Food and climate change: the forgotten link by GRAIN | 28 Sep 2011 Climate Food is a key driver of climate change. How our food gets produced and how it ends up on our tables accounts for around half of all human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. A new food system could be key driver of solutions to climate change. We don’t need carbon markets or techno-fixes. If measures are taken to restructure agriculture and the larger food system around food sovereignty, small scale farming, agro-ecology and local markets, we could cut global emissions in half within a few decades. Food is a key driver of climate change. How our food gets produced and how it ends up on our tables accounts for around half of all human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. A new food system could be key driver of solutions to climate change. We don’t need carbon markets or techno-fixes. If measures are taken to restructure agriculture and the larger food system around food sovereignty, small scale farming, agro-ecology and local markets, we could cut global emissions in half within a few decades.
Ploughing through the meanders in food speculation by ODG, in collaboraton with Mundobat, Soberania Alimentaria and GRAIN | 24 Jul 2011 Today every movement in the Chicago, London or Hanover exchanges, where futures contracts for cereals and oilseed grains are negotiated, has an impact on food. Speculation has become one of the main causes of the changes in the price of food. Why is this happening now? How does this work? Who are the winners and who are the losers? This report, written by researchers at the Catalan NGO ODG, and in cooperation with Mundobat, Soberania Alimentaria magazine, and GRAIN, tries to unveil some of the issues. Download the pdf version. Today every movement in the Chicago, London or Hanover exchanges, where futures contracts for cereals and oilseed grains are negotiated, has an impact on food. Speculation has become one of the main causes of the changes in the price of food. Why is this happening now? How does this work? Who are the winners and who are the losers? This report, written by researchers at the Catalan NGO ODG, and in cooperation with Mundobat, Soberania Alimentaria magazine, and GRAIN, tries to unveil some of the issues. Download the pdf version.
Pension funds: key players in the global farmland grab by GRAIN | 20 Jun 2011 Land Large scale agricultural land acquisitions are generating conflicts and controversies around the world. A growing body of reports show that these projects are bad for local communities and that they promote the wrong kind of agriculture for a world in the grips of serious food and environmental crises. Yet funds continue to flow to overseas farmland like iron to a magnet. Why? Because of the financial returns. And some of the biggest players looking to profit from farmland are pension funds, with billions of dollars invested. Large scale agricultural land acquisitions are generating conflicts and controversies around the world. A growing body of reports show that these projects are bad for local communities and that they promote the wrong kind of agriculture for a world in the grips of serious food and environmental crises. Yet funds continue to flow to overseas farmland like iron to a magnet. Why? Because of the financial returns. And some of the biggest players looking to profit from farmland are pension funds, with billions of dollars invested.
Food safety for whom? Corporate wealth versus people's health by GRAIN | 6 May 2011 Corporations School children in the US were served 200,000 kilos of meat contaminated with a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria before the nation's second largest meat packer issued a recall in 2009. A year earlier, six babies died and 300,000 others got horribly sick with kidney problems in China when one of the country's top dairy producers knowingly allowed an industrial chemical into its milk supply. Across the world, people are getting sick and dying from food like never before. Governments and corporations are responding with all kinds of rules and regulations, but few have anything to do with public health. The trade agreements, laws and private standards used to impose their version of "food safety" only entrench corporate food systems that make us sick and devastate those that truly feed and care for people, those based on biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and local markets. People are resisting, whether its movements against GMOs in Benin and "mad cow" beef in Korea or campaigns to defend street hawkers in India and raw milk in Colombia. The question of who defines "food safety" is increasingly central to the struggle over the future of food and agriculture. Read the synopsis of this report here. School children in the US were served 200,000 kilos of meat contaminated with a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria before the nation's second largest meat packer issued a recall in 2009. A year earlier, six babies died and 300,000 others got horribly sick with kidney problems in China when one of the country's top dairy producers knowingly allowed an industrial chemical into its milk supply. Across the world, people are getting sick and dying from food like never before. Governments and corporations are responding with all kinds of rules and regulations, but few have anything to do with public health. The trade agreements, laws and private standards used to impose their version of "food safety" only entrench corporate food systems that make us sick and devastate those that truly feed and care for people, those based on biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and local markets. People are resisting, whether its movements against GMOs in Benin and "mad cow" beef in Korea or campaigns to defend street hawkers in India and raw milk in Colombia. The question of who defines "food safety" is increasingly central to the struggle over the future of food and agriculture. Read the synopsis of this report here.
