A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only.
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in Africa. It predicts that organic agriculture will continue to grow, despite the economic crisis, and that sales
of certified organic produce could reach close to $70 billion in 2012, up from $23 billion in 2002.
“There is evidence within the report that the world could feed the entire projected population growth alone
by becoming more efficient while also ensuring the survival of wild animals, birds and fish on this planet.”
Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director.
He continues: “We need a Green revolution in a Green Economy but one with a capital G”. Increasing the use
of fertiliser and pesticide-led production methods of the 20th century is not the answer. “It will increasingly
undermine the critical natural inputs and nature-based services for agriculture such as healthy and productive
soils, the water and nutrient recycling of forests, and pollinators such as bees and bats.”
Bottom-up Initiatives
Common themes All over the world, initiatives are emerging that put the emphasis on local food.
The Hunger Project - Empowering women and men to end their own hunger.
The Hunger Project (THP) began in 1977, triggered by the first Rome World Food Conference. It has initiated
projects in many countries, constantly re- inventing itself and learning from experience. THP only works in
countries into which it has been invited. Its focus is on chronic, persistent hunger. Typical top-down and
charitable approaches are believed to fail in achieving lasting improvements. The Hunger Project develops a
grassroots, decentralised, holistic, people-centred approach after a thorough review of the situation on the
ground and finding out what keeps chronic persistent hunger in place.
The underlying principle is self-sufficiency. It is undoing the effect of colonialism. Rather than providing
financial aid, help is offered through training leaders and help in building community centres. It encourages
communities to get financial and other support from the country authorities themselves. The Hunger
Project uses an approach called Strategic Planning in Action (SPIA) and a process called VCA – Vision,
Commitment and Action. Selected villagers are trained in VCA and later become leaders and trainers in their
communities, thus reaching many more people.
About 20,000 villages in Asia, Africa and Latin America have applied SPIA to empower people to achieve
lasting improvements in health, education, nutrition and family income. Women grow the majority of food
for household consumption in Africa and are almost completely bypassed by official efforts to improve food
for households. In 1999, the Hunger Project launched a new initiative demonstrating effective training and
credit, empowering tens of thousands of African women food farmers and awakened policy makers to the
fact that Africa’s future depends on their future. THP promoted high standards of leadership in Africa
through the creation of The Africa Prize for Leadership and created local activities managed by the villagers
through the creation of Epicentres.
South Asia has the highest rates of childhood malnutrition and its women suffer severe subjugation. In 2000
the Hunger Project launched an initiative to provide leadership training to 70,000 elected women, build
networks of ongoing support and mobilise the media for public support. In 2003 the Hunger Project launched
a campaign based on the AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop to empower people to protect themselves
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