Hvis alle sultne munde skal mættes kan vi ikke sætte vores lid til industrielt landbrug, men vi må derimod støtte små farmere, der dyrker økologisk, siger FN’s nyudpegede særlige udsending for retten til føde i den første officielle erklæring.
FN’s organisation for handel og udvikling, UNCTAD, har netop udtalt, at industrielt landbrug er utilstrækkeligt, hvis målet er at komme sulten til livs i en verden med en hastigt voksende befolkning.
Nu er Hilal Elver ude med det samme budskab. Hun er netop blevet udpeget til at efterfølge Olivier de Schutter som FN’s særlige udsending om retten til føde.
Hendes første officielle møde blev holdt i Amsterdam. Ifølge The Ecologist sagde hun bl.a. følgende:
“Modern agriculture, which began in the 1950s, is more resource intensive, very fossil fuel dependent, using fertilisers, and based on massive production. This policy has to change.
We are already facing a range of challenges. Resource scarcity, increased population, decreasing land availability and accessibility, emerging water scarcity, and soil degradation require us to re-think how best to use our resources for future generations.
Agroecology is a traditional way of using farming methods that are less resource oriented, and which work in harmony with society. New research in agroecology allows us to explore more effectively how we can use traditional knowledge to protect people and their environment at the same time.
There is a geographical and distributional imbalance in who is consuming and producing. Global agricultural policy needs to adjust. In the crowded and hot world of tomorrow, the challenge of how to protect the vulnerable is heightened.
That entails recognising women’s role in food production – from farmer, to housewife, to working mother, women are the world’s major food providers. It also means recognising small farmers, who are also the most vulnerable, and the most hungry.
Across Europe, the US and the developing world, small farms face shrinking numbers. So if we deal with small farmers we solve hunger and we also deal with food production.
Empirical and scientific evidence shows that small farmers feed the world. According to the UN Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO), 70% of food we consume globally comes from small farmers.
This is critical for future agricultural policies. Currently, most subsidies go to large agribusiness. This must change. Governments must support small farmers. As rural people are migrating increasingly to cities, this is generating huge problems.
If these trends continue, by 2050, 75% of the entire human population will live in urban areas. We must reverse these trends by providing new possibilities and incentives to small farmers, especially for young people in rural areas.”
