Agriculture, Food Security and Inclusive Growth - SID Netherlands ...

In the opening chapter, Olivier De Schutter states that he sees the
starting point of a “movement for food justice, for sustainable ways of producing,
distributing and consuming food, and for increasing the accountability of policymakers
towards the populations they serve”. He sees not only one food crisis,
but three simultaneous ones: (1) a poverty crisis, in particular affecting smallscale
agricultural producers; (2) an ecological crisis produced by the external
input-dependent agriculture, and (3) a nutrition crisis caused by the ‘green
revolution’ approaches that led to the production of more carbohydrate-rich food
which is poor in vitamines and minerals. His alternative view on food systems
is based on four pillars: (1) rebuild local food systems towards the production
of micro-nutrient-rich food, combating the current “nutrient transition” towards
diets high in fats and sugars; (2) address power imbalances in the global food
chains, using domestic policy space and strengthening the position of smallscale
farmers in their bargaining position versus large food and agricultural
corporations; (3) support agro-ecological practices, as conventional farming
has a high dependence on oil and gas, accelerates climate change and often
engages in unsustainable land use; (4) reclaim control over food systems at local
and national levels, following the good examples in South Africa and Brazil, and
improve global governance, like that initiated by the recent reconstitution of the
Committee on World Food Security (CFS). He concludes his analysis by indicating
that this alternative view has only been very partially implemented because of
gaps between existing consensus on the important role of small-scale farmers
in food security and policy/practice by governments; government endorsement
of these alternatives and the role of private investors; discrepancies between
various levels of government, agencies and ministries; and finally, between
what governments are told to undertake regarding food security (and becoming
less dependent on imports) and the international trade agenda , which calls
for liberalization and export orientation. He is optimistic, as new alliances to
support the described alternative food system have emerged, but these need
to be accompanied by reforms of governance in order to avoid a return to the
“business-as-usual” agenda.
Commenting on this paper, Frances Moore Lappé reminds us of the
cause of hunger, making the point that it is not shortage of food but rather
lack of democracy to blame, an issue she originally raised three decades ago.
The political democracy we most often refer to, according to Moore Lappé, is
“perversely aligned with human nature”. A language of democracy is needed,
referring specifically to a “living democracy” that “permeates cultural, political
and economic life”. One of the ways to develop such living democracy is through
the creation of and membership in cooperatives, which can be seen an aspect of
8 | AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH