On December 15th, La Via Campesina and a number of other groups
will be leading a day of action in Copenhagen to put agriculture
front and centre in the discussions over climate change.
Although the official Convention is sure to disappoint, these
groups will be carrying a message of hope. What they want the
world to know is that, in their on-going struggle for food
sovereignty, there is a way out of the climate crisis.
GRAIN couldn't agree more. Today's global food system needs an
overhaul. According to our calculations, the expansion of the
industrial food system is the leading cause of climate change.
Through its reliance on fossil fuels, massive exports, market
concentration, erosion of soils and expansion of plantations, it
generates 44-57% of the total global green house gas (GHG)
emissions. This industrial food system is also completely
incapable of assuring people's food and livelihood needs as the
world moves further into climate change. Already it has left a
billion people without enough food to eat, and hundreds of
millions of more people will go hungry in the coming years if
the food system is not reorganised.
The most devastating consequence of this industrial food system,
however, is that it is destroying other food systems that can
turn climate change around and provide for the world's food
needs.
Forget about carbon markets, geo-engineering and all the other
false solutions. Here is a real way out of the climate crisis.*
- By using agroecological practices to rebuild the organic
matter in soils lost from industrial agriculture, total GHG
emissions can be reduced by 20-35% - By decentralising livestock
farming and integrating it with crop production, total GHG
emissions can be reduced by 5-9% - By distributing food mainly
through local markets instead of transnational food chains,
total GHG emissions can be reduced by 10-12% - By stopping land
clearing and deforestation for plantations, total GHG