Change in Control of Food Production Key to Solving World Hunger

Published on October 19, 2009

“All five regions are acutely conscious of increasing indigence and social exclusion of several indigenous and tribal peoples. Many of these communities are repositories of traditional knowledge and fast depleting, but highly valuable knowledge about local ecosystems and processes of change and management. Much of this knowledge is outside the purview of modern AKST and is increasingly subject to pressure from commercial crop, livestock, fisheries or
forest-based production… Within formal AKST systems, little has been done to acknowledge or address the livelihoods concerns, technological and development needs of women, labor and
indigenous peoples. Instead, over the past several decades, AKST and current agricultural development models have contributed to increasing inequality and the exclusion of indigenous and tribal peoples.

“In LAC and parts of ESAP the selective perception of production requirements and exclusion of or limited attention given to certain agroecosystems, such as dryland agriculture, coastal fisheries, mountain ecosystems, and pastoral systems, worsens the inequality already compounded by local exploitation, rent seeking and corruption, appropriation of resources of the poor – especially common pool resources – and social prejudices like caste and gender biases.
The challenge for development policy and AKST is to develop agricultural and food systems that can reduce income inequalities and ensure fair access to production inputs and knowledge to all…”

The FAO is currently in the thick of preparations for a World Summit on Food Security to be held in Rome on Nov. 16-18.

The key challenges identified as topics to be taken up at the upcoming summit are the eradication of hunger, putting in place a more coherent and effective system of governance of food security at both national and international levels, ensuring that developing countries have a fair chance of competing in world commodity markets and that agricultural support policies do not unfairly distort international trade.

Other topics are finding ways to ensure that farmers in both developed and developing countries can earn incomes comparable to those of secondary and tertiary sector workers in their respective countries and mobilizing substantial additional public and private sector investments in agriculture and rural infrastructure and ensure farmers’ access to modern inputs to boost food production and productivity in the developing world, particularly in low-income and food-deficit countries.

They would also talk on how to agree on more effective mechanisms for early reaction to food crises considering that 30 or more countries are currently experiencing food emergencies, and ensuring that countries are prepared to adapt to climate change and mitigate negative effects.

For Faryadi, land reform should be included in the agenda of the World Summit on Food Security.

“The summit should bring up the agenda of genuine agrarian reform – meaning, free distribution of land to the farmers and the landless people,” he said. “The only solution and the comprehensive solution is for the people to produce food for themselves.” (Bulatlat.com)

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