Can small-scale farming feed everyone on the planet?

Environmentalists and politicians in the imperial core trembled in their chairs in the 1970s at the thought of an exploding population. Political thinking was dominated by Malthusian predictions of complete collapse and Thanos-like ideas of race extinction. One of the primary concerns was that food production wouldn't be able to sustain the billions of mouths that would be born in the ensuing decades. For many, it appeared like the end of the planet was just around the corner. But after the "green revolution," everything was said to have improved. The world was on the verge of hunger and extinction when labour-saving technology and chemically-based products derived from fossil fuels saved us. At least, it is the widely accepted story that has been promoted since the 1970s.

The Problem with Industrial Agriculture

A far more serious issue in the food system was temporarily fixed by the so-called Green Revolution. The 1970s industrial agricultural boom, which introduced new labour-saving equipment like combine harvesters, high-yield seed types, and acreage consolidation to boost global food supply, appears to have done more harm than good if anything. This was partially caused by the Green Revolution, which replaced the expense of labour with the cost of fossil fuels.

Landowners just employed fossil fuels to power their harvesters, and tillers, and create synthetic fertilizers rather than spending countless hours on the farm. This was excellent news for an ageing farmer population. With just two weeks of effort in the spring and two in the fall, you may get the same yields as before. But this new industrial agriculture spelt doom for the land, the environment, and the insect and bird populations.

The health of conventionally tilled soil is currently declining at a rate that is more than twice as fast as it is regenerating as a result of industrial agriculture's relentless tilling practices, which churn up and kill the delicate microbiome and organic matter of the topsoil. Leading soil scientist Dr Rattan Lal sums up this crisis in one word: "bleak." Our new fossil fuel agriculture, which is represented by the miles of corn and soybean monocultures in the American heartland and is now being pushed on the imperial periphery by agribusiness goliaths like Bayer-Monsanto and Syngenta, has also resulted in significant greenhouse gas emissions, amounting to 24% of our total global yearly greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, industrial agriculture is responsible for the mass extinction of insects and birds as well as the crushing of the bodies of farmworkers and convicts who are made to perform long harvesting shifts for little to no compensation.

We put up with industrial agriculture's growing costs since it is intended to feed the globe. However, the majority of the mono-cropped farmlands in the imperial core do not directly produce the food we eat. The immense fields of maize are frequently processed into fuel, animal feed, or different sugars and chemicals that finally find their way into our mouths but in a very indirect manner. "In the countries where AGRA operates, there has been a 30% increase in the number of people who are suffering from hunger, and the agricultural productivity is kind of the same as it was before AGRA began," says Bill Gates and the Rockefeller foundation in their report on the failure of industrial farming to feed the world. In actuality, only 50% of the world's food is produced by large-scale industrialized agriculture and if we want to get rid of our existing unsustainable capitalist agricultural system, we must look to the farms that are generating the other 50%.

Can small-scale agriculture feed the world?

The world used to feed itself thanks to the efforts of millions of small-scale agricultural businesses all over the world before the invention of the combined harvester and synthetic fertilizer. That is still true today. 51% of the food produced worldwide comes from small farms. Therefore, the quick answer to the issue of whether small-scale farming can feed the globe is yes. It's a bit more complicated than that, of course. No of the agricultural method, we are now producing more food than we require, thus distribution, access, and infrastructure are more important factors in the problem of hunger and food insecurity than production.

All of which are made worse by oppressive structures like capitalism, racism, classism, and imperialism. For instance, 40% of the food produced in the United States is wasted, although thousands of underprivileged areas lack access to wholesome food. All of this is to argue that we must restructure food systems outside of the farm as we move away from large-scale, fossil fuel-centric agriculture and toward small-scale agroecological endeavours.

But before we can discuss potential solutions for that enormous issue, we must first comprehend why small-scale regenerative farming has the potential to not only restore our connection to the land and reverse the effects of fossil capitalism but also to serve as a breeding ground for the masses to overthrow our current system of global capitalism.

The Importance of Small-Scale Farming

A farm is located in the suburbs of Albany, New York. Farmers there have transformed a stretch of land from barren dirt into a vibrant ecosystem in a couple of years by drawing on their African-Indigenous ancestry and expertise. Because racist capitalism considered their region unfit for profit and eventually freshly harvested products, they are producing food that will be distributed to communities of colour who lack access to savoury and nutritious food. Additionally, they are burying carbon in the soil while cultivating this food. There are hands in the dirt rather than large tractors. There are acres of polyculture rather than miles of monoculture. Afro-indigenous permaculture exists in place of industrial agriculture.

