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By Dr Arvind Kumar
The movement of food around the world is reportedly destroying the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries. Globally, small producers endure economic policies that pit them against the whims of consumers and profit-hoarding transnational corporations.
Nevertheless, the world is headed for a ‘global food apocalypse.’ It is often claimed that there is an overabundance of food in the world, but the reality is millions of people die from hunger and malnutrition every year and unsustainable farming practices are destroying arable land.
Governments and policymakers need the political will to defend their citizens against short-sighted and unjust trade policies that favour agribusiness and treat food as just another commodity. The global food crisis has implications far beyond hunger. The global farmland grab, the result of private investment in agriculture, was triggered by the global food crisis.
Until consumers embrace community food systems, and regain their relationship with those who produce the food we eat, farmers will continue to lose their livelihoods and their progenies will continue to seek more viable professions in the city.
The international people’s movement La Via Campesina (‘the peasant way’) represents 300 million small farmers who are campaigning to replace the outdated concept of food security with that of food sovereignty. The movement promotes a return to agro-ecology that recognises the multifunctionality of food and will reduce the greenhouse emissions of the industrial food system.
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