The hope of the 1980s was that trade liberalisation would stimulate increased production and reward farmers for their work - that food would flow from fields of plenty to regions of scarcity.
But, says Prof Olivier De Schutter United Nations' Special Rapporteur on food. ''...it turns out this has not worked because food travels where the purchasing power is highest, not where the need exists.''
It was the better-off farmers, those with land and capital, who reaped the benefits of producing for global markets. Successful farmers devoted their land and energies to crops for export such as cotton, tobacco and coffee. Production of local food languished. Farmers growing crops such as sorghum, millet and sweet potato for local consumption struggled. ''Gradually traditional diets were abandoned by urban populations, which came to rely on imported, often processed foods.'' The consequence is that the average least developed country today imports between 25 and 27 per cent of its food, rendering populations extremely vulnerable to price shocks such as those which played out in 2008 and 2010.
What he is saying was that they were wrong in believing that trade and food aid were the solutions to hunger and bad nutrition. De Schutter says ''We now realise the only reasonable attitude is to support these countries in their efforts to feed themselves better " To feed local populations needed local agriculture systems "which had been destroyed by 30 years of trade liberalisation.''
Instead of an understanding of ecosystems to explore and find new integrated food production models that are less dependent on fossil fuels, more nutritious and more sustainable. ''... what is actually happening on the ground - more land concentration in fewer hands, more private investment in large-scale agriculture, more expensive technologies emerging which only better-off farmers will be able to afford in the long term. So I fear that unless we explicitly address this mismatch, this misalignment between the economic incentives and the political pressure, we will fail in what we promise to achieve.'' De Schutter concludes.
But, says Prof Olivier De Schutter United Nations' Special Rapporteur on food. ''...it turns out this has not worked because food travels where the purchasing power is highest, not where the need exists.''
It was the better-off farmers, those with land and capital, who reaped the benefits of producing for global markets. Successful farmers devoted their land and energies to crops for export such as cotton, tobacco and coffee. Production of local food languished. Farmers growing crops such as sorghum, millet and sweet potato for local consumption struggled. ''Gradually traditional diets were abandoned by urban populations, which came to rely on imported, often processed foods.'' The consequence is that the average least developed country today imports between 25 and 27 per cent of its food, rendering populations extremely vulnerable to price shocks such as those which played out in 2008 and 2010.
What he is saying was that they were wrong in believing that trade and food aid were the solutions to hunger and bad nutrition. De Schutter says ''We now realise the only reasonable attitude is to support these countries in their efforts to feed themselves better " To feed local populations needed local agriculture systems "which had been destroyed by 30 years of trade liberalisation.''
Instead of an understanding of ecosystems to explore and find new integrated food production models that are less dependent on fossil fuels, more nutritious and more sustainable. ''... what is actually happening on the ground - more land concentration in fewer hands, more private investment in large-scale agriculture, more expensive technologies emerging which only better-off farmers will be able to afford in the long term. So I fear that unless we explicitly address this mismatch, this misalignment between the economic incentives and the political pressure, we will fail in what we promise to achieve.'' De Schutter concludes.
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