Before 2008, about 4 million hectares worth of agricultural land deals were made globally each year. Before the end of 2009 that number reached 56 million hectares – and the numbers keep growing. Why, you may ask? As the global food economy is becoming more and more condensed as a result of corporate merges, seed patenting, and skewed international trade regulations, among other factors, the resiliency of the system is faltering in the face of price shocks. As a result, communities and nations highly dependent on external food markets are increasingly food insecure. In response, governments and corporations have seemingly decided to take matters in to their own hands, and instead of relying on international markets, buy out massive amounts of land, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, to grow their own crops. But mounting evidence shows that such deals have been granted on communal land, already occupied by local people who don’t have formal recognition of their rights over the land. These communities, who often rely on subsistence agriculture for their food, are typically then displaced to increasingly marginal lands or city slums. Levels of household food security plummet, increasing rates of chronic hunger for the poorest and most marginalized communities. Check out this article that came out a couple of years ago in the Guardian that gives an excellent snapshot of this unfolding crisis throughout sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world. Unless the international food system is reoriented toward a model providing agency and economic opportunity for smallholder farmers and encouraging more localized and sustainable production, this major injustice will only continue to grow. - Ariana Keyman, MSC volunteer theguardian/environment/2010/mar/07/food-water-africa-land-grab
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 23:04:15 +0000
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