be free of cost to participating farmers;
14. MANDATES relevant states permit the establishment of WADA agricultural extension stations in their territory;
15. ACKNOWLEDGES that states may still require WADA assistance even after they are no longer underdeveloped, and so stipulates the gradual reduction, rather than immediate end, of WADA assistance in formerly-underdeveloped states, until these states will receive no WADA assistance upon becoming developed states.

Category: Social Justice | Strength: Significant

The General Assembly,

1. DEFINES "underdeveloped states" as states which meet at least one of three categories:
   
   1. Having per capita national incomes less than half the global average;
   2. Deriving at least one-third of national income from agriculture;
   3. Employing at least two-fifths of the labor force in agriculture;
2. Further defines the following catgeories:
   
   1. “Smallholders” shall be defined as farms whose proprietor employs two or fewer employes with whom the proprietor has no family relation, or possesses fewer than twenty-five hectares, whichever is lower;
   2. “Cooperatives” shall be defined as farms whose workers own the farm in common;
3. ASSERTS that every community of people and sovereign state has the right to its economic and social development as part of the enjoyment of the common heritage of sapientkind;
   
4. BELIEVES that the modernization and development of domestic agriculture is frequently the first step of this development;
   
5. UNDERSTANDS that GA #52, the Food Welfare Act, stipulates the donation of food surplus to nations in need and encourages agricultural development, but insufficiently stipulates specific, concrete measures the international community in the World Assembly can take to that effect;
   
6. ESTABLISHES the World Agricultural Development Agency, to be funded by donations from sovereign states or non-state actors, which will take appropriate measures to this effect;
7. UNDER the WADA’s auspices, further establishes the World Agricultural Development Bank, which shall:
   
   1. Issue zero-interest loans to farms in underdeveloped countries to purchase high-yield crop strains, and agricultural fertilizer and machinery proven to increase crop yields relative to land and/or labor inputs;
   2. Prioritize cooperatives, state-owned farms, and smallholders that voluntarily consolidate into cooperatives as primary loan recipients, smallholders that do not consolidate into cooperatives as secondary loan recipients, and farms that do not fall under these categories as tertiary loan recipients;
   3. Prioritize the disbursement of organic fertilizers and agricultural machinery that is not fossil-fuel intensive, while disbursing synthetic fertilizer and fossil-fuel intensive agricultural machinery when alternatives are unavailable;
      Issue zero-interest loans to fund agricultural irrigation projects to increase water efficiency and reduce environmentally-harmful agricultural runoff;
8. UNDER the WADA’s auspices, further establishes the World Agricultural Research Institute, which shall research and develop high-yield crop strains and environmentally-sustainable fertilizers on WADA-owned research plots;
9. DIRECTS the WADA and WARI to establish a widespread network of agricultural extension stations in underdeveloped countries, which shall:
   
   1. Promote the adoption of efficient agricultural techniques, modern fertilizers and agricultural machinery, and high-yield crop strains;
   2. Follow a “bottom-up” model, encouraging mass participation in agricultural science and analyzing folk knowledge regarding local conditions in the context of the scientific method;

[Tinhampton]

I welcome the inclusion of the right to development in this draft. It doesn't look like it's been plagiarised from anywhere, either, so well done (especially for a first-time author). I would, however, strongly advise two things.

1. Remove Article 5 - or at least make it part of the preamble. As it stands, it reads like a House of Cards violation. I think Articles 3-5 are better served as preamble clauses, for that matter.

2. Require (or at least encourage) member states to do something. If you do not, you will violate the Optionality rule.

[Asase Lewa]

I welcome the inclusion of the right to development in this draft. It doesn't look like it's been plagiarised from anywhere, either, so well done (especially for a first-time author). I would, however, strongly advise two things.

1. Remove Article 5 - or at least make it part of the preamble. As it stands, it reads like a House of Cards violation. I think Articles 3-5 are better served as preamble clauses, for that matter.

2. Require (or at least encourage) member states to do something. If you do not, you will violate the Optionality rule.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I've modified it accordingly in response to your suggestions (e.g., by eliminating Article 5, moving Articles 3-4 to the beginning, mandating member states allow the WADA to operate in their territories and prohibiting them from charging farmers for accessing WADB services, and encouraging underdeveloped states to have decently high agricultural savings rates insofar as this doesn't lead to starvation or malnutrition), and added in a few other changes, most notably allowing the WADA to sell crop strains to non-underdeveloped countries to finance its operations and seeking to avoid a kind of national-level poverty trap by specifying the gradual reduction in services once states graduate from underdeveloped status, rather than the immediate cessation of services.

[Imperium Anglorum]

I highly recommend gaining some real background on this topic. See eg Roger D Norton, Agricultural development policy (2004).