PENANG, Malaysia – As the world marks World Environment Day, the Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP) today renewed its call for agroecology as a key measure to address and reverse the devastating impacts of corporate-controlled agriculture and pesticide-intensive farming on the environment, biodiversity, and the climate.
Corporate agriculture, driven by the profit interests of transnational agribusiness corporations, has promoted the massive use of toxic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, monoculture plantations, and extractive farming practices that destroy ecosystems and deepen the climate crisis. In the past three decades, the use of toxic pesticides in farms globally has almost doubled. Forests are cleared for large-scale, export-oriented, monoculture plantations. Soils are degraded by chemical-intensive production, and waterways are contaminated by pesticide runoff that kills fish, pollinators, and other aquatic and terrestrial organisms essential to ecological balance.
Highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) contaminate air, soil, and water, accelerating biodiversity loss and weakening ecosystem resilience. The production and use of synthetic agrochemicals are also heavily dependent on fossil fuels, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions throughout the agricultural supply chain. Far from feeding the world sustainably, corporate-controlled agriculture has intensified land degradation, water scarcity, pollution, and climate vulnerability while displacing small food producers and undermining food sovereignty.
“The predominant corporate food system is one of the major drivers of environmental destruction and climate change. Its dependence on toxic pesticides and chemical-intensive agriculture sacrifices ecosystems and people’s health for corporate profit,” said Sarojeni Rengam, Executive Director of PANAP.
PANAP asserts that agroecology offers a genuine and sustainable solution to the environmental and climate crises. Rooted in biodiversity, ecological balance, indigenous knowledge, and farmers’ participation, agroecology nurtures healthy soils, conserves water, protects pollinators and wildlife, and eliminates dependence on toxic chemical inputs. Agroecology strengthens climate resilience by promoting diversified farming systems that are better able to withstand droughts, floods, pests, and other climate-related shocks.
Agroecology is a people-led approach that upholds the rights of small farmers, agricultural workers, women, Indigenous Peoples, fisherfolk, and rural communities. It advances food sovereignty by placing food systems under the democratic control of peoples instead of corporations.
“Agroecology shows that food production does not have to come at the expense of nature. By working with ecosystems rather than against them, agroecology protects biodiversity, restores the health of the planet, and helps communities adapt to climate change,” Rengam added.
On World Environment Day, PANAP calls on governments to phase out highly hazardous pesticides, end support for chemical-intensive corporate agriculture, and uphold policies that support agroecology, biodiversity conservation, and community-controlled sustainable food systems.
Protecting the environment and confronting the climate crisis requires radically transforming the current corporate food system. The future of food and the planet lies in agroecology and food sovereignty, Rengam stressed.
Reference: Sarojeni Rengam, Executive Director, PAN Asia Pacific, sarojeni.rengam@panap.net