Synopsis: Food safety for whom? Corporate wealth versus people's health by GRAIN | 6 May 2011 A new briefing by GRAIN examines how "food safety" is being used as a tool to increase corporate control over food and agriculture, and discusses what people can do and are doing about it. Below is a snapshot of what's inside. The full briefing is available here. A new briefing by GRAIN examines how "food safety" is being used as a tool to increase corporate control over food and agriculture, and discusses what people can do and are doing about it. Below is a snapshot of what's inside. The full briefing is available here.
It's time to outlaw land grabbing, not to make it 'responsible'! by Via Campesina, GRAIN and others | 17 Apr 2011 Land On 18-20 April 2011, a gathering of some 200 farmland investors, government officials and international civil servants will meet at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC to discuss how to operationalise "responsible" large-scale land acquisitions. Over in Rome, the Committee on World Food Security, housed at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, is about to start a process of consultation on principles to regulate such deals. Social movements and civil society organisations (CSOs), on the other hand, are mobilising to stop land grabs, and undo the ones already coming into play, as a matter of utmost urgency. Why do the World Bank, UN agencies and a number of highly concerned governments insist on trying to promote these land grab deals as "responsible agricultural investments"? On 18-20 April 2011, a gathering of some 200 farmland investors, government officials and international civil servants will meet at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC to discuss how to operationalise "responsible" large-scale land acquisitions. Over in Rome, the Committee on World Food Security, housed at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, is about to start a process of consultation on principles to regulate such deals. Social movements and civil society organisations (CSOs), on the other hand, are mobilising to stop land grabs, and undo the ones already coming into play, as a matter of utmost urgency. Why do the World Bank, UN agencies and a number of highly concerned governments insist on trying to promote these land grab deals as "responsible agricultural investments"?
New agricultural agreement in Argentina: A land grabber’s “instruction manual” by GRAIN | 27 Jan 2011 Land The Government of the Province of Río Negro, Argentina, and one of China's largest agribusiness companies are moving forward on an agreement that hands over thousands of hectares of land for the production of soybean and cereal crops for export. The Río Negro provincial government has touted this project as a “food production agreement” but local communities and people across Argentina are voicing their opposition, denouncing it as a land giveaway for industrial soy production. They call the agreement “a land grabber’s instruction manual”. This issue of Against the grain gives the details. The Government of the Province of Río Negro, Argentina, and one of China's largest agribusiness companies are moving forward on an agreement that hands over thousands of hectares of land for the production of soybean and cereal crops for export. The Río Negro provincial government has touted this project as a “food production agreement” but local communities and people across Argentina are voicing their opposition, denouncing it as a land giveaway for industrial soy production. They call the agreement “a land grabber’s instruction manual”. This issue of Against the grain gives the details.
Seedling: special issue on food and climate by GRAIN | 31 Dec 2010 Climate Here you can read and download the 2009 'Seedling' special issue on food and climate Here you can read and download the 2009 'Seedling' special issue on food and climate
New IPR policy opens the door for IRRI to start patenting rice by GRAIN | 15 Dec 2010 IRRI's Board of Trustees confirmed a new policy on intellectual property rights (IPRs) for the Institute on 14 November 2010 at its meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam. IRRI is now free to seek plant breeders' rights, patents and all manner of IPRs on its breeding lines and varieties, whether conventional seeds, hybrids or GMOs. IRRI's Board of Trustees confirmed a new policy on intellectual property rights (IPRs) for the Institute on 14 November 2010 at its meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam. IRRI is now free to seek plant breeders' rights, patents and all manner of IPRs on its breeding lines and varieties, whether conventional seeds, hybrids or GMOs.
