GardenAfrica News

WORLD FOOD DAY - 16th October 2010.

Did You Know?

Food systems which currently supply the needs of around 80% of the world’s population are small-scale and locally-sourced. But these producers are being marginalised under international food and trading regimes, resulting in the elimination of livelihoods of the very small-scale food providers who produce, harvest and collect most of the food we eat. Furthermore, the productive, biodiverse environment and its natural wealth, which are used for food provision, are becoming increasingly degraded. It is generally accepted that the present food system is not sufficiently resilient to secure the world’s food supply for a growing population. There is an urgent need to change the power and economic structures and policies that have caused the current crises.
There is a way forward. This approach is to shift towards a more ecological and equitable system that places food for people at the centre of policy and practice. This system is the one practiced, to a greater or lesser extent, by the majority of food providers and is the system advocated by their social movements across the world. It is an approach that promotes ecological food provision, which underpins agroecology and food sovereignty. (UK Food Group – ‘Securing Future Food’)
GardenAfrica is a member of the UK Food Group, a network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on global food and agriculture issues to promote sustainable and equitable food security policies. The group has produced a report called ‘Securing Future Food’ which is calling for urgent policy change which focuses on food for people, value food producers, localises food systems, local control, builds knowledge and skills, and works with nature.
Read more here. (link to www.ukfg.org.uk/Securing_future_food.pdf)