{"id":5660,"date":"2023-07-24T14:37:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T06:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panap.net\/?p=5660"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:37:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T06:37:01","slug":"unfss-2-is-pathway-to-more-hunger-and-climate-catastrophe","status":"publish","type":"panap_updates","link":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/updates\/unfss-2-is-pathway-to-more-hunger-and-climate-catastrophe\/","title":{"rendered":"‘UNFSS+2 is pathway to more hunger and climate catastrophe’: Rural peoples stand up for radical food systems transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rural peoples and advocates across the globe warned that world hunger and interlinked food, human rights and climate crises will worsen as big corporations consolidate their control over the world food systems through the UN Food Systems Summit +2 (UNFSS), being held in Rome from July 24 to 26.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a <\/span>unity statement<\/span><\/a> released during a Global Day of Action, 49 organizations from 22 countries\u2013representing tens of thousands of small farmers, landless peasants, pastoralists, fisherfolk and their advocates\u2013said that the UNFSS +2 forwards \u201cthe agenda and interests of global monopoly corporations in agribusiness, agrochemicals, technology, finance, etc. They have been using various institutions in research, philanthropy, development work and civil society – many of which the corporations set up –\u00a0 and conspiring with UN food and agriculture agencies and other multilateral institutions to sell their grand deception of food systems change through so-called multistakeholderism.\u201d According to the groups, multistakeholderism allows the private sector a much bigger space in decision-making and legitimizes \u201cpathways, programs and policies that promote neoliberal reforms\u201d which further tighten the grip of transnational corporations (TNCs) over national and local food systems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Vulnerable tribal groups from Mayurbhanj district, Odisha, India. Photo & action: Odisha Partners<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Public-private partnerships, reducing trade barriers and protectionism, and attracting private finance are some of the main features of the <\/span>national pathways<\/span><\/a> identified by countries at the behest of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub. <\/span>Rural peoples demand<\/span><\/a> prioritizing genuine land reform, dismantling corporate monopolies in food and agriculture, and strengthening government support for community-led, agroecological production for domestic needs to alleviate hunger and avert climate catastrophe. On the contrary, the UNFSS + 2 <\/span>highlights<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe role that international trade can play in promoting improved nutrition and sustainable food systems,\u201d and paves the way for increased financialization of food systems\u2013despite the fact that financial asset firms, banks, and speculators controlling global food markets are responsible for unprecedented food inflation in many countries, especially food-importing nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

A look at the Food Systems Coalitions that the UNFSS has identified as movers for so-called food systems transformation reveals the presence of food and agriculture TNCs, which have been historically responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, land grabbing, plunder of natural resources, profiteering from seeds and harmful agrochemicals, and colonizing domestic markets in the Global South. Through the UNFSS, \u201cfood systems transformation\u201d has become the latest byword for these corporate \u2018greenwashing,\u2019 or using the climate crisis to extract superprofits further.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rural women from Sri Lanka. Photo & action: Vikalpani National Women\u2019s Federation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For instance, in these <\/span>Food Systems Coalitions<\/span><\/a>, the World Economic Forum is involved in \u201cnature-positive production\u201d and \u201cdigital food systems,\u201d the Gates-funded Global Alliance on Food and Nutrition and CGIAR in nutrition and healthy diets, corporate-funded and landgrabbing-linked The Nature Conservancy in \u201cland and freshwater,\u201d giant fast food chains such as McDonald\u2019s and Burger King through the <\/span>Sustainable Beef Roundtable<\/span><\/a> in \u201csustainable pastoralism,\u201d pesticide and fertilizer giants from CropLife and International Fertilizer Association in \u201csoil health\u201d through the <\/span>Coalition for Soil Health<\/span><\/a>, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAmid the global hunger and climate crises, imperialist countries and big corporations are rushing to deepen their control and further squeeze profits from global food systems through financialization and the neoliberal fine-tuning of our food systems and agriculture, as well as the introduction of more harmful technologies,\u201d said Sarojeni Rengam, executive director of PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rice paddy farmers practicing agroecology in Nepal. Photo & action: Caritas Nepal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEvidently, TNCs and their proponents have long dominated this platform, showing no willingness to address underlying structural causes of hunger. Food price inflation, coupled with a significant decline in income and lack of access to production inputs like land and seeds, remains unaddressed. Despite claims made by the Rome-based summit, the pursuit of profits for the summit\u2019s financiers seems to take precedence, potentially resulting in even higher food prices and the depletion of production resources. This leads to environmental and climatic disasters, as well as the destruction of local agricultural systems and thus entire economies,\u201d said Razan Zuayter, global co-chair of the People\u2019s Coalition for Food Sovereignty (PCFS).<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2022, up to 783 million people suffered from chronic hunger. \u201cHunger and poverty figures are record-high, and the trend continues to rise. Imperialism, including its domination over our food systems and agriculture, depletes the life of the poor and hungry, especially in the Global South. The people\u2019s only recourse is to resist,\u201d said Liza Maza, general secretary of the International League of Peoples\u2019 Struggle (ILPS).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Farmers and advocates in Karachi, Pakistan. Photo & action: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek – PKMT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The neoliberal food systems transformation being facilitated by the UN has done so little, nor has it provided any clear direction towards recognizing the right to land and self-determination. It seems as if our persistence to struggle for land and self-determination poses a threat to the corporate agenda of the UNFSS,” said Beverly Longid, coordinator of Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeasant movements are the real levers of food systems transformation. More than token participation in the corporate-led UNFSS, what we need are radical policy changes. This can only be achieved by supporting and strengthening rural communities as they push back to regain control over #OurFoodSystems,\u201d said P. Chennaiah, chairperson of the Asian Peasant Coalition.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Rural communities from Purulia District, West Bengal, India participate in Global People’s Caravan for Food, Land and Climate Justice. Photo & action: Keystone\u00a0Foundation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the build-up to the UNFSS +2, rural peoples held community consultations and protest actions across the globe as part of the <\/span>Global People\u2019s Caravan for Food, Land and Climate Justice<\/span><\/a> (GPC). A continuation of the <\/span>Global People’s Summit for Just, Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Food Systems<\/span><\/a>, or the Global South-led counter-summit to the first UNFSS in 2021, the GPC aims to mobilize tens of thousands of rural peoples to assert genuine food systems transformation through its 4 Pillars: 1) People\u2019s Food Sovereignty; 2) Peasants Rights to Land and Resources; 3) Right to Adequate, Affordable, Healthy and Culturally-Appropriate Food; and 4) People-Led Agroecology. The Global People\u2019s Caravan aims to bring the demands of rural peoples to the UNFCCC COP in Dubai this year, and the UN Summit of the Future in New York in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rural peoples and advocates across the globe warned that world hunger and interlinked food, human rights and climate crises will worsen as big corporations consolidate their control over the world food systems through the UN Food Systems Summit +2 (UNFSS), being held in Rome from July 24 to 26.\u00a0 In a unity statement released during…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5670,"template":"","update_categories":[107],"class_list":["post-5660","panap_updates","type-panap_updates","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","update_categories-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates\/5660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/panap_updates"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/panap_updates\/5660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"update_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/update_categories?post=5660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}