PAKISTAN: Corporate hybrid seeds flood efforts in agricultural reconstruction by by Roots for Equity, PANAP and GRAIN | 7 Dec 2010 The flooding that submerged nearly a fifth of Pakistan starting in July this year displaced about 20 million people and killed nearly 2,000. This number of people whose property and livelihoods were destroyed surpassed the number of combined victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti earthquake earlier this year. Without a doubt, it was one of Pakistan's worst floods ever. But the destruction isn't over yet. A big threat looms in the way the government is rebuilding agriculture, in partnership with big agribusiness companies, in the flood-stricken areas of Pakistan. A torrent of corporate hybrid seeds, and possibly GM seeds as some suspect, packaged with fertlisers, farm implements and production credit is streaming into the affected provinces in the name of agricultural reconstruction. The flooding that submerged nearly a fifth of Pakistan starting in July this year displaced about 20 million people and killed nearly 2,000. This number of people whose property and livelihoods were destroyed surpassed the number of combined victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti earthquake earlier this year. Without a doubt, it was one of Pakistan's worst floods ever. But the destruction isn't over yet. A big threat looms in the way the government is rebuilding agriculture, in partnership with big agribusiness companies, in the flood-stricken areas of Pakistan. A torrent of corporate hybrid seeds, and possibly GM seeds as some suspect, packaged with fertlisers, farm implements and production credit is streaming into the affected provinces in the name of agricultural reconstruction.
Saudi investors poised to take control of rice production in Senegal and Mali? by GRAIN | 29 Nov 2010 Saudi Arabia's strategy to outsource food production will be at the top of the agenda when several heads of state and high-level delegations from African countries arrive in Riyadh for an investor conference on December 4, 2010. In some of these countries, Saudi investors are already acquiring farmland and starting to put the Kingdom's policies into operation. One of their main targets is West Africa's rice lands. New information obtained by GRAIN shows that the Kingdom's most powerful businessmen are pursuing deals in Senegal, Mali and other countries that would give them control over several hundred thousand hectares of the region's most productive farmlands to produce rice for export to Saudi Arabia. The deals will severely undermine national food security and destroy the livelihoods of millions of farmers and pastoralists. All of this is transpiring behind closed doors with African governments and without the knowledge of the affected people or the general public. Saudi Arabia's strategy to outsource food production will be at the top of the agenda when several heads of state and high-level delegations from African countries arrive in Riyadh for an investor conference on December 4, 2010. In some of these countries, Saudi investors are already acquiring farmland and starting to put the Kingdom's policies into operation. One of their main targets is West Africa's rice lands. New information obtained by GRAIN shows that the Kingdom's most powerful businessmen are pursuing deals in Senegal, Mali and other countries that would give them control over several hundred thousand hectares of the region's most productive farmlands to produce rice for export to Saudi Arabia. The deals will severely undermine national food security and destroy the livelihoods of millions of farmers and pastoralists. All of this is transpiring behind closed doors with African governments and without the knowledge of the affected people or the general public.
The new farm owners: corporate investors lead the rush for control over overseas farmland by GRAIN | 20 Nov 2010 The two big global crises that erupted in 2008 – the world food crisis and the broader financial crisis that the food crisis has been part of are together spawning a new and disturbing trend towards buying up land for outsourced food production. For the past two years, investors have been scrambling to take control of farmland in in Asia, Africa and Latin America. A background article on landgrabbing by GRAIN, published as a chapter in the Monthly Review Press book 'Agriculture and food in crisis'. The two big global crises that erupted in 2008 – the world food crisis and the broader financial crisis that the food crisis has been part of are together spawning a new and disturbing trend towards buying up land for outsourced food production. For the past two years, investors have been scrambling to take control of farmland in in Asia, Africa and Latin America. A background article on landgrabbing by GRAIN, published as a chapter in the Monthly Review Press book 'Agriculture and food in crisis'.
