The 16 Days of Global Action on Agroecology 2021 kicks off today with the theme, Celebrating diverse, agroecological food systems, or the people’s alternative to the current corporate-driven and agrochemical-intensive food system. Coming at the heels of the successful Global People’s Summit on Food Systems, the 16 Days of Global Action highlights the need for just, equitable, healthy, sustainable, and diverse food systems amidst the corporate capture of the recently concluded UN Food Systems Summit.
Held every year from 1 to 16 October by PAN Asia Pacific and its partners, the 16 Days of Global Action on Agroecology advances agroecology and people’s food sovereignty. It culminates on October 16, marked by peasant movements and food sovereignty advocates as World Hunger Day.
Neoliberal food systems contribute to the global health, climate, environmental, and economic crises. Almost one-fourth of greenhouse gas emissions are from industrial agriculture. Pesticide use is a major driver of biodiversity loss, particularly the decline of nearly half of insect species which are crucial to ecosystems and food production. Yet, the use of hazardous pesticides continues to grow under a system that prioritizes yields and profits at the expense of people and the planet. Land grabbing, deforestation, and the unprecedented control of seed and agrochemical corporations over agriculture give rise to monocultures and loss of agro-biodiversity and traditional seeds and knowledge worldwide.
“Global food production that is dependent on toxic, commercial inputs is increasingly unsustainable, homogenized, and unsafe. It destroys farmers’ livelihoods and ecosystems and increases hunger, social inequity, and disease. We need a radical paradigm shift. A truly modernized agricultural and food system is not just economically viable and socially just, but an ecologically sustainable one. Agroecology — a productive, resilient, and sustainable approach to farming— integrates cutting-edge science with local and Indigenous knowledge and practice,” said Sarojeni Rengam, PANAP executive director.
Local food festivals, an online film festival, petition signing to stop the FAO-CropLife #ToxicAlliance, and a social media rally will be the highlights of this year’s 16 Days of Global Action on Agroecology. It will be participated in by CGFED (Research Centre for Gender, Family and Environment in Development) in Vietnam, BARCIK (Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge), Thanal Agroecology Centre and Society for Rural Education and Development in India, JVE-Côte d’Ivoire, Magsasaka at Siyentista Para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG) or Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Development, KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines), Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Pilipinas (Union of Agricultural Workers in the Philippines), Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT) or Wellspring of Science and Technology, Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC), KHOJ Society for People’s Education, Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity in Pakistan, Sustainable Agriculture & Environment Development Association (SAEDA) in Laos, and Youth for Food Sovereignty.
“In many parts of the world, rural communities are fighting for and upholding diverse, agroecological food systems through collective farming, replacing pesticides with non-chemical alternatives, seed conservation and sharing, and staunchly defending their rights to land and resources. By celebrating diverse, local, and agroecological food systems, we celebrate the strength and resilience of rural communities that are holding the line, protecting the heritage and the future of food and farming,” Rengam concluded.
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