A Growing Culture

On the occasion of #8M25 - The International Day of Working Women’s Struggle, La Via Campesina calls for a global mobilization to face the advance of fascism, violence and the food crisis. The peasant movement denounces the impact of #social and #economic crises, evidenced by rising poverty, unemployment, rural debt, and the severe migration crises which affect both rural and urban areas. It also highlights the growing influence of neoliberal policies that undermine historical rights and the common good, enabling the plundering of natural resources and the weakening of democracy, which mainly affects women, diversities and children. This #8M25 we call for international solidarity and mobilization against fascism, in defense of human rights, Food Sovereignty and social justice. Women continue marching, denouncing violence and environmental and social crimes, resisting the looting of our resources and the massacre of our peoples. We continue weaving networks and alliances to expose patriarchy, capitalism and neoliberalism as a threat to life on this planet! Read more and join the global mobilisation at https://lnkd.in/dwTXGsf5

In 2020, after years of complaints, the Chilean Supreme Court acknowledged that Coexca was violating the local population’s constitutional right to live in a pollution-free environment. However, the company has failed to take adequate remedial action for the damage it has caused. And so, the fight continues. Read the latest interview by GRAIN to better understand the problems that factory farming is causing for local communities, and how their resistance can be strengthened. https://grain.org/e/7253

?? Food commodification not only devastated the environment through chemical-heavy monocultures but also reduced food diversity across the globe. Today, more than 75% of the world’s nutrition comes from 12 crops and 5 animal species, with over 60% of the world’s crop calories coming from just wheat, rice and maize.

Next week, US Right to Know and Collaborative on Health and the Environment are hosting the first public presentation of the evidence underpinning #Mexico’s efforts to restrict the importation of genetically modified (GM) #corn and glyphosate into the country. ?? In a free webinar,?leading Mexican scientists will present key findings from their scientific review of literature documenting what the Mexican government says are unacceptable #health risks from #GM corn and glyphosate for Mexican people who consume large quantities of minimally processed corn. ?? ?? March 4 at 12 pm ET (9 am PT). Click the link to join.

The final episode of #FuelToFork from IPES-Food just dropped – From Horses to AI???. ??For 200 years, #fossilfuels have transformed farming. What comes next? The Fuel To Fork podcast closes with an extended conversation with Jennifer Clapp on the corporate power behind industrial #agriculture. She takes us on a historical journey, from the first tractors and the rise of fossil-fueled fertilizers and pesticides to today’s digital farming revolution. Now, #BigAg is betting on big data. ?? What’s the next frontier for BigAg? ?? Will data replace fertilizers as the key farm input? ? Are we making agriculture more sustainable – or just optimizing the same industrial model? ?? Listen now: https://lnkd.in/e6awCtDG

?? Only political will can end #hunger. "The world produces more #food per person than?ever before. Yet?hunger and malnutrition persist?in every corner of the globe — even, and increasingly, in some of its wealthiest countries." While big corporations try to deceive us into believing we need to produce more food and increase productivity, the real drivers of hunger are conflict, poverty, inequality, economic shocks and escalating climate change. Only political will can change that. Jennifer Clapp, from IPES-Food, in The Conversation Canada.

“#Agroecology challenges the narrative that #African agriculture is backward and archaic, and at the same time honours the core of Africa: our food - a celebration of our culture and the glue that binds us together as a people.” Social justice activist and AGC’s board member Leonida Odongo is our guest this week in our collaborative series on fossil fuels and global health with ShadoMag. Exploring the deep effects of chemical fertilisers in #Kenya, which trap farmers in debt, contaminate waters and deplete soils, Leonida praises the comeback of traditional African farming methods. – Read “Kenya's Fossil-Fuelled Fertiliser Crisis And How To Fix It” by Leonida Odongo in Offshoot*, our substack newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dgXCFtbV Stay tuned for new stories exploring how humanity and the natural world are completely entwined, offering examples of the #Indigenous knowledge systems and tools that can be used to dismantle exploitation and build a more equitable future. ?? ?? Image by Chela Yego

“Carbon farming” schemes mainly target large farmers in #NorthAmerica, #Europe and #Brazil, although there are projects targeting small farmers in the global South as well. They are also typically led by the most polluting actors of the #FoodSystem— such as meat and dairy corporations like Minerva and Cargill and agrochemical giants like Bayer and Yara. ? In these schemes that corporations are trying to peddle as #climate solutions, we see yet another example of how woefully inept they are at addressing the climate crisis and how we urgently need to take down their power in the food system. This isn’t a climate solution; it’s a distraction. We must dismantle corporate power to tackle the climate crisis.?

"So long as inequality goes unchecked, no amount of technology can ensure people are well fed." Hunger is not a matter of production. It's a matter of political will.

Hear from grassroots partners from Asia, Africa, and Latin America (grantees of the Agroecology Fund) about their experience in documenting and communicating evidence for agroecology more strategically.