Taking a slice of the GM rice pie by GRAIN | 4 Nov 2010 Early this year, Bayer announced that it is pulling out its application for commercial approval of its genetically modified Liberty Link rice (LL62) in Brazil. Its action sent a signal that – with the numerous law suits it had to settle or pay in damages in the US for contaminating rice farms with its LL601 rice variety – GM rice, the herbicide resistant one in any case, might just be too controversial to be commercialised. At least for now. Bayer's LL62 has been genetically-engineered to resist high doses of glufosinate – particularly Bayer's Liberty/Basta – sprayed on rice fields to kill a wide range of weeds. The idea is that LL62 rice will survive but the weeds will not, so the use of this rice will increase use of the said herbicide thereby increasing sales of Bayer’s glufosinate. Early this year, Bayer announced that it is pulling out its application for commercial approval of its genetically modified Liberty Link rice (LL62) in Brazil. Its action sent a signal that – with the numerous law suits it had to settle or pay in damages in the US for contaminating rice farms with its LL601 rice variety – GM rice, the herbicide resistant one in any case, might just be too controversial to be commercialised. At least for now. Bayer's LL62 has been genetically-engineered to resist high doses of glufosinate – particularly Bayer's Liberty/Basta – sprayed on rice fields to kill a wide range of weeds. The idea is that LL62 rice will survive but the weeds will not, so the use of this rice will increase use of the said herbicide thereby increasing sales of Bayer’s glufosinate.
Download full issue (pdf) by GRAIN | 13 Oct 2010 Seedling - October 2010 The October 2010 issue of Seedling features an article by GRAIN on the global expansion of industrial meat production and the rise of a new crop of transnational meat corporations based in countries of the South. In another article, GRAIN looks at what's happening on the climate change front with a special focus on the outcome of the Peoples Summit in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Also in this issue, are two articles by the World Rainforest Movement, one on the push for "carbon shopping in forests" and another on the Roundtable for Responsible Palm Oil's role in expanding monoculture oil palm plantations. Plus, South African researcher Rachel Wynberg takes a critical look back at the experiences of the San peoples of southern Africa with the high-profile case of access-and-benefit sharing concerning the Hoodia plant. And more..... (download pdf version from document tools) The October 2010 issue of Seedling features an article by GRAIN on the global expansion of industrial meat production and the rise of a new crop of transnational meat corporations based in countries of the South. In another article, GRAIN looks at what's happening on the climate change front with a special focus on the outcome of the Peoples Summit in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Also in this issue, are two articles by the World Rainforest Movement, one on the push for "carbon shopping in forests" and another on the Roundtable for Responsible Palm Oil's role in expanding monoculture oil palm plantations. Plus, South African researcher Rachel Wynberg takes a critical look back at the experiences of the San peoples of southern Africa with the high-profile case of access-and-benefit sharing concerning the Hoodia plant. And more..... (download pdf version from document tools)
Wrong road to Cancún by World Rainforest Movement | 13 Oct 2010 Seedling - October 2010 Several rounds of talks are under way in the lead-up to the next International Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico at the end of this year. Up to now, these negotiations have focused on guidelines for carbon reporting and assessment that will facilitate “creative” accounting and allow polluting countries to escape obligations to reduce their emissions. At the same time, real proposals for addressing climate change are being ignored. Several rounds of talks are under way in the lead-up to the next International Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico at the end of this year. Up to now, these negotiations have focused on guidelines for carbon reporting and assessment that will facilitate “creative” accounting and allow polluting countries to escape obligations to reduce their emissions. At the same time, real proposals for addressing climate change are being ignored.