From Food Crisis to Food Sovereignty: The Challenge of Social Movements

In: Monthly review: an independent socialist magazine, Band 61, Heft 3, S. 142-156

Abstract

The rise & political convergence of agroecology, land reform, food justice, & food sovereignty movements in response to the 2007/08global food crisis are examined. The food crisis is described in terms of the North-South divide, with the former's major agrifood monopolies reaping record profits while the latter suffered hunger & lost food production capacity. Considered is the notion of the "persistence of the peasantry" despite urbanization & depeasantization in the form of an international movement centered on food sovereignty as first defined by La Via Campesina. Focus turns to two trends: agrarian advocacy (as manifest in La Via Campesina) & smallholder farmer-to-farmer-NGO partnerships committed to developing sustainable agriculture. The divide between advocacy & practice is addressed, along with how to bridge that gap & foster a political convergence, using the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement to illustrate. Adapted from the source document.