The farm is known as Soul Fire Farm, and it's just one of numerous instances demonstrating how important small-scale farming is in both the imperial core and periphery. To be clear, when I refer to "small-scale farming," I mean agricultural methods based on conventional wisdom that aim to cultivate a wide variety of plants for regional consumption while also regenerating the land. This can take a variety of shapes, such as backyard intensive farming operations, food forests designed with permaculture principles, or enterprises based on hemp that is directed by indigenous people. All of them avoid the tilling, pesticides, and highly automated procedures that separate farmers from their land and ultimately result in a society where food is obtained from supermarkets rather than from the soil.

A regenerative small-scale farm may be a powerful instrument in the fight to build resilience and address the climate issue from an environmental standpoint. A small-scale regenerative farm, if done properly, may collect one to two tons of carbon per hectare from its soils and encourage a biodiverse environment via crop variety and perennial trees and flowers that help increase resistance to harsh weather. And it can accomplish all of that while using a lot less harmful chemicals and fossil fuels and still producing equivalent yields.

These farms have the potential to be a hub for change, in addition to the obvious environmental imperative for small-scale farming. The farms that sustain us and bind us together may serve as meeting places for affinity groups and organizations to strategize and build ties. That is what Soul Fire Farms accomplishes. They make their farms available to communist activists and groups in need of a place to develop influence.

But farmers themselves also possess strength in numbers and are capable of bringing about change. Just take a look at India, where farmers used their power to blockade Dehli's main entry roadways for months in opposition to a neoliberal agriculture bill. The small-scale farm can ultimately bring about significant change, but this transformation can only occur when thousands, if not millions, of people, return to the soil and engage in the hard work that regenerative agriculture necessitates to heal the earth.

In the direction of a small-scale future

You give the land everything, and as a result, you become exhausted physically, psychologically worn out, and spiritually questioning. The stark realities of creating workable agricultural alternatives under capitalism are revealed in this comment from a small-scale farmer in the United States. There is no denying that farming is a difficult profession. Relative to other vocations, the suicide rate among farmers is quite high, whether in the U.S. or India. The majority of small-scale farmers already know this, but a 2016 survey of alternative farms in Ohio confirms it: small-scale agriculture requires 15% more labour overall than industrial agriculture.

But also that extra effort frequently goes unnoticed in the shape of 65-hour work weeks or swarms of unpaid interns under our current global capitalist system, where fossil fuels have artificially driven the price of food to the floor. This demonstrates the need for a comprehensive societal transformation to go hand in hand with a regenerative farming revolution.

Thankfully, there may be and often is a connection between the two. Anti-capitalist indigenous farmer organizations like La Via Campesina are already demonstrating to the world that a different, more compassionate reality is possible in the imperial periphery. Farmers' rallies like those in India and Indonesia, organized under the banner of Via Campesina, are revealing the intolerable reality of living as a peasant farmer under capitalism. The small-scale farm, however, can serve as a pillar for a thriving communist, anarchist, eco-socialist, or solarpunk society outside of capitalism, where the farm and the work of repairing the soil and nourishing the community are shared throughout the community through farming cooperatives like in Cuba or community workshares.

Small-scale farming is overflowing with dramatic transformation for our surroundings, bodies, relationships, and even politics, yet this revolution cannot take place from behind our computers. We need to get out into the countryside, locate those working the soil, and assist them in creating a revolutionary tomorrow.

What small-scale farms are laying the foundation for that future?

Small-scale farms are paving the way towards a more sustainable food system by utilizing methods such as organic farming, permaculture, agroforestry, and regenerative agriculture. These methods emphasize building soil health and using natural resources more efficiently, enabling farms to produce nutrient-rich food while reducing their environmental impact. Small-scale farms also tend to rely more heavily on local markets, allowing them to build relationships with their customers and support their local economy. By supporting small-scale farms, we can help to create a food system that is better for people and the planet.

Future agroecological?farms & the tools we can use to get there

Agroecology is a rapidly growing movement that is focused on the sustainable management of agricultural systems, from small-scale farms to large-scale commercial operations. It uses ecological principles to design and manage farming systems that are both economically viable and environmentally sustainable. Agroecological farms can help to address some of the most pressing global challenges of our time, such as climate change, food security, and biodiversity loss.

Tools that can be used to promote agroecological farming and help to transition to a more sustainable agricultural system include

1. Agroecosystem analysis: This involves assessing the natural and human-made components of a farm, such as soil fertility, pest management, and water use, to identify and improve sustainable practices.
2. Conservation agriculture: This is a farming system that emphasizes soil health, conservation of resources, and biodiversity. It involves minimum tillage, cover crops, crop rotation, and water conservation measures.
3. Organic farming: This practice promotes the use of natural inputs and methods, such as composting and integrated pest management, to minimize environmental impacts.
4. Participatory research: This is a form of research that involves farmers in the process of designing and implementing sustainable agricultural practices.
5. Farmer-to-farmer networks: These networks help to spread innovative ideas and technologies among farmers, helping to share knowledge and resources more efficiently.

By using these tools, farmers can transition to more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems that will benefit both them and the environment.